Buying Parents' Home - Ways to reduce costs and hassle?

[Dina Schmid]

Husband and I are considering buying his parents' home and I have some questions about this and would love any feedback on how to minimize hassle and our costs. We're doing this for two main reasons: 1) Prevent his dad from doing something like a reverse mortgage and 2) Minimize the amount of money we need to contribute to their care. 

We're currently paying for lawn care, snow removal and cleaning services + husband is doing some of their home maintenance himself. They are covering cost of insurance, taxes, utilities and all medical expenses which are rapidly draining their available funds. We were going to start gifting them money to help cover those expenses when the idea came up of buying their house to give them a cash infusion. (We're aware of the five year look back period for Medicaid eligibilty but it's not a big factor in our decision to do this.)

We would get the house appraised so we can document paying FMV.
House would be purchased with cash (it's a small home in a rural area and value is low)
Inlaws would sign a lease so that it becomes a legitimate rental and we can deduct expenses, etc.

*Do we charge them rent and then gift that amount back to them (the FMR is well below annual gift limits) or can we gift them rent and still deduct expenses on our taxes?
*Could we deduct the expenses of any modifications made to make the home more accessible (ie adding a ramp to the front door)?
*Anything else I should consider?

We are going under the assumption we would sell the home after they pass so as to not be seen by siblings as making money off the situation. I'm not sure the house would make a good rental property anyways as rent estimate is below 1% of value.

[Ashish Acharya]

@Dina Schmid Inheriting a property is the best way to get property form parents, but looks like this is small transaction because of the property value so inheriting is not absolutely necessary.

Rent vs. Gift: You can charge rent and deduct expenses on your taxes, as long as the arrangement is legitimate (lease in place, rent at fair market value). You can then gift the rent back to them, staying under the annual gift limit ($17,000 per person in 2024). Alternatively, if you gift the rent outright, you can't deduct expenses.

Home Modifications: Yes, you can likely deduct expenses for modifications like adding a ramp, as long as the home is considered a rental property and the improvements meet IRS guidelines for being necessary improvements.

*This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship. The information contained in this post is not to be relied upon. Readers should seek professional advice.