To me, I would just accept Zelle and update Avail if possible and look to see what the tenant is looking for in terms of repairs, how much rent you'll get from them, and if you want them as a resident.

First off, many sellers don't have sufficient equity to offer seller financing. 

If I had just bought this property and could force some appreciation, I could refinance and hopefully extract that equity within a year, for example--but since this house is paid off, refinancing would introduce a new mortgage payment.What are the options here?

If you're not resident in Japan, you can't borrow from Japanese banks, and so that's out the window. 

I strongly advise you to get your primary residence taken care of FIRST.

I've lived in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and California(current residence), and analyzing deals in my "back yard" at each location usually ends with me paying out of pocket to own a rental. 

I’m interested in purchasing an investment property with equity I’ve developed in my current home, however I’m concerned that if I have an issue renting out the new home it can blow up in my face.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Unfortunately, going from FHA on the departing residence to a ne FHA loan can almost never work for a few reasons. 

Over the years, however, we’ve found that we end up coming down to Orlando quite a lot, especially in the last couple of years, and we end up staying in vacation rentals (Reunion, Championsgate, Storey Lake typically).I would love to simply pull equity from the current property but given that it’s a long term rental and we are Canadians, from what we understand it’s not an option for us.we love reunion but I feel that would probably not be the best for ROI.