Hearing stories like yours gives me encouragement.

I would just encourage you to chat with an experienced real estate attorney so you can see the risks you face - once you see that you can decide for yourself how much protection you would like to invest in.The only real problem with asset protection is that you don't know you need it until it is already too late.

I’d encourage you to keep developing yourself with education, normally fear is a result of lack of education.

Not to encourage people to just buy new construction homes. 

As you grow a network of people you work with, BP can be a great resource for some of those connections, but also I'd encourage you to attend local meet-ups. 

I agree that for good realtor, being PM at the same time can help build accountability and encourages investors to buy more in the future.

The deductible just discourages reporting problems or encourages them to cover up or repair themselves.

For government employees on official travel, use of the government travel card is generally strongly encouraged (from a legit fraud control perspective).

Any advice for other actions to take to ensure a smooth handover and/or tips on how to encourage current residents to move along so that I can remodel and raise rents besides buying them out?

The sense of community and encouragement provided by reading everyone's posts has helped me believe that my new goals are sensible and achievable---  with a lot of hard work!