It seems to be a human knee-jerk reaction to show resilience in the face of disaster.My theory is that the second line of houses looking at the debris field in front of them are more likely to sell.

Please make sure you vet your partner properly, I wouldn't recommend doing a joint venture or partnership with someone you don't really know. 

If you are able to connect with others who are invested (such as through this forum), perhaps a group of you could get together to file jointly, and split the cost. 

Potential outcomes include develop and hold/rent, lease to developer, and joint venture.

Section 121 Exclusion: You’re also eligible for the $500K exclusion (if filing jointly) under Section 121 since it was your primary residence for two of the last five years.

We file jointly, but I want the investing to be my business in my name.

Main thing for you is: - Have both you and your buddy talk to the same lender and get pre-approved to understand down payment options and what your combined budget would be- Decide how you want title held (joint tenancy or tenants in common) - do a google search on this to see which option is best for you guys- START SHOPPING!

Joint Ventured with a few partners to get this done.

Some investors I talked to are doing MTRs and STRs (this seems challenging with competing with all the other AirBnbs in CA), some are trying to do a Joint Venture and buy multi-family. 

I din't have enough capital to start on my own, so I partnered up and did a few joint ventures, sprinkled in some seller financing, and then syndicated a couple of deals, only to return to joint ventures.Pick a strategy, then a market, then start to network with all the brokers in the market. $400k is plenty to get started.Gino