He or she should know how to do many things and can save some money on repairs and turnover. 

I've spent that last two years preparing, saving, reading and educating myself through BP and several books for that one moment, that moment of pure ecstasy, the  moment I closed on a rental property.

Not trying to be a jerk but trying to save you from wasting a lot of time.

I was thinking I could consider the savings in down payment as his contribution to the deal, and allocate % ownership accordingly.  

I found that really interesting because  I thought all those syndicators were saving up money to cover those costs.But, keep in mind that is syndicators and they are looking to maximize the returns to their investors.

Currently, I'm depositing my reserve funds into a generic savings account.  

My girlfriend and I have stable jobs with the government and we max out our retirement accounts (TSP, Roth IRA, HSA), and we’re now looking for ways to deploy our extra, after-tax savings.

I'll still cash flow in the SFH with the bumped up mortgage.My current terms are 4.85% I'll be able to pull out $80,000 cash, which I'm hoping to couple with $19,000 of savings to purchase a duplex in the same market.

Hey @Anthony Polcyn - smart of you to think about asset protection and tax savings.

Some say asking if the owner is willing to sell is soliciting and others say it isn’t so I was airing on the safe side but either way doing a bulk slip trace would save me some time.