You can do a flip yourself and hire any contractor so if you are partnering, and assuming you are providing the $, seems as though the contractor needs to establish a value play that is otherwise hard to come by.  

However, the application fee still ends up being awkward, for all of the reasons that I listed in my original post.BTW, here's my initial email:Greetings <name>;Following are basic requirements that I will be looking for in applicants:> 3 * monthly rent in income (> $10,000/month)> established credit scores of >600 for all applicants> established rental history for all applicants (I *will* contact past landlords)> current permanent employment> no past evictions or bankruptciesPlease review these and confirm that you meet them all.

What is a good equation to use for establishing a fair offer # based off an existing operation?

hi brandon. here is what you do. you need to build your credit as much as you can. first thing you want to do is take $1000 of that money you have and go to a bank near you, any bank. put it in an account. a week or so later, go back to that bank and ask to take out a secured loan for $1000. secure it with that account. they are NOT going to deny you. then, take that $1000 that you just borrowed and head to another bank and make an account with that $1000. a week or so later, go back to bank #2 and take out another secured loan for $1000, securing it with the $1000 account you just opened. repeat the process again and again until you have to pay back the original $1000. when you consistantly pay back all of those $1000 loans, you will have established your credit, using only $1000 of your own money, and you will have multiple banks that would be willing to loan you money in the future because you now have credit with them . in the mean time, look around for real estate deals with the rest of your money, they are out there and you can find them with the money that you have. good luck to you

There is a possibility that I may have a "angel investor" who may not be a US citizen but would invest cash early on and therefore increase equity in the business.My question is which entity would be the "cleanest" for me to establish the business?

make sure they are a real business.. try to do business with a local lender who knows your market inside out... they will do a few things for you.1. establish long term relationship  HML from an owners side is about keeping great clients happy and repeat business.. so good borrower is just as important2. they know the area as well if not better than you will.. they will help keep you out of trouble or help guide you to the better deals as you run them by them.3. its always nice to walk in and talk with them in person...

Airy is a well established neighborhood.

I have some properties I manage myself that I have  owned in my name for over 20 years and others I do not manage myself vested in LLCs and corporations in order to establish a significant layer of protection.

The interest rate given to a private lender is usually established up front and the money is lent for a specified period of time, anywhere from six months to thirty years.Equity PartnershipsIf your investor client can’t finance a property on their own, a good solution can also be to use a partner who can make the deal happen.

I'm in the same boat although I have a bit more ($68K) to start out with in a newly established solo 401K.