I've seen straight %% split, preferred return with waterfall, preferred return without a waterfall, return of capital, return on capital, and every other mix and match.Every deal has an operating agreement that should spell out all the ways the money is distributed, what constitutes return on capital vs return off capital, splits between sponsors and investors, etc.

@Robert SpearsI wrote a blog about this a while back with the gist of it being that you need to get to a point where you can do it yourself, otherwise you're likely going to use a mix of favors or paying contractors for their time. 

I have a mixed-use 4-unit building: 1 convenience/corner store, 3 residential units.

That is very helpful, and good food for thought as we consider our options, and whether we may want to add a vacation rental to our mix. 

Before I met my husband he had made a tidy sum in tech and invested most of it in real estate - in Mauritius (his native land) and Singapore (his adopted homeland).

There are a ton of expenses on the second page I attached...just hard to figure out exactly how many of them are his personal expenses that he mixed in with the apartments.

Your suggestion on the purchase page's fine print to have these reviewed by a lawyer is good advice, but I assume most lawyers would want to tweak things and landlords may want to add things, so having a very easy format to do that in would be very helpful.I tried importing from the PDF to .docx with mixed results because of the formatting.

Tri-Clad pots/pan, Pyrex bakeware, Anchor Hocking glasses and mixing bowels etc. 

I am involved with a tech startup on the side.

I was in the military, moved into a career in technology and healthcare and have recently transitioned into management consulting.I'm interested in investing in long term buy and hold 2-4 unit properties, possibly shifting to small apartment complexes in time but for now my goals are to 1.) buy 2-4 properties a year to diversify my investments in a vehicle that will outperform the S&P and 2.) have a good mix of appreciating and cash flow assetsI found Bigger Pockets by listening to Paula Pant's podcast, Afford anything but not everything.