Pre LLC Joint Venture Advice

[Ralph Stowe]

I've been working on my first Joint Venture with a realtor to find our first flip property. In following Brandon Turner's advice, "Don't protect something until you have something to protect." We haven't established an LLC but plan to do so once we have a property to put in it. Are there some general guidelines or maybe a simple agreement that is used to spell out who gets paid what for doing what in acquiring an selling the first property? We've discussed some basic expectations like, whoever finds the lead or brings it to the table should get a finders fee, whoever fronts personal holdings into the rehab should get a respectable return on their investment, managing contractors or performing work on the property deserves compensation, and we both assume with my partner being a realtor, he would receive the commissions as listing agent. We seem to be on the same page about everything and there is a respect and trust established, but they always say, "you don't need a contract ...until you need a contract." so we were wondering what others have done to protect themselves without establishing a full blown LLC before acquiring the first property together. Any advice is appreciated.