He's a charmer with a gifted tongue.

If you are trying to use your funds for the down payment it would have to be a gift which is easy but if they require reserves she would need to show a certain number of PITI (principal interest, taxes, & Insurance) in a liquid reserve account, possibly use life insurance with face value or 401K.If you have to use your funds you may just want to put her name on your business checking account or put some cash (funds) into her account (3) months prior to the purchase.

Or perhaps give a gift certificate?

You need to seek a CPA for this as the wrong decision could cost you 10s of thousands in taxes.... do not gift the property.

If you're planning on a traditional mortgage with 20-25% down, the lender will want to source the funds and a gift or borrowed funds won't suffice.If you plan to house hack, you can get an FHA with 3.5% down and the funds can be gifted.If you're paying all cash for a property it won't be an issue but make sure you're going to have a high enough ARV and can accurately estimate repair costs to be able to pay back your family after you refinance or sell.

Unless you are clearly stating that it's a gift of equity, the value of the house is the value the owner is willing to sell it for.Was this an actual appraisal from a licensed appraiser, like for a refinance?

It's truly been a gift to glean so much wisdom from both the site's original content and the forums to help me get started on my REI journey.I close on my first buy-and-hold rental property in 10 days and MUCH of that is due to the gained knowledge and confidence I gained from this resource.I've been applied the knowledge gained to analyze my hometown and surrounding area.

You could, however use a gift from family, friends, etc.

Gift letters.

You are allowed to gift people up to $10k/yr (double check with an accountant) tax free, so that could be shown as his source of downpayment.Since the house will be titled and mortgaged in his name, I would be sure there is some legal contract in place too.