The folks putting it together invited me to speak on their panel so I am sure it will be entertaining, lol. 

The property is not the most “renter friendly” - it does not have A/C, has mostly carpet, has original windows (~30 years old), is in an HOA community (which can just be a pain to deal with, plus the fees), has a broken sprinkler system, the electrical wiring is all screwed up, needs an electrical panel upgrade in order to put in A/C, has a swamp cooler (aka an evaporative cooler, which is more of a pain for me than anything), and the list goes on.My major question is whether I should just give up this property with the hopes that I could find something through a 1031 exchange that maybe does have some of these things that make a property more “renter friendly” like A/C, new windows, hardwood floors, a functioning sprinkler system, etc.

I need to install a GFCI outlet on both sides of every sink (not replace a normal outlet with a GFCI one, put in entirely new outlets so every sink has two), install another 2-3 smoke detectors per property, repaint all internal molding/trim so that it matches, replace a garage door panel that has a 1 cm dent, and so on.

electric panel is made by Federal Pacific - it is a fire and safety hazard and must be replaced by doing a panel swap ($1K - $2.5K) electricity in the house is ungrounded - in order to pass section 8 inspections, electric must be TRIPLE grounded.

@Vadim Babets - This topic came up at the BEC several weeks ago and the general consensus by the expert panel was that the only known quantity is what is now, inflation is not going to disappear in the very near future and even if it does back off, it's not expected that prices go back down, thus there is no time like the present to get started.    

(same paneling)

Needing an electrician who can:1) Inspect the existing electrical panels, 2) Recommend repairs & perform them if needed, 3) Tag the meter(s) so IPL will re-connect the house to the grid. 

I added a kitchen from scratch (had to install a new electrical sub-panel), kitchen cabinets, water line and drain for the sink, a couple walls, a couple closets, new floor, paint, some new fixtures and a bathroom remodel and it came out to $35k total.  

The electrical panels have been upgraded on both sides of the duplex, but much of the wiring in the home is still knob and tube. 

I would love to put a taller fence or even screen panels, but I don't think it's allowed in Phoenix if over 6 feet.