What should I spend a little extra on to make sure I get a high appraisal?

I couldn't see spending the the extra money to justify a difference of $38 between the 2 rates.

We also install extra grab bars in the bathroom.

The last two short sales that I bought took a little longer than normal to close (roughly 3 months), but other than that there really wasn't any extra work on my part. 

I recently made an offer at ~46% of the original asking price, and wound up buying it for ~63% with some extra land thrown in - after the owner countered my first offer by raising his asking price.And find off-market deals - the MLS is tough, especially right now.

Where you can charge extra to provide water.

Take the extra cash and see if you can build a MF.  

Eventually they will come back up, and some of the folks that refinanced to an ARM may not be able to cover the difference, so some of the extra cash that's in the market may dry up as well.

I recently did a cash out refi on an investment property to pay off the line of credit I had used for the downpayment on said property.I have about $5k in funds left over, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with ...

Even if the buyer was happy to pay the extra cost generated by the HOA fees, explain to the appraiser how HOA reserves adds value to the home.