Take in-place leases and expenses, forecast stabilized rents and expenses, understand the financing requirements (LTV, DSCR, reserves, net worth, liquidity covenants, etc).  

There are registered agent services that can fill this role for you.

Do you offer lending services for california properties as well?

At least up here, service is VERY important and VERY complicated, so you and/or your attorney need to make sure that you cover all the bases. 

Luckily I found a good contractor and have HOA approval for the project (very lucky I know) I do have the reserves but eventually wanted to purchase a duplex to split and while the house hack will help with monthly costs with interest rates so high it still won’t cover all monthly costs so I think using the 45k for another down payment is the way to go.

It depends on what your starting reserves are, but if you have enough for a down payment, I would look into DSCR loans for financing, as you can qualify based on the property's cash flow as opposed to your own personal income. 

We prefer hands-free as much as possible (most utilities and services for us are tenant-responibility).  

If you have large reserves or long track record you probably can get 80% LTV cash out with a 3 year prepay and the rate increased for the exception.

What are the estimated costs for professional interior design services for short-term rentals?

We had planned to have a lawn care service doing that, but until we can get the rental income up a bit more, it would be a cash flow killer.