Most of the "stuff" one does as a real estate agent is learned afterwards either on the job, training provided by your brokerage, and/or earning Designations or Certifications from NAR.Good luck.

I am developing my skills with 3D photography/tours as well as graphic design and digital marketing.Any ideas on whether I should live for free in Lake Tahoe and work as a real estate agent in a competitive/low volume market or move back down to my college town of Santa Barbara and pay rent while building a real estate career there?

As far as estimating rehabs, no, a home inspector is not the best for that, practice is and if you are lucky enough to have a contractor friend willing to put forth the time for you, that would be a decent start although even contractors will need scopes of work and may or may not be able to identify design needs and pricing for said design which is why J Scott and I always preach to learn how to do this yourself for best results. 

Opened the kitchen to the living area by adding a 15ft bar area, featuring quartz kitchen countertops and brushed bronze hardware (also found throughout the house.)

Learn to make adjustments for square footage and features for maximum accuracy, (that's what appraisers do).

I've designed my own software (I'm a full stack software developer) that automates / manages all my properties, I am my own property management with turn-key properties and on-demand contractors for everything, so rarely do I have any issues managing. 

It just depends on what loan suites you best.So the BRRRR method is designed to limit your out of pocket costs when buying an investment property.  

You do not need an architect, you can use a designer.  

How you want to proceed is up to you, personally I’d inform them that they did not follow the proper process by getting the animal before receiving your authorization, and therefore their ESA designation is not legitimate.

I was able to do my own design but I had to call 25 companies before I found one that would do costume the way I wanted it to.