Use a commercial grade detergent and bleaching agent.

Up until this point I have assumed that all my energy should be generated toward getting good grades, going to a good school, and getting a stable job.

Makes sense.Any idea what would new countertop and new cabinet installation costs - lets say medium grade - for a 175-200sf kitchen.

Are you talking from strictly a safety standard, then there are plenty of online resources for crime statistics and grade neighborhoods on a letter scale based on such.  

Hi Jessica,See what kind of roomate she can come up with.Fix the cat damage (if the renter wants it fixed now), dun the security deposit for that--unless you do it yourself, or she just does it.Collect additional security deposit to makeup for the spent money.Let them settle up between themselves for the deposit amount--because yo have no idea if they both had cats or not, and she was also hiding it (secret pet) and enjoying its presence too.Legal in Colorado--I don't know, it just seems logical.1)  I have found that a SpotBot(PET) is pretty good at removing the kitty barfup brown spots from carpets (the worst part is cleaning the SpotBot after using it).2)  Diatomaciaous earth kills fleas and their eggs, but it has to be food grade--or its poison to pets and humans.

It is below grade and built from a crawlspace (still have half of the crawlspace remaining).

The idea in cheaply finishing basements to turn utility space into living space used to be that as long as the finished separated the exterior conditions of the below-grade concrete walls from the internal environment of the basement, typically by running a 4-mil plastic sheet along the concrete walls, the finisher didn't have to worry about using normal above-grade building materials to finish the basement.This turned out to be false, as was proven out over time. 

If you are looking at Cleveland give the Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods a read.

LL is knock-off grade products, mostly. 

@Nadya OstroffFirst thing is ALWAYS check for positive grade, sloping away from the house.