Reserves cannot be derived from a gift.

Best holiday gift this year! 

The land was a gift from my father. 

Let them tag along and help where appropriate.One of the greatest gifts my Dad gave me was a work ethic.

I should mention that the cash I'm using for this start is not nearly all the cash I have on hand but it's cash the wife and I feel was a "gift" and therefore we are more willing to be somewhat risky with it. i'm suspecting real estate will prove to be less risky then the stock market as it's easier to understand for me than stocks.

Offer a drawing for like a $100 gift card.  

I have 250k cash I can use towards a multi family purchase as gift money.

Exceptions for me being I hire contractors to do work it is not efficient for me to do myself such as grass and snow and I do favours for my tenants but would never give them gifts.

LOL It did give me a good kick in the pants, though, it made me realize that I really have to put more work into learning what I need to learn if I want to get into this business of investing.I'm sick of this business of living paycheck-to-paycheck and never having enough money for when things come up, or to go on vacations, or to buy gifts for friends and family on birthdays and such.

All of the down payment funds are in the other spouse's account that just has their name on it.Problem: Down payment "gifts" cannot be used for investment properties, primary residences only.