@Michael Marcotte welcome to the SLC real estate market!
Before you go looking for a partner, I'd suggest you closely consider, and find the answers two questions:
1. "WHY do I want a partner?" Partnerships make RE investing exponentially more complex. With a partnership, you have a whole array of moving pieces that you don't have when you're flying solo (e.g.; cost responsibilities, profit sharing, decision making authorities, work responsibilities, contracts & corporate agreements, etc., etc.) Every single one of these moving pieces will cause more work for you, and every single one is a potential point of failure in your venture. Although partnerships can be useful for some investors, for inexperienced investors, they often cause more problems than they solve. Often, the only party benefitting from a partnership is the attorney raking in the legal fees to broker and create the agreements, contracts, etc.
Moreover, inexperienced investors often want a "partner" because they're (rightfully) intimidated by RE investing, and--because misery loves company--they feel more comfortable with a partner. Granted, it is more comfortable to take on a challenge with someone else at your side, but this instinct can lead an inexperienced investor to form an ill-advised partnership with another inexperienced investor (who is also intimidated, and who also wants the "support" or a partner). When that happens, now you have two people who have no clue what they're doing, tied at the hip--the blind leading the blind. As a real estate newbie, the only type of partnership that makes much sense is a partnership with someone who has all the real estate experience you currently lack (but need)--and this brings up a second question:
2. If you're 100% sure you need and want a partner, the next question is: "What value am I bringing to the partnership?" ...if you're not 100% clear on this, then a partnership will never materialize, and if it does materialize, it will likely fail. The value you bring might be in the form of capital, experience, access to deals, the ability to put in a lot of work, etc., etc., but you have to bring SOMETHING to the table. ...regardless of what type of value you bring, it has to be sufficiently valuable for the partner to benefit (and if the partner is a highly experienced and successful RE investor, they ain't gonna come cheap).
I'm constantly approached by beginning investors with no real estate experience who want to "partner" with me, or want me to "mentor" them, but who have zero idea how to make it worthwhile for me. In most situations, "partnering" with or "mentoring" a beginning investor is code for "wasting my time trying to help someone who's constantly screwing up (because they're a beginner) and getting nothing in return". Why should a high net-worth, highly experienced investor put their time, money, experience, reputation, and resources on the line for someone with no experience? ...you'll have to answer that question if you want to figure out a partnership with anyone who brings any real value to the table.
Now, does this mean you should never partner with anyone, or you should give up on the idea of a partnership? No. It simply means that, if you want a partnership, you'll have to figure out answers to these types of questions, and you'll want to thoroughly educate yourself on partnerships before forming one. I have partnered with, and have also mentored inexperienced aspiring RE investors in the past, but those arrangements were mutually beneficial, and the partner or mentee brought significant value to the table.
Good luck out there!
