In the ideal case, there be a "new California" emerging somewhere in the next 10 years.

Tell them they will be billed for maintenance requests where the repair person comes out and finds nothing wrong.Also don't be so quick to fix non emergency repairs. 

I concluded the same from the civil laws and HOA CCR.The HOA has not described them as emergency repairs.

If an emergency repair gets made, what dollar amount is an owner comfortable allowing the PM to make without their immediate approval? 

Use the 150K as a down payment/emergency fund.

consistent, quality handymen and cleaners, and plumbers that are available quickly in emergencies have been the hardest to find.

While paying off bad debts, we’re also saving up one year of emergency funds before saving up for a down payment.

Hey @Jordan Ryan, Since it's going to be your first rental property I would not recommend going very far unless you are investing in an area where you have friends or relatives that could get to the property in case of an emergency. 

In the ideal case, there be a "new California" emerging somewhere in the next 10 years.

That's $10,000 more in your pocket . . . but it comes at the price of you being the one to answer all the calls and emails, emergency calls from guests that can't find the breaker panel or figure out how to operate the A/C, guest complaints, coordinating cleaners, refunds, or whatever.If you have 150 bookings a year and spend an average of one hour per guest, that's 150 hours of your time.