How to structure a deal with partner who will do the work?

[Charlotte Edwards]

I'm going to be buying a rental but am not in the area nor do I know much about buying/fixing/selling houses. I have the money and will be keeping the property in my name.

My sister is the one who will, in all likelihood, help me with the selection of the property, fixing it up and being the property manager.

I see that it's standard for PMs to get first month's rent plus 8 to 10% monthly. But what about this leg work that she'll be doing? I've found a few properties online that look good; she looked over them herself and told me what might need repaired before renting out. Does an hourly rate make sense in this case; paying for her time in visiting sites and viewing listings? Or is this something my agent should be helping me with?

Some of the repairs she'll be able to do herself, other things she may contract out. She works full-time and is a recent single mom, so her free time is going to be a bit limited to when her child is at the dad's. She's already bought/fixed up three homes and loves doing this kind of stuff.

Since it's my sister, and I want to keep our relationship strong, I want to be super clear about everything and be fair to her.

I'd love to know what others think of this idea and how to structure our agreement.