Receiving Gifted / Inherited Real Estate - Tax Advice Needed

[Sam Sheffield]

Hello Everyone,

My parents are getting out of the property rental business and want to gift my wife and I a house in Independence, MO. It is a 4 Bedroom, 3 bath house in the 64057 zip code. They built it in the late 90's and have rented it out for most of its existence. As far as I know, they own it fully and taxes are current. The current renters leave 1 Oct and my wife and I are interested in taking possession of the house, barring any glaring issues after an inspection. Various real estate listing sites have it listed between $120-150k.

My question is, how can we take ownership of the house and pay the least amount of taxes? We don't particularly want to live in the house because of the school district, but are open to short-term possibilities. We would rather sell it and use the proceeds as a down payment on a different house north of the river in any of the 64150-64154 zip codes.

Does anyone know the best way to gift a property in Missouri? Would it be considered an inheritance? What ramifications are there due to it being a rental property if we sell it or live in it?

Thank you in advance for responding!