Parnterfor Income Property

I suggest that partnering would only add a different layer of stress. With a partner you won't be in control of everything. Even if you know the partner well enough that you think you can trust him, you still have to stay on top of everything so that you'll have a partnership. With a partner, you'll have to discuss plans and make decisions together.

I suggest that you and your husband talk together to see if you can describe what is causing the stress and then together find a way to alleviate the specific cause of stress. If it's your husband having to deal with tenant issues, perhaps you could take over that part of the business or you could hire someone to deal with tenants. If it's maintenance that is causing the stress, perhaps you could hire someone to do some of that.

If the building is not earning enough money to hire help then perhaps you need to raise rents. Perhaps you need help with a more efficient business plan. Have you done any reading or taken any classes on property management. Perhaps consulting with a property management firm would be helpful.

Is this building your main source of income? If your husband works full time managing the building perhaps working for someone else would enable him to hire more often.

I suggest that you need to take a closer look at a bigger picture. I do not see having a partner as being of any help unless you need the money a partner would provide. However, finding a partner is in itself quite stressful and would require legal advice. How would you know if you could trust this person? How would you know that you could work comfortably with this person? How would you know if this person has the skill or knowledge to be successful in business?

Or are you thinking of only having a partner for the money he could provide? If so, how would you decide how to share your income? Would his money enable you to make more money from the building. IF not can you even provide a return for their investment.

I strongly urge you to talk with an attorney about the details of a partnership. It's not an easy thing to set up.

My husband and I were resident managers when he was getting his Masters and I, my teaching credential. We took care of all the day to day business for these units from maintenance, tenant issues, and turnover.

Our compensation was living in one of the units free including ultilities. You may want to consider this option. I can't imagine that you would want to 'sell' a portion of your property.

Good luck!

We partnered in a business and it was a bad deal! We lost a lot of money. It is very difficult to make people do what they don't want to do. We couldn't even see the books because they insisted everything was fine. I was all a joke. Further, they insisted there was insurance on the place, however would not show the certificate of Insurance.

You have to have a good business plan and a good partner. Further, I have seen a lot of people who partner have trouble getting bills paid because they can't get the partner to pay their share.

Again, have a good plan! I am sooo very against partnering.

I agree that you should probably consult with an Attorney if you are planning to partner with someone else.

If, however, you are looking for someone to fill the role of Maintenance Engineer (Part-Time), this may be a more viable option. The Part-Time person could easily assume many of the maintenance and also deal w/ tenant issues. I hope this helps.

~C.

I would definitely talk to an attorney. He might suggest an LLC.

My husband and I bought a 2 unit building with his relative as our home. Absolutely HUGE mistake. His relative moved out to buy a building with someone else. The relationship had already gotten strained at that point. Now his relative does no maintenance whatever, does not help pay the building expenses like the water bill or things that have to be taken care of. He broke our lawn mower by adjusting it--which it did not need. Put a hole in the siding with a snowblower he brought over this past winter because he did not want to shovel anything. Personally prefer he did not even come to clean the snow. He has told people he owns the building (found out when 3 different people asked if I knew if my landlord was looking to sell). We are in the process of buying him out, hopefully BEFORE the IRS puts a lien due to unpaid taxes which I suspect are the contents of letters he has received at the address. If you get a partner rather than a maintenance person, talk to a lawyer first. Have everything drawn up so you can protect yourselves and your investment. There are legal requirements for these types of partnerships also.