Buying My Grandmother’s Home. What’s My Game Plan?

Your grandma is selling her paid-off home. Perhaps your grandparents have moved into a retirement home and you’d like to buy their home.

Or perhaps your grandparents have passed on, and you are purchasing the home from a grandparent’s estate. Very often, an estate sells a home to young relatives of homeowners who’ve passed away.

If relatives are on board with your interest in buying a grandparent’s home, then you should have no problems moving ahead with the idea. Still, you have plenty of questions. So, let’s do a Q&A.

Can I Afford To Buy Her Home?

Be sure you’re on firm financial footing when you acquire a deed. You can seek fortifications! Look to your state’s first-time homebuyer plan for possible down payment assistance or closing help. This could enable you to reserve some cash for updating and maintaining the home, and for making emergency repairs and replacements.

If your credit has been looking pretty good over the past two years, you could apply for a government-backed loan. The USDA Guaranteed Loan Program for first-time home buyers is worth a look. (Check the home’s address for eligibility here.)

And don’t forget FHA loans. In some situations (ask a lender if this applies to yours), FHA loans can be had for just 3.5% down. Given your relationship to your seller, keep in mind that the lender will check to ensure you’re paying a fair-market price! Tax officials scrutinize inter-family transactions, too. So, be sure the home is conveyed for fair value, with proper financing and interest.

The arm’s length principle in real estate requires a fair property transfer price. A fair appraisal determines a home’s fair market value using unbiased methods.

Can My Grandmother Help Me Buy Her Home?

Through owner financing, your grandmother could agree to convey the deed and accept your monthly payments. In a seller-financed deal, the buyer and seller sign and record a promissory note describing the loan. No need to go it alone. National Family Mortgage® is an example of a company that can create and record a loan between family members.

Alternatively, she might simply offer you a gift of funds, or just discount the home price.

If the price you’ll pay her is less than the fair appraisal price, the discount becomes a gift of equity.

A lender will ask your grandmother to sign a gift letter if a cash gift or a gift of equity is in play, attesting that the gifted funding is not a loan.

If your grandmother (or any relative) offers to pay the down payment on your behalf or offer a gift of equity, then you may be able to get better terms on your mortgage.

How Does a Gift of Equity Work?

If you plan to buy the home at a discount, or your grandparent is helping out with the down payment, then that extra value you’re getting for your money is a taxable gift. In its underwriting process, a lender checks sources of the money you’re putting down. Why? Because the lender has to assess your overall ability to repay the mortgage.

A gift of equity can help a hopeful buyer meet the requirement to pay full market value on the home, so that’s fine. But as you can see, a sale between relatives is not an opportunity for the deed recipient to get the home at a ridiculous discount!

A certain discount is OK. But it’s a taxable gift if your grandmother chips in more than $18,000 (as of 2024; double that amount if both grandparents are alive and selling their home). Your grandmother would need to fill in the Gift Tax Return – Form 709. Explore the devilish details on the IRS website.

Do We Really Need to Order a Title Search?

Yes. Otherwise, you won’t know if there are liens you’ll need to pay off. You won’t know if the property carries invisible burdens. Skip the search, and you could wind up dealing with old, complicated claims after your grandmother is gone.

Have you decided to handle this without agents? No worries. Title companies know how to address for sale by owner title transfers.

Are you taking out a mortgage? Then your mortgage consultant can refer you to a real estate attorney or settlement company prepared to draft your purchase agreement, do the title search, insure your title, and set up a closing day for you to officially receive the deed. The lender will need a title search and title insurance.

PS: Buyer, consider purchasing an owner’s title policy for yourself, too.

I’m Familiar With the Home. Can I Skip the Inspection?

Safety first. The inspection costs a few hundred bucks. What makes that few hundred bucks money well spent? The detailed inspection report. That’s what tells you what could go wrong if it’s not fixed quickly, what can wait, and how expensive updating the home will become.

And while we’re on the subject, your grandmother needs to fill out a state-issued seller disclosure form.

Some people might think disclosure between family members is over the top. It’s not. Think about the future. One day, you’ll transfer the home’s deed again. On that day, you’ll thank yourself for being diligent now.

Any Thoughts on Renting for Now?

If your grandmother is still living, have you and she thought about how to make an inheritance work for both of you? If you later decide to sell the home, that could have tax advantages for you.

A home can go into a living trust. As the named beneficiary, you would then receive the deed in your name after your grandmother’s life.

Some states even have transfer on death (a.k.a. beneficiary) deeds, so homes can easily pass to named beneficiaries, a lot like the way investment accounts do. Is your mother’s home in a state that allows transfer on death deeds for real estate? If so, this could also be an option for you both.

If your grandmother wants to stay in the home, have you weighed the factors in quitclaiming the house in a living trust? Have you also researched and considered the life estate deed?

In other words… Don’t forget to consider your range of alternatives.

Purchase Is a Go! How Do We Deed the Home?

In your name only — unless you both decide on an alternative arrangement. An alternative arrangement would usually mean opting into multigenerational homeownership.

The two of you may create your deed if you wish. You can still have the loan documents and purchase agreement drawn up by a local attorney. And the county recorder of deeds can inform you what fees and forms must accompany your new deed filing.

Never sit on an unrecorded deed to use later. To avoid missing any legalities, have a local wills & trusts attorney review your documents before recording.

Please note: Deeds.com receives no compensation from companies mentioned in our articles. This article doesn’t replace the case-specific advice of a real estate attorney. It provides general information only, not legal or tax advice. Your grandmother should consult her own professionals to understand the consequences for taxes and for federal or state benefits. See your own professionals for guidance applicable to your situation.

Supporting References

Jacqueline DeMarco for SoFi Bank, N.A. (Social Finance, Inc.): How to Buy a House From a Family Member (Dec. 12, 2022).

Deeds.com: How to Do a Home Sale Between Family Members (May 20, 2022).

Deeds.com: The Seller-Financed Home Sale: Weighing the Risks and Rewards (Jul. 6, 2020).

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