I'm not a tax advisor or CPA so LOL I can't comment on if you need to or not. 

EA or CPA) to help plan though.

Quote from @Bryan Martin: I invest and live in Springfield and also run a CPA firm that specializes in Real Estate investment. 

It sounds like we will determine the best path with a CPA to make sure we both have equal ownership in the property.

You also would need to properly account for all of this.You would want to discuss your specific situation with a qualified CPA to determine if this can be done and if it really benefits you any.

@Aaron OrensteinI would talk to a CPA

@David Narvaez My partner used a CPA the past two years and both got the real estate portion of her taxes wrong.

Many people mentioned that it is strongly recommended to have a CPA as a part of the team. 

Thanks in advance for patiently answering my question.PS: I don't have a CPA, and I'm in the process of getting one, but I wanted to get a frame of reference so I can roughly compare notes with anything my future CPA would propose.

Finally, two other things that you can look into or talk with your CPA to see if there could be any advantages to you (you may be phased out due to income for some) is the Section 199A pass-through deduction, which would require you to start tracking hours spent on your real estate enterprise, as well as the possible CA SALT tax workaround in case you were interested in deducting more than the $10k state and local tax cap for the next few years.If you need referrals for professionals in any of these areas in the San Diego area, feel free to reach out.