I'm wondering what expectations I should have for the condition of the house when the contractor is finished w/the job.I do plan to have someone in to clean the house/shine it up before showing it (cobwebs, wash windows, that kind of thing).

The first thing that someone in the conversation said was, "He's going to cut social security.

You'll have to replace the carpet, carpet padding, and acid wash the concrete underneath.Cats can easily DESTROY carpets, windows (scratching), curtains and drapes, doors, and so on with their scratching.

It goes on to recommend the tenants wash their vehicles, fill up swimming pools and use more water to keep the rates down.

Towels, linens, etc need to be washed and restocked/reset, not just cleaned and folded. 

Depends on what this person actually does,, our turns were 24 hour turns out at noon in at noon next day.. we gave caretakers like 135.00 for 1 br,, 150 for 2br and studio was 100. we had painter separate, carpet cleaner separate, and maintenance guy was separate.. we had 120 unit complex and my caretakers were anxious to get any turn they could.. so between 2 or 3 of them we could do 10 to 12 turns a month.. we supplied all the cleaning supplies. they did stoves, refrigerators, all windows, tubs, sinks, all light fixtures, and washed hard surface floors in kit , bath. 3 to 4 days is WOW  cheaper to hire merry maids.. and get it done quicker..Get some additonal people lined up to help and set the pace.. and rate.. if this person can't get it done faster then you need someone else to do turns and maybe this guy can do something else more productive.. 

The worst part, the house is vacant, it is being bio washed, remodeled. at the moment. 

I certainly didn't want to place it, hook it up and have a tenant try to wash clothes only to find out it has mechanical problems.

Tire store, granite dealer, car parts, car wash, and a laundromat are the neighbors.  

After he moved out, we realized he also had not washed the bed linens we provided him when he moved in.