My partner and I have decided to pull the trigger and start flipping houses.

I would approach either a foundation company, or a GC with experience (he will use an excavation company and other labor to deal with the issue.I've had good luck in the past with a few solutions:1) First and foremost, make sure there is a swale about 5' out from the house to divert water around the house2) Make sure there is some sort of foundation drain system which daylights (on the downhill side of the house)3) Make sure there is some sort of capillary break system on the exterior of the house (Delta Dry, crushed 2b stone, etc; DO NOT rely on drylock or any of the cementatious based coatings)

after you get everything exposed get you a moisture meter or rent onecheck all areas of the work area and for kicks just check a parameter about 10 feet in circumference around the work area for signs of moistureyou can rent a dehumidifier from the rental yard and set that up as well let it run for 24-48 hours and check the area againwhatever you do don't get in a big hurry to get it covered up without it being completely dryyou may want to strip the paint on the block and concrete and seal it with dry lock before painting or sheet rockinghope this helps a littleenjoy

The loan should be non-recourse, but typically comes with "bad-boy" carve-outs, which transform the loan into a recourse loan if any of the carve-outs are triggered.  

I'd assume he's offering me 8% and a 3 year balloon because no bank would touch him with a bargepole.Any default should trigger you getting the property back.

I have sat through some extremely dry IRS video publications in my free time, and concluded for now I needed to raise some capital, make a soft entrance into the real estate investment world, and practice patience to avoid their heavy hand. 

I have a full time high school teaching position, but thanks to this website and am now going to pull the trigger on something I've wanted to do for 20 years.

Who wants to rent a home where you can't park or have to wait 30 minutes for your Uber to take you to the dry cleaner because of massive congestion?

As soon as we form an LLC (whether it be in state or out of state) it triggers the California LLC Franchise tax of $800 a year.  

That being said, I'm worried he doesn't fully understand what we are committing to and may feel less supportive once the ink dries!