He has AC, I have a year old cooler, and the electric co says that is the most efficient cooling method, AND I have a one year old roof.

I'll have plenty of upgrade questions regarding swap coolers and furnaces here in the near future...This first unit i bought has old units in each and need to get the utility companies to play along with the reimbursements with energy efficient units, its homework, but nothing like a final exam for your BA....lol!

I like cooler, wifey likes warmer.We hunted the western states and provinces of Canada, and came up empty.

http://easyrentaltools.com/tutorials/depreciation-calculator-1.cfm

If the range hood vents more than 400 cfm's (most standard apartment range hoods would be below this threshold), it will also require "make up" air to prevent any back drafting of other appliances. 

@Andrew Taylor here is what I do....When planning costs, I contemplate what I know someone will ultimately want, but i can leave out without bringing down the quality of the house... ie in my area refrigerated air is big upgrade, so may leave existing swamp cooler.

If presented with this situation, I would formally ask my insurance carrier if there was an exception for service or ESA animals.Here is a case where a landlord was prosecuted for refusing an ESA animal (however, no breed was brought up, so this is a little different):https://archives.hud.gov/news/2015/pr15-050.cfm My advice is to tread carefully. 

My husband and I plan to travel every summer to cooler climates lol, in our RV, so we'd like something that we could rent out during the summer through a property management company, while we travel.

It helps that I have a pool heater for the cooler months. 

If you look at flips in Tracy, Brentwood, Antioch & Oakley, you probably see price reductions, part of it due to market condition, part of it because schools already started.About strategy, I agree with Michael Morengello to minimize holding time to less than 3 months, you don't want to buy in one market and entering into a cooler market.