I went through this once: always beware of an apartment complex that is owned by a holding company. Many states have a consumer group that watchdogs the loser complex owners and reports their abuses.
Sadly, many apartment-owning corps view the security deposit as something to fight for when the time comes. Who could have a weaker bargaining position than someone who cannot stick around long?
Sometimes there's a back-room deal with a cleaning service, I'm sure, but I'm inclined to believe it's often easier for the complex to assign liability to the cleaning company when awarding the work. If it looks like crap when they're done, they have to come back free of charge, that sort of thing.
These days I use my credit history to show why I won't pay last month's rent in advance, and I won't even entertain a "deposit" that, like Greg, exceeds what it would cost me to clean the apartment myself. Where I am now, as a matter of fact, I consider the $99 deposit a bargain -- I'd rather keep my time than the money.
And sorry, but yes, you have got to keep people honest. On my walk-through, I noticed someone laid down a *lot* of carpet freshing powder and baking soida to hide stains in the carpet. I vacuumed up an amazing amount of the stuff on move in and found even more. The complex was good about it and allowed me to mark up my walk-through inspection after the fact (but I'd rather have bedroom carpet with no motor oil stains; at least I hope it was motor oil...)
You'd be surprised, I bet, to know how late many people are with the rent every month. Here's a little litmus
test I've used in the past: I mention to the complex manager or leasing agent that my credit report should speak for itself, and that I pay on time. You might be surprised how far a statement like that goes.