If asked about "a murder," confirm it but assure them "the house killed no one"/was never implicated and that the guilty party is forever gone.3. 

Be assured of greater than 100% return takes skill that may not be achieved by the newbie RE investor.Compare that to just going to the 401K website and indicate you want to contribute 5%. 

He wasn't licensed but my contractor was getting annoyed waiting for a licensed company to get out there and assured me this unlicensed plumber knew what he was doing.

I assure you, it is way harder to consistently make money wholesaling than you are thinking. 

Time, money, longevity and assurance of the asset, or stress free.

Here is your cheapest and most likely to succeed option:Outline for them that its a purely cosmetic problem, give them some evidence thats true, assure them you know its not their fault and they won't be billed, let them know you will fix the cosmetic/falling plaster etc. issue on a reasonable timetable.

I've been assured by a couple of pros in KC that you can gut and fully rehab a small house for about 30k.  

I have a normal insurance guy I use for personal policies and he assured me it would be easy to get a policy for this.

Getting the house in the MLS will assure you a fast buyer.

I am thinking this may good since this is my first property and I can talk them into a long due diligence period to assure everything on the property is up to code.