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Updated 1 day ago on . Most recent reply

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Jonathan Mann
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Management Fees when Owning/Managing with a Family Member

Jonathan Mann
Posted

A family member and I are going 50/50 buying an investment property.  The two of us are close, have a strong relationship, and I have no reservations about this new business partnership with her.

I expect to handle most/all of the management responsibilities, because the property is located close to where I live (she is out of state), I have experience owning and managing a few doors of my own (she does not), and I enjoy the work.  Based on my experience managing similar long-term rentals on my own for over 20 years, I don't expect this new one to be a heavy lift (but you never know).

I'm wondering if and how to structure a management fee.  We did not discuss the subject of management fees prior to going under contract because we hadn't been planning to make this type of investment together, it came up suddenly, and we decided to act fast.  On one hand, the expected return on my investment is based on earning 0% management fees (not why I'm doing this), I don't mind doing the work, and I feel uncomfortable with her earning a lower return on investment than me.  Put another way, I'd rather take no management fee than not buy the property together.  On the other hand, she acknowledges the extra work I'll be doing, she is open to discussing it, and I probably wouldn't lose that much sleep if I was getting just a little bit of a better deal than her AND knew that she was comfortable with it.

The other reason why I am hesitating about this is because I'm not sure how to document the property management relationship. Since we are creating a multi-member LLC for this purchase, do we document the property management relationship in the LLC Operating Agreement? Or do we create a separate property management agreement? If the latter, is it better if I form a company for this purpose and enter into this agreement through that company, or can/should I list myself personally as the property manager? Or am I overthinking this, and just agree on something informally with her and not document? The benefit of that might be that if circumstances change, it would be easier to pivot without having a formal agreement in place. But I'm leaning towards being more formal because I'm thinking about the accounting for all of this, and assume (???) it would look better to show a management fee going to a third-party entity rather than to me personally, as one of the owners.

Lastly, I'm wondering if anyone has any creative ideas about ways she, as the more passive and non-local investor, could contribute her time and effort to the partnership, to offset my management work and possibly solve the management fee dilemma in a different way.  Does that even make sense, or does it over-complicate rather than simplify?  Because if we go that route, I think I'd want to document that arrangement too.

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