Rental Fire - Whats the smart move?

[Curtis Robbins]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Struggled with what part of the forum to place this in, please feel free to relocate.

I've had a rental for a number of years, bought it in 09' as a primary residence and converted it to a rental in 15'. Its been cash flowing well great, and I've had great tenants all along. Was an easy arrangement without much fuss. Couldn't complain. Until last night that is, when a good thing turned into a truck sized hole in my roof. I'm inexperienced on a good day, and my best asset is I know just how much I don't know, least of all about home restoration following a massive fire in an occupied rental.

The story so far, is that thankfully nobody was hurt (bullet dodged) and neighboring properties were unaffected (miracle). Massive damage through the whole house, and was 5 minutes away from a total loss. Fortunately, I had the proper insurance in place, and made sure the tenants did as well. I've got loss of lease payments/expenses covered in my policy so I should be OK on that front. Adjusters, investigators, and fire marshals are scheduled to come visit asap.

Soon comes the fun game of cat and mouse, where the insurance company tries to low ball me, and I get the oh-so-enviable task of arguing my case for more money. Before then, I need to determine who will do the repairs, so that they can help negotiate with the Adjusters for the final quote. A great company showed up on the scene (before I did in fact), and was able to board up the house to protect it. They are obviously pushing for the up-sell right now, and are hoping to do the full renovation. The company name is 360 restoration, based out of Avon Indiana in Hendricks county (in case you were curious).

360 has been extremely helpful so far, and seem to have a lot of experience working with insurance companies and repairing these types of homes. They are already working 2 other house fires in metro Indy. From an experience perspective, I think they will be hard to beat. However, my gut says I shouldn't sign with the first company I talk to, no matter the sense of urgency, and that at the very least I should bid the project out to a few folks and see what my prices look like. My primary concern, is that we'll be walking the property with the adjuster soon, and I feel pressure to have a contractor in place by then or I may lose out on some negotiating power.

My question for the community, is in these circumstances should I be bothering to bid this out to multiple contractors to try and find the cheapest guy? Or should I be aiming/prioritizing experience over cost in this extra difficult legal and insurance quagmire?

For bonus points, here are some more fun things to consider;

• What do i do with the tenants? What about security deposit? They really loved the place and want to stay, but obviously they can't. Also don't want to leave them high and dry, but just am not sure about the standard operating procedure in this type of event.
• What role does the mortgage company play in all this? I've considered paying off the mortgage to cut them out of the loop so I can have more direct control of the funds. This is an option for me, but i'm not sure its really worth it (or smart). I would just re-finance or sell the property after it was remodeled. 
• Any tips about the renovation in general? I'm curious if there are some easy wins to build some sweat equity into this project. Ideally, I'd like to find a way to turn this loss into an opportunity for profit. Realistically, I'd like to cut costs and pocket the difference (ethically and legally).

TLDR - House go boom boom, how me fix smart?