Your dad has to gift you the equity in lieu of a down payment.

If you have family with some funds available you may be able to get funds from them , but the bank will want to see the funds as a gift and not a loan...

as opposed to a "gift" per se.

@An HoIt sounds like your parents do not actually want to gift you the money yet.

Most engineer investors I know are also big time DIYers, and that can be a gift and a curse. 

With a gift of equity as down payment, I filled out the paperwork and took official ownership of the house.

Your parents can do a HELOC to pull cash and gift you those funds to make the purchase up to a certain amount. 

As your equity grows from the tenant paying down the mortgage (rent) and the economy (appreciation),...both free gifts to you,...it grows on a 1 to 1 basis. 

Because you have a lot of finance knowledge...but more importantly, the gift of filibustering a two minute answer into 30 minutes.

I was reading about Detroid in National Geo Mag and it sound slike the city will bulldoze abandonned homes if the property tax is not paid and then seed grass and gift the lot to the neighbor who is stipp paying taxes.