Although if you have worked with your lender in the past and have a bit of history it may be beneficial to let them know.

Provide value- If someone is taking time out of their day to join a call or meet you for coffee, you must show them how you could bring value to them and make it mutually beneficial.

You may not go that way in the future, but just to know what the costs would be would be beneficial.

I'm happy to talk if that's beneficial to you.

The final test was how beneficial would real estate be come tax time? 

It was less beneficial for me as all of a sudden, I had to pay more to form a partnership, and then pay more in taxes (to file a K-1 every year), and was spending slightly more time keeping the books and paying her her fair share every month.My question is - going forward, I'd like to be open to partnerships with friends, family, and maybe even strangers, but I want to make sure I'm getting paid for my expertise and my work. 

I personally started with a partnership and I think it was extremely beneficial.

They’re beneficial in the sense that they’re basically a referee between you, the contractor, and the bank.

Living in that neighborhood for $1,500 is very beneficial, as is building equity, but this investment is in a different category for me.

That scenario is only beneficial to the seller.