Partnerships/Loans/LLC for OOS Investing

[Gabrielle Reyno]

Hello!

I am new to real estate investing and planning to purchase a long term rental out of state (as I live in San Diego, CA) in the next 3-6 months. I have two partners and we are planning to put 25-30% down (total) and get a conventional mortgage loan. However, we have some questions:

1. Do all 3 of us apply for the mortgage loan together? Or should only one of us be on the loan and the other 2 people simply be investors? If only 1 of us is on the loan, is that person the only "owner" on title? We can likely each qualify for the amount needed individually.

2. Should we form an LLC prior to purchasing a property?

Thank you!

Gaby