You bring the property, and we’ll bring the money, plans, engineers, construction crews, project managers, and designers—all to improve, sell, and share in the extra value of your property. 

Flexible empowers property owners to unlock better outcomes than they thought were possible. One way we do that is by letting owners choose their Offer Type. This article covers the Partnership Offer Type, a great option for owners who want help maximizing their property’s value or cash flow.

If you’re not sure if a Partnership is right for you or your client, use our Offer Type Finder to see other options.

What Is a Partnership?

A partnership—also known as joint venture—is an arrangement where two or more entities combine resources to work toward a common goal. Each partner brings something of value to the partnership. By joining forces, partnerships can reduce risk, distribute responsibilities, improve potential outcomes, and achieve more than would be possible by working alone.

Many real estate projects you drive by every day—from single-family home renovations to new shopping centers and apartment buildings—are partnerships between property owners, developers, and financial partners. 

Partnerships are a great option if you want to maximize your property's value or cash flow—but you don't have the desire, expertise, time, or capital to do so on your own.  

How It Works

A partnership connects two or more entities who share complementary resources and aligned goals. Because a partnership relies on the combined strengths of the partners, each member of the team should bring something different—and valuable—to the table, such as:

• Expertise—skills like project management, design, construction, and managing third parties, including property managers and leasing agents 

• Real estate—land, and in most cases, an existing building

• Capital—the money to back the project

• Talent—experts and a great network of specialists

• Systems—established processes and procedures to manage people and projects

• Effort—to get the legwork done

To make sure everyone has clear expectations, all partnerships have a written agreement (called an Operating Agreement or Joint Venture Agreement) that spells out:

• The purpose or “goal” of the partnership

• Each partner's roles and responsibilities (who does what)

• The capital and assets each partner will contribute

• How cash flow and profit will be distributed (who gets what, and when)

• How decisions will be made

• Ways the partnership can be dissolved

• Other details that account for both foreseen and unforeseen circumstances

Benefits

Whatever your goal, Flexible can likely figure out a way to get it done through a partnership. As an owner, you will contribute your property to the partnership. In exchange, Flexible can:

• Be an active or passive partner. Flexible can take on as large or as small a role as you want.

• Bring money. Flexible can provide the capital for renovations or development projects.

• Take care of the details. Flexible can handle all the legwork you don't want to deal with.

A partnership with Flexible is an excellent option for owners who want to take advantage of any of these benefits:

• More money. A partnership can increase the value of your property through renovations, redevelopment, or the cash flow it can generate. That means you can reach your goals faster.

• Leverage Flexible's expertise. Owners can benefit from Flexible's decades of experience and meticulous efforts to make projects and property operations run smoothly.

• Shared risk. Flexible is willing and able to co-invest. Take advantage and reach your goals with less money at risk.

• Less effort. You decide how much you want to participate, from active weekly discussions and decision-making to having Flexible handle everything.  

• Complete customization. As with any Flexible offer, anything you want is fair game. Just tell us what you want, and we’ll incorporate it into your offer. 

Terms to Discuss with Flexible

A partnership with Flexible is designed to give you options. When you're ready, contact one of Flexible's Offer Guides to discuss:

• Your goals. Do you need cash or income immediately? Do you have any other near-term cash requirements?

• Your thoughts on risk and reward. Would you prefer a low-risk position in the partnership with lower expected returns, or a high-risk position with higher expected returns—or somewhere in the middle?

• Your preferences for how long the partnership will exist. We’ll use this to make sure we’re realistic about your expectations and how long it will take to execute the business plan that will reach your goals.  

Success Tip: Using Incentives for Shared Rewards

A well-structured partnership is designed to motivate the partners to do whatever they can to achieve the best possible outcome for the benefit of all partners. One of the best tools to make this happen is an incentive. 

In most cases, the incentive is an increased share of profits or cash flow to the partner that is tasked with managing the most impactful parts of the project—for example, the design and construction phase. 

When incentives are included in a partnership, the partners agree on certain performance “benchmarks” that may be levels of cash flow or profit. Here’s an example of a set of benchmarks for a property owner and a project-manager partner who will manage all aspects of a renovation project:

• Minimum expected profit: $200,000

• Exciting profit: $250,000

• Wow!: $300,000

Each time the partnership reaches a more impressive benchmark, thanks to the fine decision-making and skills of the project-manager partner, the property owner might be willing to share a larger share of the “extra” profit with the project-manager partner. This will motivate the project-manager partner to reach the highest benchmark possible. 

• Minimum expected profit: $200,000. Project-manager partner earns 25% of total profit up to this benchmark.

• Exciting profit: $250,000. Project-manager partner earns 30% of the profit between the first benchmark of $200,000 and this benchmark.

• Wow!: $300,000. Project-manager partner earns 40% of the profit between the second benchmark of $250,000 and this benchmark, and 50% of any profit above $300,000.

As you can see, the project-manager partner is incentivized to reach the “Wow!” profit tier which, if reached, would be an exciting victory for both partners. 

FAQs 

When does a partnership end?

In general, a partnership ends when the goal is reached. Circumstances may change, and a partnership could end sooner than expected. In these cases, there are pre-agreed upon options that determine what happens next. It's nearly impossible to think of everything in advance, so it helps to have a Flexible partner.

What are the risks of partnering?

In any real estate partnership, a primary risk is that you won't meet your financial goals. One way that can happen is if the real estate market changes. A well-designed partnership can account for potential shifts in the market and help lower these risks.  

How can I be sure Flexible—or someone else—is the right partner for me?

For starters, ask a potential partner for details about their real estate experience. Next, ask what they will do to help you reach your goals. Find out the best way to structure the partnership so everyone gets what they want, with an acceptable level of risk.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal, tax, insurance, or investment advice. Flexible encourages you to contact an Offer Guide to discuss your unique situation and consult qualified third-party financial, legal, tax, insurance, or investment professionals prior to making any related decisions.