She may deny she didn't know but she would be lying.

@Matthew Paul lol you aren't lying nice people like that don't survive in today's world!

The answer to your real question lies in the phrase,  "life estate."   

If you intend to wholesale, Wisconsin sees it as Brokering, because it is "for a fee" (your assignment fee) "and for another" (the person you are finding a and buyer for)   also not to be snarky, but if you are not willing to put in the time to find financing, you will fail to find any deals. finding deals to wholesale or even buy low enough to double close takes a lot of time. lie the saying "its either time or money" and if you dont have any money its gona take a lot of time. there is no easy way in this game.

I feel sorry for anybody that deals with people that have to lie and defraud sellers.

Generally I take it as the landlord's responsibility because you are sealing up the property with foam chicken wire etc. and you don't want your tenant doing that on their own.

Be patient, make sure its a great deal and remember numbers don't lie!      

@Gergely Tokics If you don’t have the ability to close then odds are your purchase contract is somewhere between disingenuous and a lie.  

My husband and I joked about offering $123456, but we chickened out because we were afraid the bank wouldn't take us seriously.  

To me it’s pretty clear — playing dumb, lying and then blocking you — that the surviving spouse doesn’t want or need to deal with an investor.