Keep in mind a RE bubble that was always going to burst that has been sped up by COVID, but higher price points and a trendy area should give you a high chance of quality candidates.

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. 

Suffice it to say that any gas utilization equipment found to produce elevated/unsafe levels of carbon monoxide in flue gas is normally considered sufficient grounds by the gas company to shut-off gas to the property in addition to 'red' tagging gas utilization equipment responsible until such time the condition is addressed and no longer considered a threat to the life and safety of the building occupants.CO Poisoning Goes Virtually Undetected in a Professional Office EnvironmentIt's a cold, sunny Saturday afternoon in February and I've been given a reprieve in the weather thereby allowing me to use an outdoor scissor lift to safely access/observe a flat roof 24-foot above the finish grade (pertaining to the property for which I have been hired to conduct a PCA) without having to contend with rain/snow and below freezing outdoor air temperatures preventing a visual inspection of the roof much less conduct a higher level due diligent assessment of package rooftop units since gloves cannot be worn as they tend to interfere in attempting to access hidden system components such as air filter elements, blower fan motor assemblies, serpentine tube heat exchangers, etc. typically concealed from view in conducting a baseline PCA.

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