@Monte YoungWhen dealing with the prohibited transaction rules, staying in compliance often requires considering the "spirit" of the law in addition to the "letter" of the law.

kudos for pulling the trigger and getting your first deal done!

@Mike SteffenYou don't need to be a partner in his company to trigger a 1065 obligation.The mere agreement to share profits of a venture might rise to the level of a general partnership and trigger the 1065 obligation. 

But we are having a hard time pulling the trigger on the first property.

I've been wanting to start one for a while now, just haven't pulled the trigger. 

Hello, what triggers the start of the "seasoning period?" 

Those people, they know what they want, so they are usually good to go.First time flippers, I almost always pass on now, as 99% of them wont pull the trigger, and if they do, they usually wont take your advice and will go down in flames.Then you have the legit people, who are scared and need the hand holding. 

The range in cost i got to set one fund up is between $15k to $50k + the annual reporting / compliance requirements.... 

I read a bunch of the books and studied markets but never pulled the trigger (textbook: Paralysis by Analysis).

I also think it's important you pull a trigger on a house, doesn't have to be a home run on the first one.