New Investor: LLC? With a partnership?

[James Diem]

Hello all,

My wife and I are looking to make our first deal and trying to get our finances and plan straight first.  In the meantime we are listening to the podcast, analyzing deals, and reading whatever we can get our hands on.  

One of our biggest questions right now has to do with what the process of utilizing an LLC to protect your assets looks like. I saw that you cannot get a standard loan if the LLC will own the property but don't fully understand how this would all work.

Additionally in order to make our down payment we are seeking a partner (we have one identified but they would be new to this as well so we are learning together).  How does the process of splitting profits, down payment costs, maintenance, etc. work in a partnership?  How have people done this before?  We would expect to be the larger part of the partnership as we would bring the deal, 30-50% of the down payment, and do the work of managing the property (we live close and they live in another country right now).  

What advice do others have for us?  We are ready to get our hands dirty and start becoming financially free!