What is the best legal structure for an investment team that will be flipping a little and holding some properties to rent?

How you structure your offers, how quickly information is communicated is important.

It will be difficult to get $159K when similar homes with an additional bathroom are only asking $135K.

"Were there any late rents" If your friend left the apartment clean (stove and refrigerator, bathroom included) then she/he should get their deposit back

Let alone the liability issues and tax issues involved.As always, talk to an attorney about the proper entity structure for you.

When i said start small I meant finding a property where I know would not need any major structural work and just cosmetics like new paint,landscaping, maybe new windows, roof.

My estimates are accurate so it's not like they're looking at $15k to remodel a bathroom or anything ridiculous, but still......I get the feeling that it would look better if it were from a separate entity.I have a friend who would likely lend me his help/name since he would know that I wouldn't be actually contracting through his name, but just trying to help refine my system on these offers.

since it's in a trust they do.some sort of document that proves this is a condition that must be filled before the lender will lend.as some have noted, the key to getting a deal like this done is a title company and attorney that have experience structuring these deals.

I said ok, send me your counter offer.My question(s) is:How should I have structured my offer to AVOID a counter offer and how should I respond to the seller's counter offer if it cuts into myprojected profit?

Thats pretty much how we're structured anyway.