Does A Partnership Make Sense?

[Christopher C. Welber]

Hello BP people.

My wife and I are about to finish attorney review on a 5 bedroom single family home in a college town area of NJ. We had planned using my W2 income to support a mortgage on the property, but my company has informed me that they plan to lay me off in the next few months. We have investigated cash-flow based loans but they appear to require a high down payment (like 35% percent or more).

We're investigating the idea of partnering with someone and need some advise as we will have a very short window to line up financing/partnerships.

The deal parameters are:

5 bedroom, 3 bath, 1802 Sq. Ft. build in 1967 in good condition. Only light maintenance would be needed to get it ready to rent.

419K purchase price with 20-25% down.

The mortgage, taxes and insurance will come to about 2K a month. The property can rent out for 2.7 to 2.9K per month in the area.

We're wondering if we put down the 20-25% and put in the sweat equity what would be fair to ask of partner and what folks experiences have been. If we use a partners W2 income does that help or does the mortgage company still want to see a cash flow to pay our primary mortgage?

Thanks!