The fabric softener is great at helping to remove the wallpaper.My first attempt at skim coating was lousy.Another option in houses with good (not cheap) wallpaper is to skip all the removal and use an oil based primer over the wall paper, then paint (latex is fine). 

I heard that high-end SFR prices are dropping due to oil bust.

Some oil tank companies we called say that a typical clean up in case of oil spills in residences wd be in the 8-10K range.

In many Wholesalers defense, they didn't start out "unscrupulous" - they were just promised untold riches from self-proclaimed Gurus who peddled the snake oil without providing the knowledge or tools to succeed.

Resists chemicals, urine, blood, MEK, acetone, oil, vomit, the whole 9 yards.  

Are the boilers the sole source of DHW or are there separate gas/oil fired hot water heaters?

If oil gets to $20 per barrel, I may move the 401k into Chevron or another oil stock for a year or so.Unless there is another wave of pending foreclosures, then housing prices should be fairly stable.

Leaking underground oil tanks, zoning issues, third-party easements, lead paint or asbestos, foundation problems, title issues, flood zone reclassification, etc etcSome of these could prevent financing but are solvable long term, so perhaps if you can pay cash you'd be OK.  

I see a lot more headwinds (Chinese economy, oil prices in oil states, credit market turmoil) than tailwinds (household creation/job growth, consumer spending).  

There are barrels of oil from his vehicles.