But I can think of way more annoyances of cleaning the pool, draining the pool, chasing mice out of the empty pool, etc.

Our current obstacle is the fact i would be the only person on the loan application as of right now, my wife has started up a cleaning business but unfortunately she has not had 2 years of tax returns yet so her income cannot be included.

You must maintain your apartment in a clean and sanitary condition including prompt removal of trash and garbage and placing it in a collection point container.

I spent some time and cleaned the majority of the basement.

If the place doesn't seem like it needs any real repairs (besides cleaning, paint, and maybe fixing a cabinet) does that change how you would approach the situation?

If they don't, you'll take them to court and hold them responsible for all unpaid rent, cleaning and repairs, court costs, attorney fees, etc.If that doesn't work, hire an attorney.

If the title is pretty clean, some title insurance companies will insure over the top and you would not need to do a quiet title. 

I put all new flooring in the upper level of their unit, its a bi-level duplex, and the bedrooms are in the basement, which has carpeting, as did my side, but I tore my carpet out due to years of dog urine never cleaned out of it, which soaked into the cement and even after enzyme cleaning and layers of scent sealing paint and then vinyl plank flooring, I can still smell it in the damp weather.

I keep everything on one LLC for clean record keeping and so I can file one tax return 

Plumber went to the townhouse and confirmed broken pipe, stopped the leak with a temp fix and tenant cleaned up the standing water.