Starting out

[Bob Catalano]

My partner and I have decided to pull the trigger and start flipping houses. We have $100,000 liquid funds to start with. My question is, should we start a company first? Should I register an S Corp before I really get started and making offers?

[Steven Stokes]

@Ty Burns Congratulation on finally jumping in the water.

Here are a few things I've learned about being in a partnership.

1. If at all possible NEVER be in a partnership with a family member or close friend. The saying that goes, "the best way to lose a friend is to lend them money." is a really true saying. I have family members who I had a partnership with that ended years ago that is still a sore subject during the holidays.
2. Have clearly written roles and responsibilities as to what each person in your partnership will do and will be responsible for and will have final authority on. I just ended a deal in a partnership where it was only me and two other people. One of the people in partnership had a idea and a plan for everything and had to put their two cents in on everything we were doing. It caused a lot of conflict and slowed down the deal. Only when we reminded them of what we had written down and that person agreed to did we start to smooth out our differences. Have the roles and responsibilities in writing. It will save you from a deal going bad.
3. Make ever deal a separate deal and separate contract. If you have to go to court you're only going to court over one deal and not your entire empire.
4. Know who you're in a partnership with, check they're references, who they have worked with and get a feeling for what kind of partnership style they have. Some people are hands off, some are all consuming, some are here today and gone tomorrow. Know who you are dealing with and then go into the partnership AFTER you've investigated them. You can do this formally or informally. I find the best way is just asking people who knows them what they think about them and then asking who else do they know that you can talk to.
5. Make sure everyone knows what the goals of the investment is and what you are going to do worse case scenario. Everyone is happy when things are going well, the true test of a partnership is when things start going the wrong way. If you have a plan and agreement for what to do when things go wrong you will be far far ahead and it will save you time, money and headaches.

These are the five most important that I can think of off the top of my head. You can't plan for every situation but do have some kind of over arching plan for what to do in big picture situations.

I hope this was understandable and I hope this helps

good luck