Most notably with the city filing for bankruptcy several years ago.Obviously, this gives most investors pause.BUT THEN AGAIN -- Stockton has definitely turned itself around recently:Two Years After Bankruptcy, Stockton Ranked Top 20 Fiscally Healthy Cities For It's SizeYet still, Stockton has a long way to go to shake it's bad reputation, even if it's miles away from the really bad one it had in the past.

Who would have thought that when we shook pepper on our food, we were actually shaking on a mold?

Where as when you're dealing with a friend in this business things are much closer to 'hand shake' level.I can tell you that if this guy needed $1m I'd have no problem sending him a wire and using a simple one page 'IOU' to formalize our deal. 

Hello Investor Fam,I'm working on a project that involves a winery owner who needs some big assistance.Background:Owner is in a "hand shake" partnership. 35 years ago winemaker shook hands with wealth silent investor to help him get started. 100 acres of land in sale. 10% acres is allocated to silent partner ( only through "word" contract).Owner owns 100% of land (he is on the DEED 100%).

Can't we all just shake hands, and both our states can secede from the union??

@James Soilsyou can put money to work in real estate by being a private lender, there are rehabbers that need private lender investment money short term, as in 90 to 180 day term loansYou can also lend money through a Roth IRA or traditional IRA, The IRA is the lender not you, and you need to use an IRS custodian like www.trustetc.comYou can buy property subject to but it takes face-to-face negotiation, if your disability precludes you from getting into a car and shaking hands with people, start an LLC and get a partner to do the face-to-face negotiationsJust think of this question and answer it: what problems do Real Estate Investors have and how can I provide services to help them?

Interested to see how this shakes out.

For instance, I always sigh and shake my head disapprovingly when I read posts that exclaim, "How you can become a successful RE investor without using any of your own money!"

Is it a "Shake hands" agreement, or was a legal entity formed?

We'll see how things shake out in the end.Boots on the ground is paid a fixed fee, 50% upfront, 50% once the project is completed.I've structured these arrangements differently in the past, especially if the project coordinator brings his own contractors and/or if the rehab is fixed price- I'll install a schedule and budget bonus to keep him motivated to push the contractors and maintain budget.