The 50% rule or any other operating expense ratio you choose to use has NOTHING to do with debt financing or all cash.

Is it easier to qualify if he occupies it or can he rent out both sides (or all if Triplex or Quad) and  thus allowing him to qualify for a larger loan?

I started looking at out of state properties (e.g. in TN or AL) and even ran the numbers on a few properties (positive cash flow), but I heard in the BiggerPockets podcasts again and again that you should invest in a property that is within driving distance.

hey BP community,so i found this 3/1.5 property in a pretty liquid market in north texas (denton) for $140k and i saw that there were mulitple options to acquire it. lease option, seller financing, or all cash. pretty eager to work with anyone, which already makes me feel a little uneasy (even though i'm going to need something like this to get started haha).after a brief first contact with the broker, i found out that it would be 10% down.

Tell him straight up, no Estopples, I walk for inadequate documentation for the tenants.

The rehab and flip model is a good way to make money within real estate; however, in the market we are in it would be easier to go with a hard money loan, private investor, or all cash from your own investments to capture the property quickly.

So give yourself some padding for all of your projects and when everything does go as planned...hey, look at you, you are 3 days ahead of schedule ;). 2) Especially for your first live in flip or 2 or 3 or all of them for that matter, I would advise on sticking to mostly cosmetic updates to the house.  

Clearly defrauding someone would be out of the scope of this thread, as we are talking about people running real business without the intent to defraud people, which is the main avenue to pierce a vail in the court systems today.The most common factors that courts consider in determining whether to pierce the corporate veil are:whether the corporation or LLC engaged in fraudulent behaviorwhether the corporation or LLC failed to follow corporate formalitieswhether the corporation or LLC was inadequately capitalized (if the corporation never had enough funds to operate, it was not really a separate entity that could stand on its own), andwhether one person or a small group of closely related people were in complete control of the corporation or LLC.Some corporations and LLCs are especially vulnerable when these factors are considered, simply because of their size and business practices.

Does it matter if one or all three of us sign personal guarantees or not?

Most rehabbers I know borrow a portion or all the money to purchase the property.