Cosignor, multipurpose rental

[Natalie Nelson]

Hello everyone,, I am in contract for a 5 bedroom rancher in Charleston, SC. It needs some work and is technically one unit but i have ability to section off 2 bed and 1 bath to be separate and airbnb/rent. The other side is 3 bed 1 bath and is move in ready.

My aunt is a cosignor (i don't have steady income but have money to invest) and I am responsible for 100% down payment and repairs. She is expecting to make 50% of the monthly mortgage payments and eventually to receive rent income. She is able to vacation here for free. We are getting loan as my primary residence because advantageous for interest and down payment.

Lets estimate Unit A is 2000 sq feet. (3 bed) I plan to live there for a year to start to get property set up. Unit B (2 bed) is 1000 sq ft and plan to airbnb/rent asap.

Question 1 - I don't think I want to open an LLC, would have to change the loan to be under the LLC and i think it would change my property tax rate and might affect my ability to airbnb. Can I still write up a partnership agreement with aunt and file partnership return?

Question 2- do I claim unit A on my schedule A and unit B as 1065 with aunt?

Question 3 - i don't need her to make monthly payments (i can afford it) should I just assign her an equity% in exchange for co-signing? She is also able to vacation in the house for free.

We will open joint account to keep track of everything. I guess this gets complicated because I'm going to live there at first. I do need to write up something saying our ownership is proportionate to our investment because its not 50/50.

Thanks for any thoughts you have!

Natalie