I realize that I probably need to hire a financial expert to truly assist me with this question, but I’d like to ask the community how they’d look at this situation beforehand because my wife and I are relatively new at all of this.

The photographer's name is Dion and his business is Peek at Properties, he did a great job and was really helpful with staging recommendations for close up shots in the kitchen.  

It seems like there are a lot of choices out there so I am looking for anything that can help me navigate making a decision. 

This is part of the game.

Others 15 yrs, etc.So we depreciate a portion of the asset costs faster.We do the study and get dollar amounts assigned to different parts and different schedules to front-load depreciation.Now you can get 5 or 6% of the value as a deduction in the early years...But wait... there's more.Bonus depreciation allows you to deduct a certain percentage of cost in the first year an asset is put into service.Anything that is on a schedule of 15 years or less...So the doors, sidewalks, HVAC, walls, latches, curbs, security, gates, etcA % of this stuff goes in Yr 1.For years 2015 through 2017, first-year bonus depreciation for these items was set at 50%.It was scheduled to go down to 40% in 2018 and 30% in 2019, 0% in 2020.But then the Tax Cuts and Jobs act moved this percentage to 100% from 2017 to 2022 and 80% in 2023 and 60% in 2024.Its not uncommon to allocate 30% of an asset cost to items that can be depreciated on a 15 year or faster time frame.So now 60% of that 30% of your asset's cost can be depreciated in the first year, excluding land.Pretty great.This is how real estate owners, investors, and operators make millions and pay very little in taxes compared to W2 employees.They pay even less and can offset other types of income if they are an RE Pro.

You can also find a mentor to help you do your first project. 

I have been considering joining AAGLA and know they have lease forms and other forms, but it is $199/yr.In the next couple months, I am looking to get a standard CA NAA lease written up with RUBS for water and sewer billing and a requirement for the tenants to carry their own renters insurance policies with $100K or so (if there are recommendations around this please let me know) liability limits.Does the community here have any advice on how best to do this and where I could get a lease form that does the trick?

If so, any law firm or agency you can recommend to help with this?

This is the total of all sources of income in an investment. 

A STR purchase won't help you do this.