But you do have to address issues that concern safety  and certain items like heating/cooling, cooking, etc ...things that are necessities.  

A landlord/manager may use a technology, perform certain processes, or keep preventative maintenance plan that can all be reasons you attract better tenants and keep them.As an active investor and management company in Chicago proper, Dupage, Cook, & Kane County in Illinois we are always looking for innovative ways to be better at what we do and interested in why other people think they are better?

Owning a commercial building right now in Cook County is really tough based on the property taxes too especially a size you might need 20k or smaller.  

@James Cook There are lots of letter verbiage here on BP as well as the internet.

I would say pinpoint your market a little better...in college I rarely cooked.

Just received a Cook County IL Assessment  notice on a rental, it worth 155K on a good day.

Make it something that you can repeat annually like a Chili cook off, or Holiday decorating contest. 

IMO the first and foremost check is evaluating the Sponsor- In these kind of investments you are betting on the sponsor more so than on the deal.I highly recommend the book "Investing in Real Estate Private Equity" by  Paul Kaseburg under the pseudonym Sean Cook.

Ceramic top cook tops or ranges may look nice, but they are not tenant friendly or easy/cheap to fix when the top is cracked.

That one meth head that is cooking or that one sex offender in unit x will kill cash flow.