CA investors still make money. 

I was also told that the LLC interest has to be divided based on the capital contribution and cannot be divided based on the work, for example it can't be a 50/50 partnership if one puts all the money and the other does all the work.Any additional insight or leads would be helpful!

Better at first join a team: less money, more experience, but most importantly, practice your scripts.

thereby allowing these plumbing updates to pay for themselves).I've got the toilets and faucets all picked out (because I have personal experience with these and I know which ones are good) - but I'm not sure what to do about the shower heads...I know that shower heads are an item that can be the biggest money-saver (because these tend to consume more water than anything else).

You also have to look at your own War chest of money and make sure you can roll with the worst of the punches that could happen.

NC and SC have some great markets for short term rentals and you would definitely increase your wealth by splitting the money and buying multiple properties.

Alternatively, if something were to arise in our life (emergency or otherwise) while this money was tied up in an investment, we're left with few good options. 2) Time is not something I have much of.

For an experienced investor you may put as low as 10% down on a hard money loan, with a handful doing 100% financing. 

You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property.

If this tenant doesn't move out, I risk postponing the close date, and losing money on the mortgage every month this situation drags on.