Investing with a Friend/Partner

[Scott Savard]

Hi BP Members,

I'm in the process of "starting out". A friend of mine and myself have been intrigued by Real Estate Investing for a while now but have really just started to buckle down and get serious about it. We have a few leads on properties (a neighbor of mine as well as a family member of mine) but want to make sure we get everything together before we jump right in. I have three main questions..

1) I've read on BP that starting an LLC is only really a good choice if you are in a partnership situation, which we are, though my question is whether or not there may be better options for partnerships, other than starting an LLC..

2) What is the best way to go about obtaining a mortgage in a partnership situation. We have a sizable amount of cash for a down payment, but does this need to be somehow tied to the LLC, other than in our personal bank accounts, prior to going apply for a mortgage?

3) I see people all the time mentioning their calculators and spreadsheets to evaluate properties and whether or not they are worth investing in. Does anyone know of a good one that shows specific examples of properties? I'd like to see one completed and analyzed to wrap my head around everything and make sure i'm not missing anything when we get to this stage of the process. 

Thanks in advance for the help..

Scott