The last group 'destroyed' our carpet but no problem, they paid for it all and now we have nice, new carpet again.

The reason for the "No" is that they always find something "We didn't notice there is a ripped carpet....

My move-out rehab will include: full exterior pressure washing and repainting, full interior repainting, removal of all carpet (and replace with tile), resodding the backyard, filling about 50 nail holes, re-installing hardwired smoke detectors (they removed all of them), and landscaping.

If it's a bath, a kitchen and some carpet call Joe.

If they aren't happy and decide to eventually leave, that will still be less of a hassle than dealing with the carpet damage, chewing, etc. having a puppy and a total of three dogs in one home will cause. 

I want to do dark carpet because there's a chance I may need to move back into the house and I personally prefer carpet to hard floors

_____Now this landlord has charged me $230 for stretching a carpet I lived on for 4+ years, I'm not sure it was new when we moved in either.

I know someone who recently redid a house near fineview and wanted $1100/mo, not the best area but really nice house.If you area near allegheny hospital, there are a couple newer townhomes in the north side ($1100/mo) and some nicer homes between milvale and etna, they aren't row houses, rather standalone houses for about ($800/mo).Again everything is location dependent, and that dictates the type of housing stock you will find, hence the types of apartments available for rent.If you are looking for a place that needs paint and carpet to buy and rehab, you probably won't find these places in the 'hipster' areas, many of these places are old and need lots to rehab, these would exist in the suburbs with not great margins.

Hey @Chris Virgil-Stone, I personally like laminate a lot and it's my choice for most properties, it's 1000x better than carpet (except sometimes in bedrooms, depends on the place) and much more affordable than hardwood. 

The condo is located in Bellevue (37221)#1 - Carpet installer.