So as an investor, you need to gain more out of a deal, you need to grow not stay in the same situation.

I bought it because I needed somewhere inexpensive to stay during and after a divorce.

The report for the 2 counties shows 1,110; age 50-89, single family homes, purchased 6/1998 or before, home value up to $250,000.If you want to follow the advice of @Nicholas L. and work in Clayton County, I'd stay away from the Absentee owners since they are probably receiving plenty of offers to sell.

I've been looking into ways to stay on top of my finances and set myself up for a stable future.

My question: how do you stay motivated to continue fighting the fight to keep investing, flippling, selling, etc. 

I would stay away from Armstrong Property Management though.

Nonetheless, I'm sure you can find a decent deal that takes into account all your criteria if you stay aggressive/creative in your search.

So far I’ve yet to have any tenant stay longer than one year.

Hoping to stay near Mauldin but man prices still climbing in the Greenville area so might have to open up to those areas for strictly investment properties after we can find a bigger house here.

Stay away from Newark NJ... buyer beware.