Personally If you like your current residence and hope to stay there long term I would forgo major improvements on my primary and use all investment savings to make you more money and cash flow. 

Any capital improvements on a not owned yet property would involve a complex 1031 you’d want someone like @Dave Foster involved in. 

Offering discounts for weekday or longer stays could also help improve occupancy.

Sure, I could look for a higher paying job, but I was wondering if anyone has any creative short-term methods to improve my ratio.

I don't know how the really big players stomach it.Something else I failed to mention was how the PM's are also tacking on fees on top of rent to extract even more money from our tenants. 

As a would be individual landlord with just a one unit single family property I don’t know I can stomach the risk or withstand a financial assault resulting from an eviction process for a non-paying tenant (or tenants that do extensive damage).I am seriously considering bowing out and selling.

If you are still negative cash flow and can stomach it, then focus on appreciation and principal pay down.Good luck!

Their success speaks volumes however, its a bit much for me to stomach for a potential benefit. 

My quick opinion is yes, there's money to be made as an investor, but it's not for the faint of heart (or stomach)!

If you can stomach the negative and any repairs for the next 5 years then long term wise it'd be worth it.