Which means he's giving her (via government force, not out of kindness) a gift. 

I know in most states agents are limited by license law as to how much they can pay for referral fee's and its usually a small amount or a token gift..

HOWEVER, in most cases, the FHA Buyer chooses FHA because of the low down payment, so usually they don't have the extra to bring in.Also notable with FHA loans, Buyers are allowed to use gift funds with greater flexibility. 

However, many have a Mortgage/HELoC package they will offer on a primary residence, where the HELoC is 65%LTV combined with a small mortgage of 15% LTV to bring you to the 80%LTV magical threshold.3) A gift to you from a third-party (ie. your rich Uncle Ned).  

The house was gifted to me almost two years ago, but not quite, though I've been living in it for longer than that.

Thank them and send them a $25 gift card with a thank you note the next day

It might be hard to argue in court that the $1 amount constituted any real consideration; which would make the transfer essentially a gift. 

But thanks for telling everyone not to worry about gifts as long as they are less than $12M.

And, with a second home approach you can receive a temporary buydown from the seller, as well as gift funds, both of which aren't allowed for investment.

I began investing with the VA Loan and it is without a doubt the greatest gift given to servicemembers, if used correctly.