I started by patching about a dozen (not small) holes in the wall, re-doing all the drywall in the bathroom, installing new shower plumbing, putting in recessed lighting, installing seamless LVP throughout, texturing/priming/painting all walls, installing new 5 inch pine baseboard all around, and installing custom bathroom vanity/pantry cabinets, and hanging new custom shaker doors in the kitchen.

This is not only my experience, but when you call VRBO or Airbnb customer service, they will tell you the same thing.  

Every little thing in the project should be in writing, even down to the door stops :-) See my tile spec sheet below ...Two problems with your post though - 1) In my experience, most problems come from the customer changing their minds constantly.

There are multiple customizations for STR that could be made. 

Quote from @Brandon Weis: In your opinion, as you are starting out at 0 reviews, do you think it is a must to beat the competition on price to overcome customer's hesitancy or lack of trust with no reviews?

Another is they customize the property to their liking only.

Were there any challenges with shipping, customs, or delivery?

I'm a Project Manager at an Architectural Firm specializing in Custom High-End Homes. 

If you switch to or stay with the custom tax settings, you'll need to update the amount of tax collected to 7.75% because the 9% city tax will be collected and remitted by law to the city on your behalf, but  the 6% state and 1.75% county tax will be collected and sent to you to remit to the state and via Avenu to the county. 

Alternatively, platforms like Twilio provide excellent customization but might require more technical setup for Podio.