2 Properties in Bay Area and W2 Income - Need to LLC or Any Other Suggestions?

[Jane Mipsey]

Hello BP members, first of all, want to thank you for the valuable info I get from this forum. I wanted your thoughts on my situation and mainly if I have to put my condo property in a LLC.

I'm currently a professional making around $400,000 (W2 income). In 2020, I bought a condo for $800,000, around 75% of that is mortgage. In 2023, I bought a SFH for $1.5m, around 80% of that is mortgage.

I started renting out the condo to a tenant - my question is, if I just have 1 rental property, do I still need to put the condo in a LLC for legal/tax purposes? I was under the impression putting properties in LLC is worth it after acquiring 4-5 properties and have a decent-sized portfolio.

Also, if I do want to put a property under LLC, does it matter that the mortgage is under my individual name?