I put my entire life savings, about $15K at that point, into down-payment and closing costs with an added $2500 gift from my parents to cover the remainder of closing.

I appreciate that Clint, but a gift won't be necessary. 

We are getting married august 15th 2020 and my parents are gifting me 2.5 acres in Howell Michigan.

I'm thinking of ways to speed the process up, like offering a gift card as a leasing bonus.

If there is any dip in activity in the Gatlinburg RE market, look at it as a gift to get in at an even better yield than you had a week ago.STRs aren’t without their pitfalls, but the returns are better than the stock market can deliver, and I can watch the Dan Patrick show every morning instead of the daily “what if’s” on CNBC.

Possibly even offer some gifts to tenants during hard times(next 30 days example), decreased rents for a month or even gift baskets with (tp/sanitizer/food)!

For the past 3 yrs we've sent $20 gift cards at Thanksgiving to our tenants so they can buy a turkey/pies/whatever.

Then do what you promise and thank the tenant for his/her cooperation with maybe a pizza delivery on you or some other tangible gift. 

Single-piece shower/tub combos are gods gift to easy bathroom remodels... but expect to have to take at least one door down to get them into the bathroom.3.

They didn’t have to but according to those words they essentially gifted you their money.