Best way to structure partnership and Mortgage

[Shashank Gadda]

I am planning to buy turnkey residential properties ( townhouses valued at $220k) with friend/partner.

It is for a longterm buy and hold for cash flow type of investment.

I am bringing the deal and will handle ongoing maintenance. I want to leverage my friend/partner for credit i.e, take the mortgage solely on his/her name.

I would like to structure the deal so that we both share everything (rent, down payment, mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, hoa, property management, maintenance and repairs, vacancy) on a set ratio upfront at the beginning, anywhere from 20(me)/80(partner) to 50/50.

The idea is that I get leverage on my investment without my credit history being impacted. And my partner gets to be on the deal and does not worry about ongoing management.

Q1. What is a fair ratio for this ? Is 20 too low and 50 too high for my share?

Q2. How do I convince my friend/partner that I will be also on the hook for mortgage payment even though its not in my name ? What kind of a legal document would serve best for this?

Q3. Who should be on the title? And how should we own the title (joint tenancy or tenants in common)

Q4. I thought about having the property in an LLC and we can specify all the ownership and mortgage details and the exit strategies in the operating agreement. But I learned that we cannot do this as banks do not lend to llcs unless we can find a community bank that does portfolio loans. Are there any other alternatives? Does any one know of a community bank doing loans to llcs in Charlotte/Raleigh area?

Q5. What is the best structure for legal and tax purposes?

I am a newbie to bigger pockets and have been learning a lot.. hope to find answers from more experienced investors on these forums.