Initial Legal and Tax Setup for Newbie Investors

[Sakura Myers]

Hello everyone! This is my first post to the community :) My mom and I have purchased our first rental property in North Myrtle Beach, SC. From the start, I want to ensure we are correctly setup legally and financially (especially regarding taxes). The house is currently regarded as my mom's 'second home'. Do we need to put the condo in an LLC? How do we open a business credit card for the property to track expenses if we're technically not a business? Should we put the property or its profits into an IRA and grow them tax free or deferred? The state of SC requires a business license to rent the property and there are additional state taxes to be paid regarding rental income. Any suggestions on how to reduce our tax liability legally? Thank you for your help.