Here on the east coast there are say 20 properties in an area, likely half those won't make it to auction as the owner will deal with the taxes.

If this is your first deal and you don't have the money to do the deal without him and there is a good chance you might mess this up, you might even want to give him almost all the profit just so you can learn while sharing half the risks.

Accounting..Cost of repairs, upkeep on the rental is rental expense, including 1/2 of property taxes, property insurance, yard maintenance, trash removal, vendor services, ect. any related expense to that unit or 1/2 portion of the duplex is expense, 1/2 half of mortgage costs. and if shared utilities 1/2 of the utilities. 

We ended up finding a seller who didn't mind waiting two month from offer to closing so we just let our apartment sit empty for a month and a half after we moved, paid the rent on time per usual, and turned the keys in on the last day.  

I met a real estate flipper two years ago and have had decent contact with him since then and just about 2 months ago he asked if I wanted to invest some money into a home that he would go halfs with me on the profit of the flip.

If they accomplished what they did in 10 minutes I would have paid it again.When your mindset is "What is this person making per hour" you tend to find a lot of people that seem to take twice as long to accomplish a job half as good.

Even after cutting the price in half, it still wouldn't sell!  

I am half way done with this book and I am learning lots!

It also has a large plot of land that could potentially be subdivided and another home can be built on the half acre.Does anyone have personal experience they can share on do/don'ts of purchasing a historical home?

I think he paid less than half of the mortgage payments over the period.Ultimately, be so thankful for your parents generosity and help.