When (and to what extent) should Multi-Family Units be improved?

[Omid Sadeghi]

Curious about your approach and strategy. I have an 8 Unit apartment building in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, CA. One of my units is now vacant. I could slap on some new paint and make minor repairs to get same/similar rent as before, or could do moderate improvements to try and hit top of the market rents, but wondering what criteria/benchmarks you all use when considering more moderate/extensive improvements. How do you decide when to do repairs vs. improvements and how much $$ to spend on improvements? Other than the obvious - raising rents - what other factors do you consider? For example, do you find patch repairs to be more costly in the long run? Or, what increase in ROI / rent do you expect when you do improvements? What am I not thinking about that I should be? Appreciate all your input and advice!