@Anton Ivanov nailed it on the head. 

@Alexander Felice nailed it.

This can be as simple as having a 2x4, a saw, and some nails or screws handy, and as complex as taking the drywall or whatever off of the inside wall so you can re-do a lot of the frame.If it's just you working on it, you might think about having a piece of plywood, a couple of 2x4s, and some real long carriage bolts available. 

for the wainscoating you could use the sheets from home depot that come in 4'x8' sheets I think they are 1/8" or 3/16 thick and pretty cheap, maybe 20 bucks a sheet. cap it on the top like traditional wainscoating. for backsplash use either tile or or linoleum. the wainscoating can be put right on top with some liquid nails and finish nails and the tile could be put right on top.

@Josh Koukal - I believe @Derek Dombeck hit the nail on the head, but either you're in a hot market or you're not looking hard enough in the right places.

I absolutely would love to hear more about the benefits of a SDIRA... and you driven the nail into the point that I was wondering (IRA's are good for stocks and bond investments while SDIRA's are good for investments in other vehicles, ultimately making it beneficial to have both kinds of IRA's for diversification purposes.)I will definitely reach out to you to follow-up in the near future.

Ours are always a heavy layer of lathe & plaster, then a layer of plywood on 1x3 nailing strips held up with 3inch nails, then another layer of old '70'd drywall.

You guys nailed it!

I think @BOB CRANEY hit the nail on the head  its the area .. my folks i deal with in these areas.. fico is not a criteria.. its do they pay their cell on time.. are they felons.... you have to triage the bad credit or sell the house. 600 up probably does not want to live in that area. 

Be sure to polish up your 'negotiating skills' so you stay in control during these conversations!