Some fresh white paint on the walls and peppercorn on the kitchen cabinets had the home looking like a pinterest post.

Sounds like you should do one of the following:1) Become "Pet Friendly" and leave the old carpet2) Leave the carpet and drop the rent3) Put in new carpet and leave the rent or even try to get a little more since everything will now look "fresh"

My mountain top cabin has wide freshly paved roads and I still get comments that guests were scared to death coming up the road (even though my daughter's Toyota Prius can get up it without going into lower gear).  

Since moving into the house, I’ve converted garden level into an ADU and made other big-ticket upgrades to the house which would be used by tenants.

It is one block from a project called Parkway Gardens.

In four out of the last six recessions in this country, home prices actually increased.Now, we all remember the housing crash in 2008, and I think that’s fresh on everyone’s minds and people are fearful of that.

Also are any gardeners pest control needed? 

We wanted a change of pace and picked a fancy new apartment high-rise in a different neighborhood (we picked a building called Hub50 House, which was right next to the TD Garden and the North End - lots of activity because we rented during Celtics and Bruins playoffs, and walking 100 feet to a Who concert certainly didn't stink!)

Freshly stained hardwood floors throughout.

Another tenant spent a weekend gardening and landscaping so I paid him $150 (off next month's rent).