Looking into a Duplex with a partner

[Richard T Himes]

So I'm looking into investing in a duplex with a close friend and I'm not sure how to go about the deal.

Here's what we're thinking: he finances the loan, and we each contribute 50% of the down payment (around $18k each.)  We will be 50/50 partners in the property, but from the banks side of things it will go through him.

The reason we are thinking of leaving me out of the lending side is because my DTI is a little off because of student loans and a car payment (which my company pays for both), and I'm renting out the first house I bought with an FHA, but it hasn't been long enough to count as income. I recently applied for a LOC at a credit union and they weren't a fan of my "debt" even though the payments aren't actually coming out of my pocket. But nonetheless, I understand where they are coming from so we are trying to navigate around that.

I feel like all of our ducks are in order but didn't know if there's something about that deal that I'm missing and would be bad for either party.  Our families are close so we aren't trying to get over on each other.

Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks in advance.

[Edward Liu]

To protect both parties, no matter how close your families are, there should be some type of legal agreement to define this partnership and corresponding asset.  Have you thought about death to one of you or both?  There is divorce and asset must be split?  What would happen if there is no agreement?

The cleanest way is form an LLC where you are 50/50 to LLC. LLC owns the property and get commercial loan in the name of the LLC. The LLC operating agreement will define all the scenarios above and what to do (easy to find a template online). You might need to research into commercial loan and see if it meets your needs.