How can I be a silent co-investor on a residential property without being on title, yet still having security and legal claim to my asset share?

Of course and have in the past.. With FB's Open graph search you can laser target buyers and weed out tire kickers.. This is a no brainer :)

I've been a commercial real estate broker for 5 years now and have ventured into a handful of business partnerships - some have worked and some have nearly ruined me. What I find, on a surface level, is that you must absolutely share the same VALUES and MISSION as your potential partner. Having even stake in the game also helps, as it avoids one partner eventually grabbing "the upper hand". If you are not bringing cash or equity to the table, be prepared to demonstrate how your hard work can be translated into $ value. If you have more detailed scenarios or questions, feel free to bounce them off me at anytime. Cheers! -S.

This should help you out: 1. Property Development for Beginners: A Beginners Guide to Property Development by Steve Chandler http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1482580551/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1482580551&linkCode=as2&tag=pittspropedea-20">Property Development for Beginners: A Beginners Guide to Property Development</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pittspropedea-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1482580551 2. Real Estate Development: Principles and Process by Mike E. Miles http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874209714/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0874209714&linkCode=as2&tag=pittspropedea-20">Real Estate Development: Principles and Process</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=pittspropedea-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0874209714 3. http://www.masterycoachingterence.com/

I co-founded and owned what became the 13th largest Century 21 franchise in the USA. I did the majority of the training. We hired hundreds of new and experienced agents each year maintaining an average active agent count of around 95 in our single office. Here is some of the advice I gave each prospective or new recruit. 1. Make sure you have a cash reserve to cover your personal and real estate business overhead for 3-6 months. 2. Treat your real estate business like you are in business for yourself even though you are not by yourself. Sound business principles still apply. 3. Networking and relationship nurturing are the keys to the kingdom. Prospect, prospect, prospect. (The agents that were proactively prospecting for clients were three to four times more successful than the ones that merely placed ads and waited for the phone to ring.) 4. Avoid the busy-work-trap. That is, do all the non-income producing work during non-prime time hours. If you can be prospecting, showing property or writing contracts, do it. Don't organize your desk, configure your CRM, write your ads, etc., in lieu of the activities that will earn your income. This happens more frequently than you might think. 5. Ignore the naysayers. My best agents earned between $250,000 and $500,000 regardless of the housing market or economy. Ironically, some of them were "intentional" naysayers. It was part of their strategy to discourage the new people. 6. Become a student of the business. Attend every conference available. Read every book. Listen to the CD's/DVD's on how to master the art of selling real estate (to borrow a title from Tom Hopkins). I've traveled the country training real estate agents & brokers. Give me a call if you have any further questions or would like a coach to accelerate your learning curve and success rate. All the best! Kevin McCarthy

Go to city hall. There will be a desk for development...what name it is, well, that will change depend on the municipality. Talk to the staff and tell them what you want, and they'll send you to the right place. You want to talk to engineering and development staff and ask them who the best developers are. They will recommend who you should meet, and maybe even introduce you. When you are changing land use designations like this, it is very helpful to be familiar with city staff. The staff are the people who write the reports that go to council. Council depends on those reports for information to help them decide which way to vote. Ideally, you want a developer who is well known at city call, is used to working with staff, and is appreciated for their attitude. Density bonusing can be achieved in exchange for amenities, and if your developer has a history of making these kinds of horse trades with the city, all the better. What you don't want is a partner who gets the staff's backs up, and doesn't know how to get the best bang for their buck out of the development. Six years of city hall experience and in the construction field on my end.