There was food  stains on the ceiling.

For instance, last time, we planned it when we had a turnover, brought our pressure washer down, pressure washed the homes, stained one of the decks, secured all the loose fence pickets, gates, locks, etc., painted the outside door trim and porch rails, etc.  

Use a multi-color carpet to hide stains.

That will let you know when to stop but I always say curb appeal if you see a roof has stains and may be older and not leaking clean the roof over replacing it with bleach and water but you want the front to look the best.

I know I'm in a different climate than you, but around here, tile everywhere is all the rage- its cheap to install and lasts until its out of style - tenants can get big rugs at Costco for the bedrooms if it's too cold, and they aren't worried about getting ripped off for minor stains in carpet.

Your local laws may or may not define the useful life of many things in your condo and force you to pro-rate any charges to the tenant.For example, if you have brand new carpeting when the tenant moves in, but it's ruined by pet stains and has to be replaced when they move out two years later, you will only be able to charge them 5/7ths of the actual cost if your laws dictate that the useful life of carpet is 7 years.

I typically prefer Oak stained very dark in rentals due to how hard the wood is and it's affordability if purchased from the right suppliers.  

Once he moved out though I found that while no major damage had been done a lot of small things were messed up.there is large stain (looking like dog diarrhea that had been dragged across the carpet) in the living room, that I don't think is going to come out with just a cleaning, but we are trying that too.chipped the granite counter top (no idea how or if its even worth it to fix)a dog that we didn't not know they had scratched up the back door (sanded and painted) and our hard wood entryway (going to need to be sanded and refinished)also a myriad of scuffs, holes, stains on many of the walls.did not clean upon move out which is specified in the leaseI manage from afar and getting there to do it myself is not cost efficient, and I am pretty pissed with my management company and told them so but that a whole other story.

Asking for a new roof when you can see the shingles are crumbling or water stains inside on the ceiling, they're not going to go for that.

There are huge streaks on all the walls from shoes, beer stains, etc.