Structuring conventional financing with a 50/50 business partner?

[Scott Schaecher]

Hey BP community! Question regarding conventional financing when a business partner is involved. I have several SF's, and my brother does as well. We are looking to partner together on some 2-4 multi-family units, but aren't quite clear on how we should approach bank financing. Because we're going for conventional financing, an LLC isn't an option. How have you all handled financing with more than one individual involved? Does one of us sign as primary and other as secondary? Both as co-signers? Just one of us sign? I also understand there are FNMA limits on how many conventional loans one can take. If we're both co-signers on 2 loans, does that count for each of us as two out of our maximum (10)? If so, would it be better for one of us to take on 1 mortgage and the other take on the second to avoid the double whammy? Thanks for any advice!