I’m looking at a ‘deal’ with a $500,000+ asking price, which I know is small to lots of folks here, but would be pretty large for me.

I don’t know how interested I am in this deal right now because I currently have about $25,000 waiting to be a down payment on my next Tri/Quad, which means I’m about $75,000 (plus closing costs) short of the down payment for this deal (assuming a 20% down loan.)

My question: Assuming I have the cash for a 25% stake in the deal (i.e. $25k of a $100k down payment, plus my share of closing costs, etc.) how much is bringing the ‘deal’ itself typically worth to a partner if they are experienced in the type of deal I’m looking at, and I'm really not? 5%? 50%? Nothing?

Should I just go for a bird-dog fee and hand it all off to someone else? I’m really not bringing much to the table on this one, but I’d like to make sure whatever I get out of it (if anything) is fair for everyone involved. If that means they toss me a couple hundred bucks and I build a new relationship because that’s fair, I’m fine with that. But I’d rather not get suckered either.

I’ve done my preliminary work on it, to the point where the next big question that needs to be answered is financing – otherwise I’m wasting mine and everyone else’s time by getting really deep into due diligence. This might turn out to not really be a deal either, in which case I learned something, and maybe met some new investors – I’m fine with that as well.

Thanks All!