They all desire improvement but have been ineffective getting the improvements.  

First make sure who ever you hire has their home improvement license ( MHIC) .

Should I work on improving it before trying to invest?"

I took out a Cuyahoga county home improvement loan for $25,000 at 4% over 5 Years to fix up the vacanct top unit.  

If you wanted to keep your money in Hawaii there are some good options that will allow you to capitalize on the appreciation and also significantly improve your cash flow.

This can take weeks or months.The purchase contract stipulates that closing is scheduled for 4/16/18 with "Time of the Essence", but there's a chance that the buyer may not close on time due to the request being made by the title companyThe listing agreement says commission is due when the broker produces a ready, willing and able buyer, and no later than the time of closing.

Your rate will be about 7% And you will need a debt service coverage of 1.25 or so.For this to work, you need to Richard at 70% of current value and then make improvements which should add $3.00 in value for every $1.00 spent.Additionally, if you cannot promise the investor that you can get the refi, then you will probably need to sell the property to someone who can.

Will the capital improvement benefit the entire building as a whole? 

would this be a good strategy at having a chance to get the place?

It is in a market i really like because of growth and i believe the sub market is improving in that area.Do you see any downsides or potential issues to a house that is 2 units but listed as a SFH?