Therefore - your liability should be limited to the amount that you contribute to the partnership/LLC.Whether you feel 50% is fair or if you should be entitled to more depends on what each person is bringing to the table and what his/her level of experience is.The more experience a person has the more leverage he/she has to demand a higher percentage of the profits.A general contractor/property manager with 20+years of experience likely has more leverage than a contractor who is just starting out.It also depends on what you require as a rate of return.

Should I pay off the balance of 8k and look into hiring a contractor and management team or should I turn over the project with it being down to the studs? 

I wanted to ask for General Contractor referrals, could anyone please recommend a trustworthy, fairly-priced general contractor in the Houston area?

I use contractors and I usually get all of my initial purchase money and a subset of the rehab costs.The most important thing is to learn a lot on this first property as you want the next property to be an even greater success.Good luck

If I find that to be difficult, turnkey investing will be my next option.I would love to connect with wholesalers, contractors, investors, turnkey providers and property managers in these markets.  

You sound more like an employee than an independant contractor so understanding the structure may help.

He then went out and got a property and used our contractor and is now almost done with the rehab.  

One stop shop, I just tell my contractor that if any of the materials are bad to no install them and call me and send pictures so I can deal with it.

Every contractor I had on the hook backed out for timing reasons or the job was too small.

The decision that I made is to invest in Wichita, KS since I know the city and I already have an agent and a friend contractor for possible renovation.