George, thanks for taking the time to reply. Your questions:

1. how is the ownership recorded with the county?

This NJ entity is filed as a "Two Member LLC" that the IRS told me must be classified as a Partnership (but not a domestic partnership). Thus, IRS said I should file an information return even though my sister and I will not "receive any income during the year AND did not have any expenses that it will claim as deductions or credits".

Would you file an information return with basically all $0 amounts?

2. Will each member/partner contribute money to pay utilities, insurance, taxes, etc?

Yes, my sister and I equally periodically contribute money to a checking account for household overhead expenses.

That said... and if I do file a Form 1065... it will have $0 income and $0 expenses. But I probably should prepare a very simple Schedule L Balance Sheet. Projecting Assets to be about $7,500 "Cash" and $80,000 "Other Assets". Maybe I'll breakout the "Land" portion of the $80,000 but the home is not a depreciable asset, so I'll report as "Other".

If I were your client, would you recommend doing a Balance Sheet, or just leave the Schedule L blank and keep it super simple? After all, it is not (and never will be a business).

3. Will it ever be occasionally loaned out to friends?

No, never. And for insurance liability reasons, it's only used by our immediate family members (our kids, grand kids, and siblings). No friends... that's the rule!