Partnership Structure--Buy and Hold

[Clay Manship]

I'm hoping there is an easy answer for this question:

Myself and two friends are looking to buy a 4-plex here in the area. The purchase price is $100K, turn-key and 100% occupied. We will be putting 25% down, or $25,000. However, the original equity into the project will not be divided equally among the parties. It will look like this:

Me - $5,000

Partner 1 - $5,000

Partner 2- $20,000 (we are collective $5,000 extra for minor repairs and an operating account)

My question is, how can we structure this so that 1) we all own our prorated equity share in the project and 2) all are guarantors on the loan under our prorated amounts. For instance,

Partner 1 - $5,000/30,000 invested = 16.67% ownership. Partner 1 should also be responsible for 16.67% of the debt on the property.

The best way I can configure it is to put the Note, Title, and Mortgage in the name of an LLC, but no banks will do that anymore. If one individual took title to the property, but made all three partners co-guarantors in their prorated amounts, could that individual then quit-claim deed the property to our created LLC?

Looking for some pointers here, as I believe this is some (very) small syndication deal. All you deal structure folks, help a guy out!

[Travis Sperr]

@Clay Manship your assumptions are correct in that a typical lender is not going to lend to an LLC - although a local bank may do so with personal guarantees, likely requiring all three to sign in this situation. A good way to structure would be via an LLC with a clearly defined operating agreement - very specifically spelling out roles and responsibilities.

To go one more step outside of the financing piece i would really encourage you to take a look at what you are getting into. I don't know your experience but 3 partners on a deal this size where one is putting up the majority of the money, especially with financing involved sounds like a bad idea to me.