If this doesn't work, I'm ready to mail the alderman to put community pressure on the landlords to get rid of the gang members.

Other than selling Avon, baked goods, and making jewelry, we are both technichly retired [ will finally have closing on our business next week after months of title problems] and since other than some new appliances, bathroom sink, and gas furnace repair, everything else is totally simple cosmetic stuff we can do in our spare time.[ we need to live there for a year anyway, and might choose to stay after that] We won't get started working on it for a few weeks because we are getting our Bennett house ready to sell, but when we do, we only intend on making the kitchen serviceable, and the living room nice before moving in [ the bathroom works fine, but eventually we need to get rid of its' all pinkness other than a brown tub!

Or have one parent registered and the other not registered and earning income (that's how we finally god rid of one, they gave 30-day notice and wanted to recind...we told them only if she reports the husband living there to section-8) they moved.The other issue and this is the bigger one...you lose control over tenants.  

Can you sell your car and get rid of that car payment?

If your answer is yes, then you've gotten rid of a well behaved proven tenant for someone who could be horrible AND have their boyfriend living there.

Some things you want to learn/consider before heading down this path:ensure that you and your wife are both on-board with the idea {of watching someone live in your old home} and the time commitment it may entail (turnover between tenants, fixing items that break);ensure that the house is in an area conducive to rentals (good schools, nearby to employers, shopping, etc ... all the things you probably considered when you purchased it) and find out what the rental rates are like in the area for comparable houses;once you know your potential revenue (be conservative in estimating) ensure you can afford to operate the business given the potential revenue stream ... and ensure you can carry the house if it sits vacant for a few months;read-up on the Landlord - Tenancy law in your location ... including Fair Housing requirements;make certain you learn how to thoroughly screen tenant candidates (it's much easier and cheaper to avoid a bad tenant than get rid of one).  

Think about it ... let's say this is a nightmare tenant that their current landlord wants to get rid of, so you call for a reference, and the current landlord lies through their teeth so they can get rid of their nightmare tenant!!

Has anyone had success with getting rid of tough odors?

I am looking for advice concerning a home that the owners are trying to get rid of quickly.  

Relevant to me... this is essentially the plan I'd like to do for starting out.FHA a MFU -> re-fi or find a way to rid the 'FHA' loan -> use FHA again on second MFU