We have not talked numbers or financing yet but he said I can bring in an inspector to take a look around.The last piece is that I'm self employed, earning around $30k a year, no debt, around $35k in cash I'm willing to invest, though I would prefer not to spend it all on one property.  

Ask for money back at settlement, or don't do the deal.

@Tim G.How good would your credit need to be to get those loans and what debt to income ratio need to be for you to get approved ?

Just like humans, some properties are a lot more low-maintenance than others.Your entire mortgage payment does hit cash flow, but technically the principal repayment portion is not an expense (it is repayment of debt).  

However it was easy for us cuz we had NO personal debt.

I owe a half million dollars, but my debt to income ratio is about 20%.

:)old thread but why bothering with equity partners when you can just raise debt?

Purchasing subject to existing financing and debt are not exotic RE transactions.  

My only comment is to watch how much leveraged debt you take on in your first few years of starting out.  

A portfolio lender will likely look at the "global" DTI - that means totaling the personal and LLC income and totaling the personal and LLC debt.