How to Test a Real Estate Partnership Before You Sign a JV Agreement
Why You Shouldn't Jump Straight Into a Partnership
For many real estate investors, partnerships feel like the fast track to scale.
Shared capital.
Shared expertise.
Shared upside.
On paper, it all sounds great.
But what most people don’t realize is this:
A bad partnership can cost you far more than no partnership at all.
Before you merge finances, sign a joint venture agreement (JV), or tie your name to someone else’s deal, you need to ask yourself:
How do we make decisions together?
How do we handle conflict, deadlines, and money?
Can both of us actually execute what we say we will?
That’s where a simple framework has saved me (and many others):
Crawl. Walk. Run.
My Story: The Deal I Almost Signed — And Why I Didn't
Not long ago, I was this close to signing an agreement with some partners.
On paper, it looked like a dream deal.
I was keeping majority ownership of my business, gaining major exposure, and everyone around me was excited about the opportunity.
But something didn’t sit right.
Thankfully, my husband offered advice that changed everything:
“Did you talk to Tyler?”
Tyler — his cousin — was one of the first six employees at Patreon, a platform built for creators. He’s also an experienced angel investor, sharp operator, and one of the kindest, most generous people I know.
So I called Tyler.
We walked through everything: the deal structure, the numbers, the roles, and — most importantly — the signals underneath all the excitement.
After hearing the full picture, Tyler gave me one simple phrase that reframed everything:
"Crawl. Walk. Run."
It was so simple. Yet so rich.
I hung up the phone, sat quietly, and replayed everything we’d already done together. It felt like watching a movie in my head:
The Zoom chats. The full chat box lighting up with praise. My inbox flooded after every session. Calendar invites stacking up.
But then I pictured my Stripe payouts — sitting almost perfectly still.
Like the numbers themselves were waiting for something to finally move… that never did.
That was the moment it hit me.
The trial phase had already done its job.
There wasn’t a problem to fix.
There just wasn’t alignment to build on.
This wasn’t failure.
It was a filter.
A safety check.
A litmus test.
And that decision saved me from years of headaches — and thousands of dollars lost — inside a formal partnership that wasn’t designed for both of us to thrive.
The Smart Way to Test Partnerships: Crawl. Walk. Run.
Partnerships rarely fall apart because people weren’t excited.
They fall apart because people skipped the testing and alignement phase.
Crawl-Walk-Run means starting small, observing how both parties perform, gradually increasing responsibility, and only formalizing long-term partnerships after you’ve seen how both people handle real-world pressure.
Here’s how you can apply this exact framework in real estate:
10 Examples of Real Estate Partnership Trials to Use Before Signing Legal Documents
1. Shared Lead Generation Campaign
Crawl: Split a $500 skip trace and list pull to test seller response.
Walk: Co-fund a direct mail or PPC campaign targeting motivated sellers.
Run: Build a shared lead pipeline with defined deal splits.
2. Joint Deal Review Day
Crawl: Independently underwrite one deal and compare notes.
Walk: Review comps, contractors, and title reports together.
Run: Submit joint offers with pre-negotiated roles and responsibilities.
3. Trial Flip Partnership
Crawl: One funds a portion of renovation materials on a light cosmetic flip.
Walk: One manages contractors; the other handles dispo and closing.
Run: Formal flip partnership with profit-sharing and risk-sharing clauses.
4. Capital + Operations Trial
Crawl: Capital partner lends on a short-term note (6–8 weeks).
Walk: Capital funds full deal; operator handles rehab and disposition.
Run: Formal JV agreement for larger syndications.
5. Shared Acquisition Underwriting Sprints
Crawl: Analyze 5 deals separately; compare underwriting logic.
Walk: Build shared deal analysis SOPs.
Run: Establish weekly acquisition pipelines with shared deal desk systems.
6. Mini Airbnb or Rental Project
Crawl: One partner furnishes; the other manages bookings.
Walk: Split costs and management for a small unit.
Run: Co-own larger STR portfolios with clear profit-sharing.
7. Joint Marketing and Seller Appointments
Crawl: One books appointments; the other handles negotiations.
Walk: Alternate appointment roles across multiple leads.
Run: Fully shared CRM system with revenue splits.
8. Contractor Vetting and Management Trial
Crawl: Test contractors on a small rehab task.
Walk: Share oversight responsibilities on larger renovations.
Run: Fully co-manage contractors, budgets, and project timelines.
9. Disposition (Sales) Co-Test
Crawl: One markets to their buyers list.
Walk: The other uses agent or investor networks.
Run: Formal dispo revenue-share structure.
10. Finance and Admin Systems Pilot
Crawl: Share dummy CRM or deal-tracking spreadsheets.
Walk: Split lead tracking and transaction management duties.
Run: Merge backend systems with joint finance, bookkeeping, and reporting.
Why This Process Protects You (and Your Capital)
Every partnership test gives you data.
And that data is either:
Working for you (by showing alignment), or
Working on you (by revealing misalignment before it costs you more).
Here’s what you’re really protecting:
You Protect Your Time
You stop wasting months chasing the wrong partner, fixing miscommunication, or spinning your wheels on deals that were never aligned from the start.
You Protect Your Money
You avoid investing real capital into deals where the partnership can’t support performance, growth, or decision-making under pressure.
You Protect Your Energy
You filter out chaos, drama, and unnecessary emotional labor — so you stay focused on operating deals that fuel your long-term wealth, not drain it.
You Turn Everything Into Data
Every trial run shows you something.
Either you’re building something sustainable, or you’re surfacing what would’ve become a problem later — when it would’ve cost you 10X more to fix.
When You're Ready to Formalize, Do It Right
Eventually, you’ll reach the point where formalizing the deal makes sense.
That’s where the Informed Partners AI Guide™ comes in.
It’s not just another legal template — it’s the system I built (from my own hard-earned lessons) to help you:
Clarify roles, responsibilities, and revenue splits
Ask the hard questions before money moves
Prepare your deal for legal review the right way
👉 [Get the Guide]
Informed Partner AI Guide: Build Smarter Partnerships with Clear Agreements, Role Alignment, and Real-World Feasibility
