-I've had a phone meeting with my current property manager who has advised me on local trends and things to steer clear of and will also provide rental comps to compliment the BP estimator.  

@Joe SplitrockI was also advised to use a public adjuster and to let him deal with my insurer, any comments on that?

Don't mean to sound harsh but based on the few facts you've described, as a fellow senior I would advise her not to get an expensive reverse mortgage, and I'd want a whole bunch more detail on the "doing renovations" part. 

Thanks for the advise Joshua.

I would always advise you to make sure the time to recoup the closing costs/rate buydown makes sense with your plans for how long you'll keep the properties. 

A real estate attorney advised us not to quit claim deed the property from individual ownership to LLC.

I would advise to know your capex/vacancy/maintenance/repairs numbers for your true cashflow.

Would love some advise from anyone who has been in my shoes, starting out on a new career in real estate and realistic short term goes as a new investor.

If you're finding houses that need total gut outs, I would advise against taking the project on to start out.

@Joe Villeneuve I believe the obvious difference is one question would be asking for advise that no one could give me, while the other question is looking for examples of what others are doing, so that I can make my own decision for myself based on those examples.