Owner Occupied Partner

[Nghi Le]

One of the kids I used to teach in my youth group recently moved away to Vancouver, WA to go to school (Washington State University has a campus there).  He tells me he's renting a place there.  I asked him why he didn't just buy a place there and start house-hacking (after explaining what house-hacking is and its benefits).  He never actually thought he could buy a house at his age, especially while being a student, but after learning that it only takes 3.5% down (and some closing costs) and Vancouver being much cheaper than Seattle... he's intrigued, but still very scared.

I've always wanted to invest in rentals, but it's almost impossible to cash flow in my market.  I considered investing far away, but needed someone local that I could trust.  Vancouver is about 3 hours away, and is much cheaper.  So I offered to partner with him on a deal.

I was thinking we'd take title in both of our names, but he'd be on the (FHA) loan since having a mortgage is good for building his credit, and because I wanted to reserve my credit and financials for emergency exit strategies in our flipping business (in case the house doesn't sell). I could contribute some money, as well as mentorship and taking care of the finances and taxes, while he stays there and manages the property until he's done with school (or at least just the first year). When he's done with school, I was thinking of getting a property manager and maybe refinancing to get rid of PMI.

What are your thoughts on this?  Is it a good idea?  Should I structure it differently?  Is it possible to both take title with him taking on an owner-occupied loan without me having to live there (although he's the only one on the loan)?  Is Vancouver a good rental market in general; what kind of tenants would we be getting (A-class, B-class, etc)?