Managing Rental Income

[Alysha Brady]

I'm currently closing on my first house with a small apartment in back that already has a tenant which means I will soon become a landlord and start collecting rent without knowing much about it.  I've been trying to read up on it, but one thing I haven't seen is how most people manage their initial rental income.  

The house is in my name, not an LLC, so should the rent checks be written to me personally? Or do I need to create a small business account for the rental income to flow through and, if so, does it matter that the house is not owned by the business? The current rent is $500/month so the profits won't be huge now, but I would eventually like to purchase more rental homes - is there a benchmark at which I should create a business or should I do it from the beginning?

I'm meeting with financial advisers to get personalized advice based on other tax considerations, but would like to know how most people structure this when they're first starting out.

Thanks!