Investing with a friend
I'm brand new to real estate investing, and would like some advice on how to buy my first rental property and hopefully do it with a friend of mine.
I listened to the Podcast from Aug 7, 2013, and the guest speaker Kenny Estes recommended that when you invest in your first rental property, ideally you should do it with a friend/mentor who already has experience buying other rental properties. I have the capital for a down payment (without touching my emergency savings), but I don't know enough about investing to buy a rental property on my own. Is it really a good idea to go into business with a friend? If so, what are the possible arrangements for splitting the profit? For example, if I paid the full down payment, I wouldn't want to give up very much of the monthly income, but my friend wouldn't spend that much time helping me if he isn't going to get anything out of it.