The majority of financiers I've spoken to on the matter have indicated that they prefer to see at least a portion of your contributions remain in the deal.

Retirement account (401Ks, IRAs) contributions must be made from earned income.

Huge THANK YOU for all your valuable contributions.

With the forum's help I hope to have advice from my own experiences to contribute soon. 

I did a little sleuthing, and found out not only is in on the board of the Real Estate board of NY, but his name is on a plaque hanging in the lobby for people contributing at least $1,000,000 to start the NYU program for real estate.

Thank you both for your contribution to the conversation!

I am very much looking forward to being a member of the BP community, learning from all of you, and one day hopefully contribute back to the BP.

My experience is limited, but I hope to contribute as is feasible as I take my licks in this arena.

You'll both contribute capital into the LLC and the LLC can purchase the property.

They find a total average return of 9% for the period they looked at (1986 to 2014), and conclude:"Each component contributes approximately equally to the aggregate U.S. portfolio of housing returns, so excluding one component excludes half of total returns on average," There is also a helpful graph comparing the breakdown between the two factors in the 30 largest metro areas.