I'm happy to have folks no show, tell me they house looks like crap, stick their noses up, even ask "what color am I going to stain the deck".  

If you paint the cabinets red and then apply a stain over the paint, the result will be something close to  cherry wood.

Look for cracks or chips.Flooring – inspect for stains, scratches, unevenness, laminate defects.Sinks/baths/showers – check for cracks, chips, or dents in metal sinks.StorageStorage bins (inside & outside) – check that they have been emptied and are in good condition.Cupboards/drawers – check for function and damage.Garage/shed – test doors, locks, and look for structural damage.Attic – inspect for damage or items left behind.FurnitureOn/under/behind – sit on the furniture to determine stability.

When I finally got her to move out my contractor had to do 3 coats of Kilz primer and 3 coats of paint to cover the smoke stains on the wall.  

As a side note, I put a lot of granite with multiple colors in our rentals since it is dirt cheap here (quarries locally) and still looks good if it gets stained a little bit. 

I suppose you also looked in the attic and up to the roof of the attic to see if there were any wet spots/stains.  

The floor is horribly outdated and stained.

I see that in more and more high end spec homes where they mix stained trim with painted trim, even on doors one side white.

We had 2 new couches, now they are being thrown away because the tenants dog apparently spend most of its time on them and now they are stained, ripped and smell bad, the management company is not taking responsibility as they say the do not rent furnished homes but never told us so. 

The house has great bones and lots of special character features like a stained glass entryway, large stone fireplace and large bbq pit.