Fix the apartment -- rip out the drywall on the exterior walls and insulate the hell out of that place with fiberglass or rock wool.

For the insulation my understanding is rock wool has the best sound absorption but I have not used it for this.

Please correct me on anything I'm wrong on or missing:The criteria for buying a wholesale worthy property, generally speaking, are:1) It isn't listed on the MLS (or easily accessible to an investor)2) It is owned by someone who has equity3) It is owned by someone who is motivated to dump it - potentially due to financial difficulties, inability to find a tenant, damage to property done by a previous tenant, etc.4) The owner would be willing to sell it to you for the amount remaining on his/her mortgage (or something close to it).5) The purchase price for the property would ideally be = (70% of after-repair market value) - cost of repairs - whatever cut the wholesaler expects to receive.The keys to selling the property/contract (and making money) are:1) Being connected to local real estate investors who trust you.2) Correctly appraising the value of the property and the costs of repairs.Getting the property owner on board with the fact that you are going to make a profit off of his property or trying to pull the wool over his eyes (or performing a double closing so that he never finds out).Reassigning the contract you have with your seller to an investor for greater than the amount of the purchase price you've agreed with your seller.

I tried putting in a plugin freshener but the vinyl smell is competing with the freshener now.If I had to describe the smell it would be fresh cotton with a hint of burnt plastic and a dash of grade school eraser.

I do agree with the bit on reputation/treating people right, the number of contractors that will pull the wool over a home owners eyes is pretty high when quotes can range thousands or dollars even on a small job proced at 4k. 

Rats and dead critters.Wierdest:Newspapers from WWI under rock-wool insulation in attic, turned over to museum.

On a typical move-out/move-in job I had my "standard" tool box plus a materials box containing;the standard paint color I used for rentals-Navajo White, a bunch of paint stirring sticks (for sheetrock repair more than stirring paint), a couple of pieces of sheetrock 2' X 2', Elmer's glue, sheetrock screws, switch plates, a couple of outlets and switches, scrubbing stuff and chemicals, DOORSTOPS, light bulbs, mineral spirits and linseed oil and 000 steel wool for touching up stained wood, paper towels, TOILET PAPER, rags, paint brushes, SMALL LADDER, joint compound.Once you've gone through every room doing the "touch ups" you'll have a good idea if you need to come back with your 8' and extension ladders, paint rollers and 5 gallon can of paint and drop clothes.

Apply solution of oxidizing bleach (chlorine or perborate) Do not use chlorine bleach on wool or silk. 5.

It just blows my mind, coming from where I'm at in my career (pretty close to the beginning) that anyone would think that I'm trying to pull the wool over their eyes about some kind of "guru" situation.

I am sure you are an honest guy, but in the past, so many investors have pulled the wool over the eyes of the banks and made it look like the paid more for the home than they did just to pull out extra coin.