I have a friend who wants to join my current deal and will be contributing about 50% of the capital for the purchase and rehab portion of the deal.So I'll be providing:Half the capital, finding the deal, taking title, managing the rehab, getting it rented, managing the PM, eventually carrying the mortgage note, and handling the long-term management/distribution of funds.My friend is basically a passive investor and this will be his first out of state deal. 

There has been some legislation that was targeted at high interest lending on primary homes (Dodd Frank act) which could come into play if you do it incorrectly which carries with it high penalties. 

Unfortunately investing out of your area carries with it certain risks, especially if you're not well established/capitalized.

I am a 23 year old firefighter, I’m proud to say I’m debt free and carrying a credit score of 760.

Carry your contract to a title company and have them do a title search and get you a warranty deed. 

It might help if you state where you are because contracts carry from state to state.  

(I'm in the insurance/portfolio risk management business)I typically suggest to my investor clients to require the tenant to carry at least 300k. 

A lot of those underwriting lessons carry over even if you're not syndicating.

I do this because it is my goal to become a lender (owner-carry back loans), not a portfolio owner, per se. 

The better option would be to take the first mortgage subject 2 and have the seller carry back a 2nd mortgage.