Gifting equity in a house may be more trouble than it is worth if you are not near the life-time exclusion1) Potentially having to get the property appraised everytime an equity is gifted2) Having a title company update the title every time3) Exemption of the gift tax return is normally for cash gifts below the annual gift tax exclusion, you may still need to file if you gift non-cash4) If there is partial ownership over several years, having to properly pro-rate certain items such as real estate taxes, mortgage interest and rental income if the property is a rentalBest of luck 

Another struggle i have with STR is replacing small items continually which ties back to pricing.

Of course you can get discounts for having certain items FULLY updated, like plumbing.  

For Non-Admitted carriers, the important item to then pay attention to is the AM Best rating (or equivalent rating agency).

It is not your responsibility to house this person's items indefinitely in your rental. 

Have them send you a line by line item of what's needed.

On June 7th, we sent an itemized list of deductions via text; he responded on June 8th, disagreeing and threatening legal action.

One your loans will be a higher interest rate, next you will have annual filings, the cost of a registered agent every year, and items like that. 

These are professionals with additional training and a stricter code of ethics.

Outside of real estate, I enjoy Working out, training my German shepherd, and traveling with my family.