I would recommend starting with an independent agent who can tell you which carriers service your area and what the differences are - that is the most efficient way to collect information in my opinion.

Is the hotel going to be an independent non branded hotel or is it going to be a boutique hotel under a certain brand?

If his pay as the contractor is tied to his equity, you'll find it very difficult to replace him in a way that's equitable based on the work he has and hasn't completed.I would suggest deciding on an equity split independent of work as the contractor (i.e., pretend you're hiring someone else to do the contracting and figure out an appropriate equity split given that situation), and then separately, decide on how much he's worth to the team as the contractor, and pay him that much for his contract work.I would suggest that for the contract work that you treat him like a contractor from a contractual standpoint -- have contracts in place with a clearly defined scope of work and draw schedule.

In order to get income tax deductions that would withstand an audit, they would have to follow certain IRS guidelines that might not be followed when letting family live in an investment.

I do know that for my recent purchase the lender (national) put the appraisal job up and it could get picked up by any number of independent contractors.

Not much, for independent appraisers, depends on who you can work with and the market.While we usually think of appraisers doing value assessments for RE sales, there are other reasons property is valued.Trust administrators, may need annual reports of value.

As a agent you are a independent contractor you make your own deals and work when you want. your broker can give you certain rules to fallow but most everything is left up to you as a independent agent. perfect example when i go to a listing appointment my brokers general rule is we will not accept anything under 5% commission.

I'm well aware that this is a common industry-independent sales/marketing tactic (I'm pretty sure everyone is aware of it).

Originally posted by @J Scott:I was so concerned with my decision to pursue a ROBS that I voluntarily paid to have the IRS audit me (and provide a letter that said I was legally compliant) so I wouldn't have to worry about them eventually cracking down and unexpectedly being audited 5 or 10 years from now when things were less favorable.

Value is based on tax assessed value and verified by independently certified valuation; or full appraisal; member pays cost for appraisal.