Also, many homeowners policies provide for protection in the event of a special assessment.

If you are not planning on holding the departing residence for a minimum of 8-12 years as a rental which still might not be long enough to take a hit to the equity that's there and recover it fully (if it takes such a hit), then sell now and redeploy the equity into your new house (if you are so inclined) or invest it into any number of principle protected low or no load investments that can return at least as much as it will likely earn as equity...with no risk of loss of principal.  

Thus is not the deal to cut your teeth on and it is unlikely that the bank will agree to a short sale with a deployed veteran owner due to protections for Active Duty accorded through the Soldier and Sailors Relief Act.  

Fortunate for the owner, they have better control of the rehab costs and are able to protect themselves from crooked contractors who take money and dont finish the jobs.

It is just a layer of protection so you don't have flakers..

So using the expertise from their Realtor, they would expect to receive an offer close to what the listing is.  

We did not have a signed contract for this deal it was done on a handshake so that's the first mistake noted .I need some help on how I can protect my investment?

The extremely low probability of the slip and fall lawsuit the LLC is suppose to protect you from isn't something I fret about.  

Might just get licensed since it doesn't cost an arm and leg and it will protect me. 

Having said that, I think as a second set of eyes on a deal and having a realtor or a fellow investor take a look at it especially if they have expertise Ina particular area would add value to making sure the deal is solid.Feel free to provide additional comments.