One piece of advice - don't judge the viability of this primarily on your friendship, but on the ethics of each of you. Friendships can wax and wane but I know people who even if they loathed me, would still settle it via discussion and honour any financial commitments they had made. Someone who you don't have a lot in common with but who will always keep their word or play fair, can sometimes be worth more than a mate who you have a good laugh with. The question I would ask yourself, is how would this person behave towards someone they didn't like? Do they base their behaviour on what's right or on who their friends are? That's the thing you need to be sure of if you want to be safe.