the costs for the Airbnb furnishings could be anywhere from $20K- $30K.. are hard money lenders willing to include this amount in the initial loan? 

I have a situation where a person I know is moving out of the country and would be looking to put their home for sale in the summer.

If you're lucky, you'll get some money from him and can consider it a bonus.I recommend you tighten up your process.

You can also do this on a refinance.Else, you can find private money, take out a HELOC if you have a lot of equity, go hard money and then refinance after, or see if your preferred builder offers financing.

When I go to get more work done, I use the person that was fairly priced and met my expectations that first time, I do not shop around again for the lowest deal.

I'm also starting off my own personal investment property journey with my husband. 

And what if the one person you didn't check has a criminal background, has collections, and more?

A new person doing an OOS BRRRR right now is ripe for a loss.

If you're more of a 'personal referral' person than a 'do research online' person, and this is local to you in Manhattan, KS, hit up one or two of the trades people in the "little apple all stars" BNI group.

Insurance liability, I personally know 2 families that lost their children in home pools.