When he does this, he may choose to report gifting you the half.

But also, my wife and I floated the idea to let our children slowly buy their way in as they grow into teens and young adults.The IRS says I can only gift my children so much money, and I don't really want to gift them anything.

The IRS does not care whether it is a conventional loan, private loan, gift from a friend, sale of stock, savings, robbing your child's piggy bank or wherever you have access to money. 

I’ve written her an extensive text message and had a visa gift card i Usually give tenants.

He declined unless we wanted a steep discount and then gifted them so funds back to save them taxes.  

For instance, I had a family friend that gifted their home then had a sudden illness that required long term nursing home care.

People who are getting FHA loans on 100k houses are usually only putting down $3500 - and often times a portion of that is gifted, so your option fee might be a challenge for many of your potential buyers.

That is a great thing.I never used Venmo until I had to- someone sent my child a birthday gift- and when I logged in to collect I saw what others have raved about- easy, free and quick. 

I always suggest to my investors send a welcome packet and/or gift to new tenants once they close on the property.

The difference of fair market value versus what you pay would likely be considered a gift to you, which may require the filing of a gift tax return, and would eat into their lifetime exclusion depending on the amount of the gift.