How to structure this long term HOLD and RENT...

[Chinmay J.]

I have been buy and hold investor for quite some time.  I mostly bought in the post financial crisis For last year or so, I have been busting my rear to find a deal to flip in the D/M/V area, without much luck. I would still like to flip at some point, but in the meantime a good realtor friend introduced me to HOLD and RENT opportunity that looks solid. 

Location:  Central Virginia (I live in Northern, Virginia)

Type of property: 1 Triplex and 1 Duplex. 

Asking Price: $120 K each (So $240 K, but the seller is willing to discount if we buy both together)

Rehab: Fully rehabbed already.  Maybe 2-3K worth of light touch ups.  (per the realtor).  I have only seen the pics yet, and they look great. I am probably headed Monday or Tuesday to actually take a look at the place.

Rental Income  $750 per unit. ($3750 per month) Duplex is rented out, Triplex is currently vacant. 

Utilities: Everything is sub metered. Gas/Power/Water and Sewer. Tenants pay everything.

Now here's the problem:

I have a potential partner and his wife who want to JV with me. He is an ex client as well that I helped to buy a place and represented him as a realtor.

What would be easiest way to structure this?

One way of doing it would be to have every single person (3 or maybe 4 if fourth one decides to come along) on the loan application and title, and having a JV agreement between ourselves to decide on how to structure the splits. My biggest concern is when it comes to selling the place, there is always a likelihood of having a disagreement. He wants to move on to different venture, but I want to keep the rental - or other way around.  Also, my understanding is that to buy someone out, would require a refinance of the property at the current going rate, so the person can be removed from title and loan itself. Am I correct or am I wrong? 

Another potential way of doing the deal would be me buying  a triplex or the duplex and my friend buying the other one. That way we can both claim the discount. The seller doesn't really care if one person buys it or two different people buy it. Then I have complete control over my property, and they have over theirs. 

What other ways of doing JV would you suggest?