How to transition a multi-family property

[Dhanush Kondoth]

Hello Fellow BP-ians,

I just bought a 18 unit property in Ohio. This property is currently a run down property in a decent neighborhood. The property has 4 vacant units that I am going to turn around in another month or two. My plan is to turn this property into one of the better ones in that area. 

My plan so far:

I intend to give a lot of face lift to the apartment building itself which includes, 

new roof

2 tone complete external paint job

tear down old raggedy patio fences and replace with new ones. 

Turn the vacant units into really good ones with new appliances, wood finish PVC flooring recess lights etc. 

Individual water meters

Better laundry room facilities. 

New solar street and parking lights. to mention some of it.

My question:

The current rents are well below the market because of the condition it is in, but once these upgrades are done, I intend to raise the rents to market rates at least for the newly refurbished units. 

But here is my dilemma. Since the rents are low, there are some "not so ideal" tenants living there currently and I cannot let all of them go at once, as I need the cash flow, but this may affect my plan of steep transition from semi-ghetto to semi-luxury at the same time. 

I don't intend to keep 75% of the current tenants as I had inherited them and don't really trust the background checks done by previous management team. 

Any ideas? I am sure some of you would have faced this situation and so would like to dig into some of your experiences and see if I can replicate it. 

PS: I could not find an answer searching through the bigger pockets forums.

Hope to hear from you guys.

Thanks in advance.