Partnering up with a friend

[Kevin Means]

A friend of mine and I have recently discovered that we both are interested in rental properties and we both think it would be a good idea to partner our resources together in order to get things going for both of us. We are looking at multi family properties in Philadelphia but I’m no sure what hoops, if any, that we have to jump through in order to legally start our partnership. We plan on growing the business as well and buying many properties in the long run. Do we have to apply for the mortgage together? I’d rather just keep one persons name on the mortgage so that we don’t run into the issue of having 4+ properties in our names to early and can maximize how many conventional mortgages we can obtain. Is there a way that we can have a legal partnership with just one of us on the mortgage? Also do we have to file to become an Llc? If you need any other information feel free to ask! Ive done extensive research on the real estate side of all of this but not the legal side with partnerships and I’m not even sure where to start Thanks in advance for any help!