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. 

Do builders hike their inventory home prices and then give a "discount" at year end? 

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.

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

I know that interest on the acquisition loan can be included in the cost basis since it’s inventory.

pid=2141Houston Real Estate Highlights for December and Full-Year 2024:-Following two consecutive years of declines, single-family home sales rebounded in 2024 with 85,163 single-family homes sold compared to 84,038 in 2023 an increase of 1.3 percent; -Total property sales for full-year 2024 were statistically flat at 101,864 units while the total dollar volume increased 3.1 percent to $41 billion;-December single-family home sales climbed 16.3 percent year-over-year with 7,162 units sold;-Total December property sales increased 13.6 percent to 8,478 units;-Total dollar volume for December rose 20.5 percent to $3.5 billion;-The single-family home median price edged up by 1.3 percent to $334,290 while the average price increased 5.0 percent to $425,150;-Single-family homes months of inventory expanded to a 4.0-months supply;-The townhome/condominium market experienced declining sales throughout 2024, and in December, volume declined 5.8 percent, with the average price up 2.5 percent to $268,152 and the median price statistically flat at $234,250;-Townhome/condominium inventory improved from a 3.5-months supply to 5.4 months.

-there is tremendous demand for inventory among both primary buyers and investors. 

Most are being encouraged to buy Class B-minus rentals and below, but no one corrects them about their mistake of using Class A assumptions on these rentals:When a newbie gets smacked with reality via their losses, they then can only suck it up until time improves their mistake or dump at a loss.So, my question is, why can't we all do better and grow our industry with integrity?

The only other option that comes to mind is to make the improvements and try to achieve favorable rental rates to push the story that 2 BR homes rent for a premium because its unique.