I am just playing devils advocate in this subject .. as I have been through these deals in the 80s I worked for a big syndicator in the bay area.you can have all the indemnifications you want but the investors will revolt and sue you if the deal goes sideways.. you would be very naïve to think the language in the doc YOU prepare is going to save you from litigation.. does not mean the other party is right but you still will get sucked into the vortex and spends thousand if not hundreds of thousands.Case in point... friend of mine when I lived at Silverado in Napa county was and is a syndicator he bought a big high rise commercial building in Houston 10 years ago... well you know what happen with oil. its now a see through .. and they lost it to the bank.. investors revolted and sued him that started 2 years ago.. and its all over the local paper.. so it kills his rep and no doubt he has the same safeguards you mention.. but that simply won't stop litigation.Where I have seen rob peter to pay paul is with syndicator that had multiple partnerships.. borrow from a good partnership reserve account ( PPM said you could) loan to prop up another.. the other still can't make it and is put into BK and liquidated and the other properties are now in jepordy.. this company ( did acquisitions for them as  a broker  great gig made a ton of commish)  had 5,000 investors...

Cash Pros: no mortgage, ability to take it all out in refinance, can leverage (finance) House 2 b/c House 1 is all cashCash cons: the cash is temporarily (or permanently) gone, not leveraging the most out of your dollar, if the property doesn't refinance where you think it should - you can't get all your cash backLoan Pro: potential to maximize your leveraging ability, tax incentives, experience in going through the loan processLoan Cons: holding costs/mortgage payment, acquire debt, interest rates rising make it tough to refinance (for the time being)-----Depending on the amount of capital you have, I might recommend the BRRRR strategy.

Example Quad propertyHere is a current 7 unit rental for sale at $630,000 with a neighboring unit renting for $900 a month with 2 bed 1.5 baths, so that may be the prevailing rate there. 7 unit condos for saleI am not interested in these properties in particular, but just want to provide them as examples if anyone wants to take a look and compare them to the other apartments in the area.I suppose that at the right price you can make a case for any purchase, but the competition for tenants (with perhaps a need to be more flexible on tenant quality) and the need to keep rent rates stagnant or lower them to ensure high occupancy seem like troubling considerations.  

Hey thanks for that tip, I will take that into considerations!

With the current mortgage, there is negative cashflow, and because of the low equity, I don't think I woul be able to refinance without putting in a considerable down payment. 

.* Tenants pay a NON-Refundable Option Consideration Fee in order to receive that option. 

If you are trying to cut corners on materials & finishes, skipping code requirements and generally hacking a house to squeeze out profit...my advice is to invest in the stock market and not real estate.I personally have seen downtown high rise condos literally double in value after rehab largely because many are decked out like its 1985.

Question:   Since we did a considerable amount of sweat labor ourselves and spent quite a bit on appliances, paint, flooring, plumbing, electrical, materials, and contractor labor and materials, do I need to write up an itemized list of the labor and materials and give it to them, or just write a list of the things that has been done?

If he's long term AND has a low rate of turnovers and vacancies, this *might* just trump all other considerations - - aka you're getting added value there.

I will diffidently take in some of your guys consideration.