(technically, they get an 8% preferred return and I get a 6% developer fee if all goes to plan, then we split any upside after that).In your situation, if you and your two buddies all put in cash, and all have some sort of management/decision making roles, you could divide the ownership and upside according to your capital contributions.

In many states dual agency is not even allowed by law.A broker or agent in many cases can still get the whole commission by having the seller or buyer as the client and having the other party as the customer performing "ministerial acts" only for them.Ministerial acts for example can be filling out a contract but not answering questions from the customer on what's the lowest they will accept and other key data the seller might have given in a client capacity.

Prefer downtown Houston and towards the South.

I don't think either is wrong I think its just what you prefer.

@Justin Stamper so lets get this seminar started lolWe can change the place to somewhere that serves drinks if everyone prefers.

I prefer that number to be 3 percentage points or more.Return including equity buildup ( assuming 30 year amortization) is $1,560 on your $6,000 investment or 26% in the first year.You will have to decide whether 8% is reasonable in your area and what return you require.Good Luck.Bill

Altough I prefer Direct lenders and Private financing for now.

As Ken mentioned your state and local custom will determine how implementation is enforced.

For instance, 1 party puts in the cash and gets a "preferred return" on the money, and only after the preferred return gets paid does the person doing the work get a portion of the returns. 

Worst case scenario you can get approved for a conventional loan take it outside of the LLC, fund the loan, and redeed it back after 30-60 days (preferably after 2 months of payments on the new loan).