Also, there is a lot to be said about respecting the money put in the deal.I would just make sure you have an iron clad partnership contract to spell out this arrangement and include any contingencies like refinancing the property or what to do if one partner wants to be cashed out, etc.If I found a partner like this, I would go out on a buying spree!

I observed the level of care he takes for the house and his own possessions before making this arrangement, and haven't had any problems.

So I'll be asking about the tenants, current leases, rents, property expenses, and financing arrangement.

Real estate investors need to make arrangements to replace SS in their retirement strategy if they don't have enough 'day job' credits to qualify for SS benefits.

When I've seen it make sense is when the HML had an arrangement where they gave you back some of the upfront points you paid if you pay them off by X date. 

I had my own business, done bookkeeping gigs for small firms and you have to arrange workman's comp, unemployment insurance besides handling tax deductions.

No experience managing investor moneywhat will happen is if you can get a seller or broker to even work with you .. your not coming in from a position of strength.. to mitigate all of the above you need to have your capital and financing arranged so when you do make an offer you have real POF  Not hey I am going to go try to raise the dough. .and you have financing available ( which could be tough for you being a first time sponsor with no experience)I suggest you talk to some lenders now before you waste thousands of hours looking at deals.what you will find out though is there are all sorts of Ghetto dogs in the mid west that will take a flyer with you .. the nicer performing properties the brokers and owners are going to want to deal with a proven source who has all of the above.

Two offers but my agent arranged all that, with explicit communication on the financing side making it clear I was pre-approved on either one but not both.

I suppose the arrangement can also create some issues with financing.

I can't remember what the reasoning for why all of a sudden they wouldn't be happy with the arrangement.