Most of my coaching clients go this route or a combination of smaller units at first, then moving into larger units and partnerships.  

I have a partnership question for you all.

There are various types such as Partnerships and Joint Ventures.

If it’s a good deal and the individual checks out I might do a partnership with them as long as I had a controlling interest but that’s just me as  I have never been a passive investor. 

Although they are friends, I've dealt with messy partnership situations among siblings of friends who ended up in mediation because of a lack of up front documentation. 

The biggest problem for any partnership is not outlining each person's responsibilities in the beginning.

@John Cameron Its not worth it to Syndicate 5-10 units. unless the cost is high...You better off doing a partnership with fewer partners then having many to report back to.But you must follow the SEC Rules. 

I don't see how that will work honestly.I hear that you probably need a LLC if you a group of you, e.g. a partnership, is seeking financing to purchase a property. 

We created an LLC and partnership agreement over the past couple of weeks but now geared more towards preparing how to approach the bank.I have secured a 6-month internship that will be paying me roughly $3,500/month starting in June while my business partner will be starting his masters for data analytics.

To your second question, business organizations exist in the following formats...sole proprietor (can be llc, S-corp and still be considered such), partnership (can be llp), syndicate, registered corporation.