During that time they supposedly found a leak which was beyond the scope of the maintenance  and i had to pay a plumber to come in saturday morning while the guests were there. thats on top of the "deep clean" which cost $300 and was somehow done in a couple of hours. 

Ask a plumber to detect for leaks you can't see. 

They mention termites, signs of water proofing in basement (we didn't waterproof), pluming and electrical repairs not disclosed, not disclosing a new roof, and they were suing for 150K on a 165K house...The truth of it is we didn't know of any leaks in the plumbing or the roof.

Unfortunately inspectors can’t always catch those unless there are multiple signs pointing to some kind of leak or water intrusion throughout a home. 

We had an leaking issue in the last post when the previous tenants stayed for their last two weeks.

Change the air filters, make sure sprinklers are set and watering, landscaping done, check on cracks and leaks, visually inspect roof, also checking for pets, and how many people living there. 

But as previously mentioned - if you didn't know the roof was rotten, and the inside is completely mold infested because of leaks, you could quickly be in for way more money than you expected and you could lose money if your repair costs exceed the value of the property, for instance.Liens work on the basis of seniority.  

Also PM would do a checklist during that photo visit to try to catch extra people, unregistered pets, leaks, damage, maybe bad water heaters/HVAC units, storm damage, so that's being proactive.I think these days too many PMs are in it to try to figure out how they can milk the heck out of stupid owners vs helping them build a portfolio and be successful owners.Being proactive on preventative maintenance, being quick on delinquencies, providing property values and options is helpful. 

Also look under the kitchen sinks to see if there’s been leaking or if the plumbing looks hacked.

Our approach for implementation is to break all repairs into 4 categories by priority:1) Health & Safety - most important as could result in tenant lawsuit2) Property Preservation & Government Requirements - don't ignore a roof leak that costs hundreds to fix now, but will costs thousands in the future.