We live in LA (2 hours away) so we would need a cleaning service but would like to manage it ourselves.

Then I started the deep dive into trying to understand property investing as I thought there must be a way to get ahead in this world.

The unit needs to be clean and empty for them to receive the full amount.

Depends how deep it is. 

I've also noticed that these type of tenants tend to not care as much about the homes and they never get cleaned so they eventually just look disgusting.

I would reassure the tenant that your goal is to return their entire security deposit, provided they remove all their belongings, leave on time and make their best effort at cleaning.

Congrats on at least starting from zero - a good number of people who land here are starting from deep in the red.

You don't have any way of knowing what condition they got the unit in, unless there's some good documentation from the previous owner (rarely is there), and smoking takes repainting, sometimes new carpet, ozone machines, and deep cleaning of everything to get the smell out so you probably don't have enough deposit to get it done.

That may mean cleaning up your credit and building some savings.

About the only thing we pay other people to do is some HVAC, septic tank pumping and sewer work if it requires deep digging.