Partnering on first deal

[Michael Campbell]

I have come to the conclusion that I will have to partner with someone on my first deal. How do you find people to partner with? How do you set up the deal structure? I already have my own LLC and business bank account.

[Stuart Udis]

First take inventory of your own skill sets &  strengths and seek partners who have complimentary rather than overlapping skill sets and strengths. By way of example, two individuals who both have strong construction backgrounds but lack the balance sheet will generally not result in a successful partnership. Meanwhile, a partnership where one of the individuals has a construction background and the other has a balance sheet at the time of the partnership inception may have more success. 

More specific to the second half of your post, keep in mind possessing an LLC and a business bank account aren't necessarily marketable to a partnership unless the bank account has liquidity and/or the LLC already owns assets that can be contributed. Unless the LLC already owns real estate that can be contributed, its generally safest and cleanest to begin with a new LLC unless there was truly no business activity that's been undertaken by the individual who formed the LLC. Except for a situation where there is contributed real estate assets, I personally would not want to enter into a partnership where the other individual previously created the LLC as I am not clear what business activities may have occurred within the LLC prior to my admission to the company. Even if there was property, I would want to review a title report to verify accuracy of all disclosed liens and no hidden surprises. Now if this is an LLC that was just formed and is not a deed holder entity, that's a different story. These are just a items I picked up on when reading your post you should be mindful of when communicating with potential partners.