If you rent to him and something goes wrong, you will lose the friend and you put yourself in a financial bind.I recommend you tell him you prefer keeping the friendship and business separated so you can remain friends.

Yes, you can JV with a homebuilder and come up with some type of preferred return and/or waterfall structure to share in the return. 

Unfortunately what they don't ever tell you is that they want the "gift" back when you sell the property.1031 and death are two options (I'm sure one is more preferable). 

As long as it can pass an appraisal and not be "Subject to" would be wise but a little TLC is preferred versus major rehab.

Do you prefer if I ask the questions on this messenger or do you prefer a phone call?

Thanks @Johnny MartinMy suggestion is to partner with a like minded person... and preferably someone like a family member who really knows you... a dad... an uncle, etc that understands the value of passive investing.  

For instance, while applying Texas-based legislation, the state's strong preference for ADR processes like mediation and arbitration is an important factor to take into account.

What about one that is just too far away (depending on your geographic preference - some dont care about "clustering")?  

We just looked at a few properties up in Crystal River and its a great spot for STR and also LTR depending on what you prefer.

As of this moment, my goal is to buy long term, buy and hold properties, preferably SFH's or small MFM's.