Buy my parents house?

[Nicholas Bossert]

My parent's home is a custom build built in 2003 in a desirable neighborhood with above-average schools in a suburb in Buffalo, NY. 4 bed, 2.5 bath and 2,522 square feet. Unfortunately, my mother passed away a few months ago, and my father is living in the house himself now. He has kicked-around the idea of selling this home - or at least entertaining the idea to us as a discussion next year, and has expressed that he does not just want to list it on the market. The house has clear sentimental value, and I know he wants to keep it in the family.

I am about to close on my fist house hack near where I work, but my plan was to live in the house for only a year anyway, and move back in with my father. 

He has about $120-130k in equity (I would say around $200k to build the house), and it is listed on MLS sites as being worth around $278k. My father is 60yo, and plans to retire (hopefully) at 62.

How should I go about this? I love this home - I have lived in it all my life (I just turned 25yo), and my parents have added things (back cement patio, shed, fence) over the years to it. I do not think I will have the money for a down payment/loan approval within the next 1-2 years ( I would need about $50k at least for a down payment if I bought it with a loan?), and I worry that this would "drain" my funds if I took it on. I was thinking about the rent-to-own process, but not sure how that would work either. I know my father would be very much interested in a steady monthly income when he retires. At the same time, I understand the value of this house on the market, as well as the built in equity that exists. 

I also thought about seeing if my father would agree to a HELOC on the house. I could take that equity and use it for a possible flip or expand my hopeful real estate aspires, and give him a cut of the monthly rent/profit.

Does anyone have advice on this type of situation? It would be greatly appreciated, thank you.