There are peers I work with who have a crazy leg up and advantage in their designing abilities and an eye for art and photography that has helped them create KILLER STR listings, wholesaling websites, and realtor websites. 

I don't see many homes for sale around here but I do real estate photography/3-D scanning for rental homes and even their business is slow. 

For example, we take professional photography to aid in the leasing process, put tenants through a thorough screening process, handle small repairs to large renovations, represent you in any potential eviction issues and can also assist with the buying & selling of your properties.

His name is Donny and his website is here: Donny Michel Photography

A quick search online found a Digital Trend article with a variety of options, both mobile and desktop to look into. https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/how-to-make-a-watermark/

If we do this, I'll make sure to furnish and decorate the place really well and get really good photography for the listing.

I recognize I need professional photography, but I'm holding off until I can add more items to the property such as night stands, dressers, and misc. items as mentioned in #2 above.

Look, if you won't get a pro at photography, or at minimum someone proficient, at least use a wide angel lens, get back, TRY to show thing sin there best not just jogging through randomly snapping pics. 

I recently had pictures done by https://www.azalearosephotography.com/ - her name is Kindal and she does casual shoots and is trying to get into real estate photography so her prices are really reasonable. 

On the listing side I also spend money on professional photography, floor plans, etc.