@William Henze I'm curious to hear other responses from more experienced folks, but I did something similar and bought a duplex in Tennessee from a bank that was occupied. 

With the type of growth Atlanta is experiencing and the Superbowl coming along with other major events, I can see a real opportunity for success.

We are currently waiting for TOPAs to be signed, which has been going on for almost a month.

This is when I regretted not having a signed agreement between John and I. 

Some obvious things are of course obvious enough even for me to see without having a giant red sign with blinking lights on it.

But you just signed for 55 k. ?

I am now in the process of contacting a GC and getting to know who can do what at a fair price AND ON TIME.My question: has any experienced flipper ever partnered up with a neophyte and showed him the ropes.

As this will be untraveled territory for me an experienced agent is a must.

We will compensate our realtor $300/lease to show and handle lease signing and coordinate with handyman for any minor repairs and reach out to others when more specialized repairs are needed.

Unless he has connection to a very good GC experienced in the area and referred by people he knows, this spells out a bad situation.