option=8588011If you could afford it, some waterproof bamboo flooring in a really light color would be really nice and modern: https://www.homedepot.com/p/LifeProof-Bay-Point-7-mm-T-x-5-2-in-W-x-36-22-in-L-Waterproof-Engineered-Click-Bamboo-Flooring-13-07-sf-case-HL675/311344072And then paint the walls in a really light color that matched the wood tone of the flooring.  

I would definitely do more research, utilize modern tech and look for areas that you have some sort of interest in.

Problem is the undertones in your floor are yellowish and the modern look everyone seems to want is white and gray.

Upscale, modern, space saving things will typically increase the unit's value, competitiveness, and rent, especially in the small units. 

And young professionals love to have a nice clean, more modern one.

A class brand new just built all sorts of modern amenities including big GYM  maybe day care  coffee shop etc.. all within blocks of each other same public transportation and same schools.. this is where the New buildings could have big move in bonus's and renters leave the lower tire props for the brand new one.. you still need great/good credit to get into ABC in Portland..  

Also the other rentals in the area mostly have modern paint schemes. 

@Paul Sandhu  Yeah, those must have been some guys from a really rural area where they still have cesspools, not a modern septic system.  

I'd also put in a new tub/shower, if you can afford it - something that looks newer and more modern. 

To paraphrase Nassim Taleb: the problem of modernity is the growing seperation of the legal and the moral.you can tell something is immoral when you have to spend so much time working around the technicalities just to break the spirit of the rule.