Brandon,When we rent to anyone who is the only adult, we add the following clause and have them add a name, address, and phone:In the event of abandonment, arrest or death, the following person has the authority to decide when to terminate tenancy and how to store/distribute my belongings:May be something to consider, then you can talk about their wishes before it comes up.  

And don't forget, when you pay him his half, you should report that as some sort of distribution or expense.

That said, the renewal is not evenly distributed.

I'm not a fan of 401K's (go to 401kaos.com, download/read the free book, and you'll understand why), but I generally recommend people invest whatever is necessary to get the full match - it's an instant 50-100% risk-free return.My wife and I are going to start 72t distributions on our trad.

Then you can draw up your LLC agreement as such to distribute as you have required.

You can create an LLC, give a third to each of you and two friends, and then lay out the way the capital investments will work, operating expenses, profit distribution, etc. 

if the purchase price of an investment property is derived from:sales price less repair cost, holding cost, overhead and profit; the purchase price of subcontract services can be described in a similar fashion:Painting revenue less direct costs, overhead and profit.you see, we can all talk about how much we pay for trades, but until you see the rest of the numbers you're really not comparing apples to apples anyways.new question: how much did you or can you charge for the painting work that your painters are performing?

Corporate tax is relatively low if you're not doing over $10M/year.The LLC, LP, and S corp are pass through entities so any profits that are made would be distributed through to the Members, Partners, or Share Holders (respectively) and taxed at each individual's income tax bracket. 

They can vote you out or vote not to send any distributions your way.I agree with NA Plevy

Sometimes it is partnering on deals with a work/equity distribution or sometimes it is simply working for "free" while looking over someone's shoulder.