Those add nothing to getting people out there.For things you can do to make it look better the exterior items mentioned are the biggest ones.

Most parents would just advise a girl to marry the prince with the biggest castle.

The biggest piece to the puzzle when you are in accumulation mode is recycling your capital.  

Living north is an easy commute too, as the freeway infrastructure is good.One of the biggest advantages of living in Washington State is no personal income tax.

I try to get the biggest bang for my buck(the largest credit limit possible) on one advance in credit and do it rarely so as to make it worth the ding I'm getting. 

The biggest barrier to your success is you.

If both are working, clean and don't have any issues, your buyer's inspector is unlikely to flag them at this point.As for biggest bang on appraisals, there is very little in terms of inexpensive stuff you can do to impact the appraised value.

;)I feel the biggest problem with using a PM right out of the gate would be in finding a "good property manager."

I will say holding properties in CA long term makes a little more sense than other markets, because of Prop 13 (since property taxes are the next biggest expense after mortgage interest generally, this can really add up over the years).

Biggest problem was one popcorn bedroom ceiling that took several coats of oil Kilz to eliminate the ever seeping tar residue.The mattress on the floor did protect some of the original carpeting.The original 'speculator beige' paint (in the bedroom) surrounded with a nuance of 'eau de tar' residue ...But in all fairness it wasn't all cigarette smoke!!!!!!