Renting to buy a car from a friend?

Hello , everything is so vague on how to do this properly so I thought I’d ask here on the houston thread. Okay so boom, my friend has a car that he’s renting to me that I’m gonna put a down payment on (as soon as tomorrow.) they are gonna hold on to the title till I’m done paying which is completely fair and true. DO I have to transfer the title or get added on as a owner at all or is that Something I do after I finish paying it off and have the actual title in my hands a year later??

I’m so confused do I have to get my own copy of the title and stuff? Help! (We are doing a contract and money order situation , any pointers are helpful!!)