Welcome to the BP Forum and being overwhelmed before you make your first acquisition is totally normal.

If he were an adult, perpetrating a crime on a child under 12, I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.

For us in the PDX market we saw a little slow down in the fall but thats pretty much normal but the bigger builders are still buying land and still building at a pretty good clip..

It tracks on the normal real property market curve and doesn't lean overly left.  

Done this myself - bought and sold properties without even getting my foot in the door. 

Books are important to maintain because it keeps track of the performance of the partnership not only for one year but over several years.Partners normally have the right to inspect the books.Will the accountant you work with either maintain the books for you or help you make sure its done correctly?

I had a good friend when I lived in Napa and played golf with him frequently he was a Brain Surgeon and had the yipes something fierce could not make a 2 foot put to save his life..

The interest rate on a HELOC is usually higher than a normal 1st lien mortgage, but I am seeing some cases where HELOCs are in the 6's and 7's (where credit score is high and LTV is 65% or lower), which make them pretty comparable. 

I normally just do new construction on these pemb, so I have never done an actual modification of an existing pemb to increase the square feet. 

We are looking at mostly central San Diego (Normal Heights, University Heights, Hillcrest, Talmadge, SDSU).