That being said if you really want to start and cannot reasonably do it elsewhere then go to plan B where you look at houses and markets constantly until you find a deal that at least meets the 1% rule.

Upon death of one spouse on jointly held property, the surviving spouse usually gets full ownership (subject to pre-existing liens and encumbrances, of course).

This quote was for grinding into the mortar joint and setting the flashing deep into the bricks.

That will give you an idea of how they spend their money so you can see if they are constantly buying stuff or have healthy spending habits(yes you can legally ask for bank statements).

Joint venture agreement. 

We presented every information and they would constantly hit us with more information we needed last minute.

How should I go about doing a joint venture(paperwork etc)?

So I been in the game for about a year now and joint ventured with a good partner.

cuz with my new job i've resolved to only do commercial rental in the USA if even continue investing at all in this blessed country that sadly lately seems in a constant state of proxy war =LOk will 'nail and mail' Sec deposit to Nov 15-Dec 14 was their proposal since claimed broke and made like were moving out then Christmas came and they paid rent instead to buy more time (covering dec 15-jan 10 since they were short of $200), At the time i was busy wrapping things up for the year, holidays, family, job relocation and so left things to be dealt with now. 

You are wise to evaluate your strategy as real estate is constantly changing.