If the stairs are now stained I would leave it that way and only touch up what is already paintedI don't see any reason to do anywhere near a 10K make over.

If you bury the body deep enough, you probably won't get caught." hahaha. 

There's a book called "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey that's a great place to start, although, as Dave also advises repeatedly throughout the book, you should commit to reading at least one other book a year about personal finance as well.

Both my partner and I have 760+ credit and together make over 200k a year.

However, I'm not sure if the seller's submitted contract will allow me to do so, although there is nothing within the body of the contract itself that mentions anything binding me from doing so and my seller is absolutely fine with the idea of me assigning my interest elsewhere.

I've talked to my title person, county assessor, real estate attorney, and any body else I think may know what to do, and no one has been able to give me any advice that I can act on.

Have any body had any experience with this?

I like this route because I can see their body language, and its easier to gauge the tone of their voice.

Is this a really high crime area where the police just collect the bodies?

But I do want to take this seriously as I don’t plan on scaling skyscrapers and beating my body to death until I’m 60 years old.