When I subsequently asked the tenant over the phone how many cats she had she said four, which is likely half the number she actually has, but is still a lease violation.At this point I feel like it’s pointless to even ask if the cats are neutered (and therefore less likely to spray urine on walls) because clearly she is willing to lie to me and her attitude seems to be that she makes the rules not me or the lease.

You can use bat insulation or spray foam, which has the added benefit of giving you an air-tight seal and also keeps the bugs out. 

A few months after purchasing the condo I found a property about an hour outside Salt Lake City.

Their pro formas felt optimistic with providing 6% annual appreciation and property management that is only about 6% of rent so I take it with a grain of salt (they offer their own property management services but it has terrible reviews on Yelp so I would probably go with someone else). 

The fact is that these laws exist in many places, including Salt Lake City, Utah; Logan, Utah; Hartford, Connecticut; and Newark, New Jersey.

It's not a sound way of doing business, especially if you hire some random VA to call for you in an area they know nothing about.Agents should always be building their sphere and creating warm inbound marketing from social media, events, and meetups instead of doing spray and pray.

I am not an accountant though, so take my input with a grain of salt.

However, we've never actually filed a claim, so take this with a grain of salt. 

At another property with just the sidewalk I let the tenants take care of it, but the liability of these steep stairs makes it too important for it to be haphazard or me having to scold them to shovel and salt the walk and steps.I know in snowy areas people with houses contract plowing for the winter at a flat rate.

If salt lake city is a low cap rate market then its impossible.