We received a phone call from a letter we sent to a distressed property, the owner would like to joint venture with us to fix up and sell the property. 

People will see your genuine intentions right away and good things will come to you.

"In a partition by sale, a joint property is sold and proceeds from the sale will be divided among co-owners[i].

Realtors f-cking love me because I can do that for owner occupants, and I genuinely believe what I present (& put my money where my mouth is as a homeowner), for their young first time homebuyers that are super cynical. 

Hi Bob,Judging by your post count and direct comments on cap rates I'm assuming your question is more of a "defend your position" question than a genuine question?

How would you do a joint venture with a homeowner?

No changes can be done after the fact.(2) Assuming you invest in an entity that then invests in the real estate, the entity has to be fully funded from the get go, i.e. no additional funds can be added after (generally applies to pass-through entities) -- while with C-corp that can be avoided, but then you end up paying corporate taxes (defeats the purposes of the IRA)Of course this is over and above the typical rules of prohibited transactions, etc.BTW: IRA stands for Individual Retirement Account, hence you cannot combine to make a Joint Retirement Account (there is no JRA) --- :-)

There was evidence in the basement, and when you walk in the kitchen of both units you could feel the floor joints sink a little.

During the previous backup, he noticed one of the PVC joints leaked when using the garbage disposal.  

I also suggest a "lock box" collection plan with sellers financing a deal, make your payments directly to a joint account or their account with depository authority, don't mail payments to an individual seller. :)