We have just made our first claim after major water damage in a rental.

Jeff there is always exceptions ,let me clarify the majority of the H.U.D homes that are in good shape priced right are snatched up in hours not days the market is that hot here.

We have used Pinderhughes for the majority of our closings and their are wholsaler friendly. 

a misunderstanding cost me one month of headaches for me, tenant and i have one abatement (hud not paying rent to owner because of list of repairs not taken care of) on my record. sometime the inspectors let you do small repairs/adjustments on the fly. understand that the vast majority of inspectors are not there to "get you": are there to make sure there is no danger/slumlording happening.

@Mark GrazianoI guess my advice is that you need to make money before you figure out how to set up for a major business. 

This is all happening fairly quickly and I don’t want to make any major mistakes as I’m trying to set this up for my son.

Any major factors here to be concerned with as I model this?

Fair Housing is major and in Howard County, MD you can not reject a tenant because of Section 8 status.

The majority of those that laughed at my decrepit house buys at 18% interest, told me I was a FOOL spending every night & vacation rehabbing & that I would NEVER make money in REI, still can't afford to retire.

The cost to replace will depend on whether those are still structurally sound enough to sister in new joists ( basic labor job plus lumber ) or if they are crumbling and need to be removed to be replaced ( major job, skilled labor, temporary supports, remove and replace ).