I currently own 9.5 rental properties worth a total of about 800 to 850 thousand that rent for about 8000 gross and if all goes well with no repairs and vacancies or insurance I pocket 6250 after expenses.

Another way to look at renovations is it may not totally cash out what you put into it but if it makes the house sell much faster than the one next to it not updated it is money well spent.   

Definitely makes sense, its a higher risk form of funding forsure, but seems like a good option for someone who doesnt want to rely on their own credit and does have an exit strat

My maintenance/cap expense estimate on this duplex was $275 (3/1/1) and $250 (2/1/1) for a total of $525.  

Looking at the numbers CAPEX and repairs add a huge amount to the monthly expenses.For instance, this third deal:Monthly Income: $1,100Monthly Expenses $1,134.14Monthly Cashflow: -$34.14Pro Forma Cap: 5.22%NOI: $5,215Total Cash Needed: $11,050Cash on Cash ROI: -3.71%Purchase Cap Rate: $5.73Sale Price: $91,000Closing Costs: $2,500Renovation Costs: $4,550 (5%)TOTAL PROJECT COSTS: $98,050Down Payment: $4,550 (5%)Loan Amount: $87,314.5Loan Points: $864.5 (1%)Amortized: 30 yearsInterest Rate: 5%P&I: 468.72Total Cash Needed: $11,050Property Taxes: $2,184/yr2% Rule: 1.13%Initial Equity: $12,685.50Gross Rent Multiplier: 6.89Debt Coverage Ratio: 0.93Expense Increase: 4%/yrIncome Increase: 5%/yrProperty Value Increase: 4%/yrCash on Cash ROI: YR1 (-3.71%) YR2 (-0.63%) YR5 (2.64%) YR10 (9.76%) YR15 (31.56%)Annualized Total Return: YR1 (2.48%) YR2 (22.27%) YR5 (26.37%) YR10 (26.47%) YR15 (22.20%)Total Profit if sold: YR1 ($274) YR2 ($5,469) YR5 ($11,251) YR10 ($24,701) YR15 ($70,982)Expenses:HOA: $82Insurance: $66Taxes: $182MTG: $468.72 (@5%)TOTAL: $798.72Vacancy: $110 (10%)CAPEX: $190/mo (~2.5%)Repairs & Maint: $380/mo (5%)TOTAL EXPENSES: $1,478.72These expenses are different than the $1,134.14 mentioned early on.

@Tom Horan if she is 'tax savoy' as you say you might want to search past post here for discussions of 'price vs interest rate' for lack of a better term.Meaning this; on a 100K loan @ 20 years @ 5% you get about $660 month, and a total of 100K principal & 60K of interest.

Partnership is always a tricky beast, and there are no real standard protocols to rely on.

Calculate the total cost for a year.

We have an CA LLC that is for a name and looks only (at a cost of $800/year) but rely on the umbrella coverage for our asset protection. 

There are some passive 1031 compatible products that are real estate yet totally passive.