FIRPTA fee with in-laws LTR

[Patrick C. Bellamy]

In 2015, I helped my In-laws from Germany purchased a home here in Georgia.  I assisted with finding them a GC and we had an addition to the property making it a 3BR/2B from a 2BR/1B.  They purchased at $178K, put in about $75K, and now valued at $430K.  They moved into another place and I have been managing their LTR.

I've been interested in purchasing it for a BRRR from them but we were told there is a 15% fee with FIRPTA off the sale price that they would have to pay, roughly $60k they'd lose out on. They don't plan on selling it to anyone else and it has been put into any inheritance we would receive. Is there another way for us to go about this that wouldn't require them to lose this money? Has anyone dealt with this before?

Thanks for any advice,

Patrick