When family and business don't mix!

[Alton Williams]

Greetings to all, I'm curious as to your thoughts on mixing real estate investing with family. I'm currently working on some things with my father and at times it seems like the best idea and other times not so much. How are you guys doing out there with your personal relationships mixing in with business? I'm also working on bringing my fiancé along for the ride so in the future she doesn't have to rely on W2 income, any thoughts on this from my BP family would be awesome.

[Brian Mathews]

I personally won't do any business with friends or family. But that is me. I think it can make Thanksgiving dinner or social gatherings awkward if something goes wrong. Spouses have a particular way of screwing things up. Saying that, if you decide to do that. You need everything layed out in writing by a 3rd party that both of you pay, not your lawyer or theirs. Everything needs to be spelled out as to what will happen if somebody wants out, something gets divorced and the spouse wants half, etc... No handshake deals and everybody put in equal parts money and time, not one person funds the deal and the other one does the work. Because perceptions of what is more valuable when the deal goes south will vary greatly.