There are a number of blogs/posts on the BRRRR method, which takes advantage of the cash back refi and Bigger pockets also wrote a book on the subject (also available on audio book) the book does a great job of breaking down the pros and cons and walking you through the process. 

All the neighborhoods near lackland are prime for rentals because of the high quality tenants or airb&b due to the weekly graduations.For flips I think it's important to go after neighborhoods where other people are flipping.

So basically my only hope is to improve the interior/exterior quality if I want it appraised high enough to be able to pull my initial money out?

It's a great article with some quality analysis!

I would personally focus more on the quality of the asset.

There's bunch of trade offs but we invest in CA because it's close to home, high quality, high demand, and if anything goes wrong I don't have to hop on a plane to go see what's going on.

Floors were decent but poor quality laminate and not installed very well.

Oh, and cash reserves as well... tenant demand may be low and quality tenants may be hard to find if things continue to get worse. 

The pictures look great  but your rental income could be incorrect, deferred maintenance could high, or finding quality tenants for that location is difficult.

I have listened to 5 audio books in the last week and half and I will continue to do so.