One last thing that I forgot to mention, which I'm afraid will come to bite me in the *** and cause an audit is that when I sold the home, the closing agent had me sign something that clearly pertained to the qualifications of Section 121 (owned and resided for more than 2 of the past 5 years prior to sale), which I checked all the appropriate boxes that qualified me.... yet there was ONE box, that likely used the phrase, "Did you use any PORTION of the property for business or rental usage during the past 5 years?" 

If you own a property 50/50 and one person wants to refinance or pull cash out to buy another property it has to be a 2 way agreement since both have to sign.  

In general (without going into JV or Syndication), we will create an LLC to hold the property, where everyone needs to sign the operating agreement (contract).

The problem I ran in to, is that for small guys like myself (4 listings) I can't just sign up.  

Right now, many agents don't sign any agreements until they sign an offer.

I thought this was a joke at first but am told they require some form to be signed attesting to the owner/landlord living within 15 minutes driving distance of the property in order to rent it out. 

The prospect signs an authorization allowing us to contact the employer to confirm their rate of pay and the duration of their employment.

Pay the mortgage, do the maintenance, find the tenants, sign the leases. 

Do we need to insist not signing for the month to month rent?

But the one I'm working with has served me really well even though I have not  yet signed an agreement with her.