I live in an 80+ year old house with toilets that are at least 30 years old.

I like the idea of making it yearly.

ThanmaI would recommend focusing on Anderson, SC, as it has experienced significant growth in recent years and serves as a more affordable alternative to Greenville, SC.

The appliances are also all brand new installed this year- fridge, dishwasher, and washer/dryer.

This means a visual inspection of the exterior every 2 years. 

@Carolyn Fuller here is one of the many I have done ( I update them every year or so depending on changes I make to upgrade) CLICK HERE

If average 30 year fixed loan rates reach the mid 5%'s many of the NON-QM mortgage programs that are currently rate prohibitive will also become more workable as cash flow and return ratios improve.

I have ten years of experience as a real estate agent.

I am thinking about exchanging into another CA property for now (and avoiding the cap gain taxes of upcoming sale), and then a year or two later I'd sell that property and then deploy that money out of state. 

What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.?