But I have only partnered with one very close friend before (and on a small scale) and am looking for larger investors.Considering the returns are small (yet stable) I  am unsure what percentages my company should receive .I am starting with the idea that each investment should yield my company 2% ownership of attained asset and receive a 3% management fee based on gross income after property tax.the scenario I see would look like this

Especially for low value properties <$80k, the percentage of error you can expect is high. 

This will give you the ability to get out of the gate (graduation) in the best financial position.In terms of how much money you should save up, if I were you, I would take a look at the local real estate inventory that you are interested in and save a percentage of that.

That definitely makes sense to run your numbers based on the fair market value and what percentage of a bank would give you.

You can structure it where they loan 100% of the funds and get either a fixed interest rate or a percentage of the profits paid when the property sells or refi if its a Brrr.If you take them on as a JV partner and they are totally passive that's actually a security and crosses the line.  

Equipment depreciates, or is worth less over time, so you claim a paper loss of a percentage of the cost of the property each year you own it until it’s fully depreciated.

.- I don't use property management because I like doing the work, so that saves me that cost too because monthly rents are high for my properties and I would lose a lot of money by applying the 15% - the time I spend on maintaining my properties is equivalent to much less money - I guess that is the problem with percentage-based fees - for larger rents, the fees start looking unrealistic especially for a group of 6-8 homes.

Another way to look at it is the percentage increase in loan amount is approximately the same as the percent rent increase. 

What if our economy enters a recession/depression when I retire and I lose a percentage of my 401(k) when I'm dependent on those funds?

Banks are all over the map right now but typically they are going to loan on a percentage of cost unless the value is lower.