Questions about fixing up a house

Well give me striped socks and paint me green because a house just fell on me.

I got it for a song from a professor I did some work for. It's definitely a fixer-upper but I couldn't pass up such a good deal. It was built in the 1950s, 1000 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 8000+ sq ft lot. It's structurally sound and in a good neighborhood where property values have been steadily increasing. My plan is to fix it up and keep it as a rental.

The good news is the roof was redone recently, there's no weather damage, it has a really nice kitchen remodel, new appliances, a new high-capacity water heater, upgraded light fixtures, and beautiful terra cotta tile floors in perfect condition throughout which is a coveted feature around here.

The bad news... well, that's a longer list. It's been unoccupied for a while. Someone left food in the fridge when the electricity was turned off. It oozed out and the house is home to one of the worst smells since the Salton Sea. A variety of critters have taken up residence in the attic, there might be dead ones in there adding to the odor problem. The yard, which has an interior walled garden that used to have fruit trees, is a tragedy. Panes were gone from a back window and several doors are missing from closets and cupboards (but the upgraded light fixtures were left untouched, oddly). Someone stole the copper grounding rod.

It needs paint in and out, new porches, doors, etc. It's the worst-looking house in the neighborhood, not because there's anything inherently wrong with it, just neglect. Neighbors have complained about the yard and the odor - yes, it's so bad you can smell it from the sidewalk. The neighborhood kids must circulate legends about the old, run-down smelly house at the end of the street...

So far I've done a basic yard clean up and I keep a car parked there so it doesn't look abandoned. Next on the list is that odor. Have to knock that down before I or anyone else can get inside to do any work on the place.

Does anyone have experience with ozone generators? Output, use time, that sort of thing? Or is there a better way to deodorize the house? You can't underestimate the smell. Seriously. It's impressive. Febreeze would run away from it.

Also, is there any way to truly eradicate cat dander from wood? The laundry room is separate from the house across a little walkway but they share the same roof. It's part of the original structure but it wasn't completely enclosed. Later someone built a plywood shed-like addition onto it. The shed has holes for windows and a door but they never installed them so the whole thing was open to the elements and animals. The neighborhood cats claimed it as their own. It's a real mess, I couldn't even go in there.

I can knock down the addition but I can only clean up and then enclose the original laundry room. How the heck do you extract dander from painted wood?

Any other advice about fixing up a house is welcome. Since I am probably going to be away for spring and part of the summer, things are going to get interesting as I try to manage the improvements from out of town.

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Questions about fixing up a house