Is Taking over my family home mortgage a good idea?

[Heather Carrow]

Hey guys! I am just starting out on my journey as a real estate investor. A little bit of background: I am 23 years old and working as a counselor. I am in the research stage of my real estate investing career and working on getting a better paying job to afford investments. My fiancé and I live at my childhood home with my dad. My dad is looking to sell our house...he owes $275,000 and offered to sell it to us at that price. It was just appraised at $307,000. He also offered to put on a new roof and windows... we would renovate the rest of the house. We really want to buy it because it is everything we want in a house. If we don’t buy it, we are out of a place to live when he sells it. We pitched the idea of taking over his loan in order to avoid refinancing and closing costs. He is willing, but we need some answers first. I’m still a newbie to this business, so I’d like to ask you guys some questions:

-If we take over his mortgage, what legal paperwork, if any, has to be filed?

-Does he have to have a specific loan type to do this (assumable loan)

-How do we eventually put the home in our name? (We want it to be our long-term house)

-What happens if my dad dies before the house is paid off?

-What happens if we pay it off through his mortgage? Can we transfer it in our name without paying massive Taxes?

-Last but not least: is it smart to buy a home for myself when I’m just starting out in real estate investing? I want this to be my career, but I also need somewhere to live, if love to raise my own family here, and the mortgage payments are doable for my fiancé and I.