And, they will be worried about whether or not you'll really have it clean, or will really repaint it or whatever you say you'll do - that many landlords don't actually do - which many of them will have already experienced and be worried about.It's just really better all the way around, to wait until you have a unit that is show-ready - vacant and ready to go.  

Perhaps a compromise would be to splint the cost of repainting.  

I wanted to say no, I will not do anything, but ultimately I agreed to sand it down and repaint it.

It is impossible to keep clean and you will be repainting with every tenant turnover. 

I am overlapping my contractor repainting the place with the open house to shorten the vacancy time.  

You are a contractor .Well I have some news for you , I have to hire a painter to re paint , a lawn service to mow , and a handyman to replace the screens , and thats just what I see .  

., most likely.What I think I'd do, though, is charge them your time at a reasonable hourly rate for the time to clean it up, and any other money you spend on it - if you hire someone to re-paint the driveway, etc.Then, if the tenant sends you a demand letter or files in small claims court, you can deal with that - if it happens.I think the main thing is to be sure and meet the deadline for sending the tenant the itemization of deductions from their deposit - on time.And, if they disagree with your decisions, you can then negotiate, or see them in court.Most tenants don't sue.  

Every wall had to be repainted (not sure how they got so dirty, stained and scratched).

However, the very same day we signed the lease and I handed them the keys, they asked if I could re-paint some of the walls to a different color and change out the closet doors to mirrored doors.  

Got it cheap and if you use the same color, it's easier to touch up or just paint from floor to eye level, without having to repaint the whole apartment.The good thing about painting some really neutral color like that, is that it won't go out of style.