Investing in rental properties with a parent?

[James Phan]

Hello all, this is my first post on the forums and I'm brand new to the whole real estate realm. Looking for suggestions on what you would recommend going forward in this situation.

Background

I am moving back to my home town of Las Vegas to help take care of my elderly, disabled mom, who is becoming more dependent for daily activities and no longer able to manage finances independently. Quick info on me: I am 30, married, stable health care job, very frugal, spend about $3000/mo combined with wife, currently at Coast FI through VTSAX and cryptocurrency, but absolutely ZERO real estate experience, including no primary residence because I have worked exclusively travel contracts. My dad passed away a few years ago and left his assets to my mom, which currently includes 3 SFH (1 primary residence + 2 rentals) all paid off, about $1.3mil in equity and $3300/mo gross rental income + some stocks. In the past, I have helped my mom invest her stocks, but she had been dealing with the rental properties. Unfortunately, it was my dad who was the finance guy and managed all the rentals and my mom does not have as much financial literacy, has tried to outsource most of the management to a property manager and would rather not do anything with management at this point. Additionally, she is used to the lifestyle that my dad used to provide while he was still working and she currently spends about $6000-8000/mo (a lot of which is also medical expenses for chronic conditions), so she withdraws from the stock portfolios to supplement current spending. From my calculations, she would deplete her stock portfolio with current spending in less than 7 years, which then her plan was to start selling off the homes. I believe that if she were to continue down this path, she would obviously run out of money.

At this point, my mom is also willing to have me take over the rental properties and/or use these properties for leverage to increase our wealth so that she does not run out of money and so that I do not have to support her with my own W2 salary in the future; thus, I am wondering what would be the best way to proceed with the least risk? 

TL;DR

Mom has 1.3m in equity, willing to do joint-mortgage or joint investments for real estate. I am taking care of her as far as daily expenses (groceries, transportation, etc), so looking to leverage her current investments to increase wealth. Being a complete newbie, what should I look into as pro/cons/risks for this plan going forward?

- HELOC vs home equity long vs cash out refi?

- how would potential lenders view the situation?

- potential risk of partnership? We both have 800 credit score, I would handle all mortgages and simply pay out 50/50 or more depending on her bills

- least risky investment? I was thinking SFH buy & hold in our backyard of Las Vegas, rent by room to travel nurse/professionals or potentially Airbnb in Henderson (Airbnb potentially becoming legal in Clark County in July 2022)

Thanks in advance!