This will be my first investment property and I am hesitant to just hand $30k+ to someone and trust it'll all work out.

Are you looking for more cash in hand to boost your lifestyle?

You can use the stepped value on delayed financing, but you are limited to what you paid for the property cash in hand plus closing costs.

I would recommend you read Brian Burke's excellent book, The Hands-Off Investor. 

So I guess we just stay in our own Lanes :)  AS it comes to owning rental property we for sure dont see eye to eye on that and we could never work hand in hand with rentals.. we tried one STR and sold it within 60 days Pain in the butt those are..

We own a handful of our own rentals but also manage about 150 STRs in the Columbia market and surrounding areas. 

I, like you, have a handful of my own STR properties that I self manage, and manage just shy of 20 STR properties located in Bryan / College Station, Tx for out of state/country investors. 

On the other hand, many large firms have a minimum charge they will stick you with and still give you a template form. 

So they'll help you pick the finishes and hand you a shopping list and then you do the rest DIY.

Start by going to this thread:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/899/topics/1214813-pm-h...And review the suggestions @Nathan Gesner shares there for selecting a PM.