Howdy! Partnership or Contractor Agreement?

[Patrick Barry]

Hello there,

Thanks for any help with this. I'm going into a partnership to start with flipping one house and then possibly more. I have experience with a lot of volume wholesaling and also flipping many dozens of houses with a large company. This will be my first private partnership, and my partner and I are trying to set up the best method for both of us. I want to bring zero capital and do all the work to get the deal done start to finish. He would get a loan and bring the capital. I was wanting to form an LLC with an operating agreement stating the percentage each party would get. I proposed 50/50 profit split, and he is fine with that, but he seems to have a problem with me being on the LLC. We both know that he can be on the loan without me and I can still be on the deed, and he seems aware that we can consult an attorney to write the operating agreement the way we like it, but he wants to keep me off the LLC and pay me like a contractor with 1099 and just set up a separate contract. Should I consider this? If so, should I just put a lien on the property to insure I get paid at closing or maybe ask for some money up front? Thanks again!