The outlet that would be installed could also charge an electric car, so I'm considering that an improvement.

Ask the electrical inspector.  

No cats, no rotting food, no visible bugs, no bad smells. 

Sometimes I get good prices, sometimes not.When you are dealing with older house, you will often find they have a few electrical issues that need to be addressed to bring them into the 21st century.  

I just started investing in the Minneapolis area, and am in need of plumbing, electrical, stucco repair, and exterior painting companies which are reliable and reasonably priced.

So before I can have my contractors work in there I needed to have electrical panels inspected and electricity turned on, I needed to have gas company come out and pressure test gas lines and make sure that’s ok and I needed to have town turn water on.

New roof, possibly some settling issues, probably missing some plumbing and/or electrical, definitely will need sheetrock/mud/paint/carpet work.

I do use an electrical contractor and plumber but usually the same ones because of long standing relationships. 

If I wanted to run electrical wire for new outlets, will the furring strips accommodate that or is the stud wall the way to go?

The typical furnace in Indianapolis is going to be Gas or Electric.