To partner or not

[Brandon Addison]

Hello everyone!  I currently work full-time and am involved in writing projects/adjunct teaching. I'm in the initial stages of looking to invest in real estate for the purpose of diversifying my long-term investments. I'm leaning toward a buy-and-hold strategy, but my wife is *very* risk averse. We live in Los Angeles (earthquakes don't concern my wife as much as real estate) and investing in real estate in this area is very difficult for a beginning investor who is not looking to take on a substantial amount of risk.

I am originally from South Bend, Indiana, however, and my childhood best friend remains in South Bend and is close to becoming a CPA. He also has interests in getting into real estate and because of our long-term relationship, I think we could make good business partners. He has an accounting background that could help us immensely and he is close enough to the area to be able to address pressing issues. The cost of real estate in South Bend is significantly cheaper and partnering spreads the risk substantially (it also presents the opportunnity for trips home to family to be business/pleasure, representing tax benefits). 

The only hesitation I have is that his friendship is worth more to me than becoming a billionaire real-estate investor. I'd be interested to hear from any current investors who are in partnerships. What are the things we need to consider as we assess this opportunity? 

P.S. I've read the BP Beginners Guide, which discusses partnership. Good info there! I'm just trying to see if there is any additional info in the experience of others. Thank you all for your consideration!