There are instances where surrounding improvements naturally are holding or maintaining values, and in some places, they are going up, depending on the use of the particular property.

The inexpensive value-add projects improved the lives of the tenants, especially during this COVID-19 time.

I just accepted an offer on a single family home that I am selling. It is a unique house that has been hard to find comps on given its layout and design. The buyer loves the home but I want to make sure I maximize the...

Would love some feedback on what I've done right, what could be improved, and what to look out for in the next stages of this.

One significant catch is you need to improve the property the equivalent of the acquisition price. 

Depending on what market you are investing in, hopefully you can find a property that has an opportunity to be improved but not disqualified from FHA funding (they'll usually require that the home is in livable condition, meaning all structural and mechanical elements are in tact).

That way if a tenant goes out you might be able to improve the credit quality with a regional or national tenant at higher rent rates and compress your cap rate value and grow NOI.The retail centers that will get pounded are those to the side, behind other buildings, poor sightlines, etc. where only mom and pop tenants wanted them because rent was lower in a nicer area.

For this, your cash-on-cash would be $25k purchase, $25k improvements, and $9k/year NOI.

Also as mentioned, you would need a 6-month seasoning (from the time you purchase the property and take title) and receipts/paper-trail of improvements completed in order to refinance, especially if looking to take cash-out. 

I would like to introduce these features to improve efficiency and rent collection.