He said I will get back the assignment fee plus split the percentage of profit based on how much cash he has to put in vs how much 'cash' I have in the deal.

Quote taken from here: http://www.irs.gov/uac/IRS-Issues-Home-Sale-Exclusion-RulesFor qualifying sellers, the maximum exclusion amount of $250,000 ($500,000 for a married couple filing jointly) is limited to the percentage of the two years that the person fulfilled the requirements.

If there is only room to get a $15K wholesaler's pay out even on a JV then that needs to be made clear and understood so that neither tries to add additional monies onto that because buyers will either not want in or will substantially lower their offer, likely eliminating the additional monies and maybe more.  

also .. should i worry about how long it will take to get my money back or should i just focus on the rent pay out..which in this case would be about 850 a month. thanks for your help guys

Additionally Phila has a high percentage of its housing being 80 years of age and up.

Some have a limit on percentage of units that are allowed to be rentals, and once that limit is reached no new rentals until a rental sells to an owner occupant; some require approval of your chosen tenant if they do allow a rental. 

Crowdfunding by the legal standards of the term CANNOT give a percentage of the profits ~ and this is exaclty what these sites promise.

@Kevin Dawravoo, from where I sit, your net "cash flow" (per month average) divided by "the amount of money you have put into the property" IS your Return On Investment.Of course, when you are analyzing any potential deal, all income and expense amounts are "mythical" to some degree - the trick is to become a good guesser, and there are plenty of available tools to help.The overall value of the property is perhaps the least relevant figure here, except as it relates to your tolerance to RISK in calculating your borrowings as a percentage of the actual property value.

I would look for yield plays on stabilized properties that payout on a quarterly schedule.

Regarding fix and flips, I can say right now that I do not have the capital to be able to pay out of pocket for the rehab necessary to make the investment worthwhile.