Multi-family apartment purchase with friends

[Eric Hampton]

My wife has successfully managed large 500+ unit apartment complexes for over 25 years. She has done everything you can imagine in terms of assisting with multi-site management and acquisitions, dealing with contractors, transitions, renovations, all things dealing with multi-family operations. We have often talked about owning our own apartment and have even taken a few classes on doing so. I too have dealt in real estate as a loan officer, and we have purchased investment houses in the past, and I have an excellent ability to find deals and negotiate. The problem is we (my wife and I) alone do not have the funds needed to purchase alone. We have friends who have the funds and are looking to invest with us. We just need to know how to structure a partnership with these friends where we have a stake in the property through our experience and they have a stake through their financial investment? In short, how to structure the partnership?