Also if you do decide to go down the concrete route, don't forget to look into steel mesh (remesh) for reinforcement to prevent cracks and longevity of the pad. http://www.homedepot.com/p/42-in-x-84-in-Sheared-W...Hope this helps!

This will clarify and reinforce what you are reading.

A good practice is to make sure your lease states explicitly how maintenance requests will be handled then follow that up with some kind of "move-in packet" reinforcing what's outlined in the lease (tenants may or may not read their lease).

@Doug Norton other critical issues include: decreasing availability of water and increasingly poor air quality, and an impending earthquake that is anticipated to cause significant total loss rates for the un-reinforced masonry buildings that make up much of the housing stock in the city...obviously, nobody knows when that will occur, but geologists generally agree that the earthquake is a matter of "when", not "if" (yet, my impression is that very few property owners have earthquake insurance)...it's hard to know how these issues will play out, but there is evidence that one or more of these issues will become un-ignorable on a 10-30+ year timeline.ADUs are an interesting prospect, but the last time I got quotes for building an ADU in SLC, the numbers really didn't make much sense in terms of ROI as a long term rental...of course, people build ADUs for reasons other than ROI, so it will be interesting to see what happens...Between the world-class outdoor attractions, events like Sundance Film Fest, and all the other attractions of the city and surrounding area, I would think that demand for STRs could be pretty huge...the city doesn't allow STRs, but as you mentioned, that doesn't stop people from doing them, and my impression is that some folks have cleaned up using ADUs as STRs...As with any place, the SLC RE market is highly localized, and there's a solid argument that the desirable neighborhoods (the Aves, the U, Sugarhouse, E Millcreek, and most stuff on the E side) will always be in high demand--everyone wants to live in these areas, and there's limited supply. 

This will clarify and reinforce what you are reading.

No idea but I always reinforce with a cross member and another footing or two 

The Ken McElroy podcast reinforced my thinking when Ken said he puts his new people at a property to learn the basics.

This will clarify and reinforce what you are reading.

This will clarify and reinforce what you are reading.

What kind of company can reinforce it or brace to make it safe and sturdy to walk on and under?