@Carl , thanks for the thoughtful post.
I will seek professional help from a CPA specializing in real estate, assuming that is the best professional to consult. For now just trying to educate myself so that I can make the most of my time/money spent on professional consultations.
I'd be interested to know what you all have to say about the following sentence from IRS Publication 541 under the section titled Organizations Classified as Partnerships:
However, a joint undertaking merely to share expenses is not a partnership. For example, co-ownership of property maintained and rented or leased is not a partnership unless the co-owners provide services to the tenants.
As far as I can tell, we currently co-own property that we maintain and rent; we do not provide services to the tenants.
Also a question on "primary state" where our Partnership would "conduct business": We all live in CA but all the rental property is in ID. Which state is the primary state where we conduct business? (This is a question asked by Turbotax Business software when I choose to file a Partnership return).
