As a Cap Rate is indicative of the risk involved in owning the property, you want to focus on doing things that make your investment less risky if a bank ever had to take over.You can make your investment less risky by doing some of the following things:- Convert all month-to-month tenants to annual leases- Implement strict minimum rental criteria- Add security cameras- Make large capital and preventative improvements (fix drainage issues, install water pressure regulators, replace old HVACs...you get the picture)- Essentially, prove with action that you are caring for the property on a long-term basisThe only way this is effective is if you document everything you are doing as well.

Street lights, pot hole maintenance, water quality, sewers and hospitals... are vital to safety and the value of your real estate.

The guarantee is that they will work with you until you recoup at least your initial investment (if you do the minimum required), but it makes no sense to keep digging a hole you can't get out of. 

It is about making it easy for a motivated seller to find YOU when they become motivated.Everyone just gets lost in the rabbit hole of DMM cold calling and all that jazz.If everyone just stopped, take a few steps back and for Pete's sake THINK, the answers are right in front of you.How many of you newbie wholesalers want to be a wholesaler and the first thing they do is drive for dollars, do door knocking, cold calling SMS, bandit signs, buy lists etc. etc.Have you established ANY credibility yet?

While you actually may be just opening from one rabbit hole of headache from left pocket to  another rabbit hole headache into the right pocket, all these investment has known and unknown risk which could eat  our soul and financial if we don't understand of what we're doing.this is why in biggerpocket i no longer curious or think if someone has 9999 doort.

From what I know about Westchester County in NY, it's quite expensive.I think you need to determine whether you care more about strategy or location because it sounds like you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Punched some holes in the walls.

Even with holes/tarp on roof and plywood over windows, the place still smelled like smoke. 

Drainage. ????

Not only can they be dangerous, and a maintenance headache, a lot of tenants have no idea how to use them and will shove anything that fits in the hole into the disposal.