jcstahl

I am trying to help out my father decide what to do with his mother's home upon inheriting the property. He is worried about the capital gain taxes he may have to pay unless he sells it within 6months of receiving the property (Which from what I understand can help to avoid paying capital gains?). Right now the real estate market is obviously not so great...comparable homes sold in the 500K range last year are now listed 100K less...I'm not sure it would be such a great idea to sell at this time. Plus the house needs some work and updating as it was built in 1948. It is quite large 3 bed 2 bath 1800 sq.feet and I believe the lot is 8,000 sq.feet. My parents do have some debt that they are trying to pay off and still owe about 240K on their current home. My father is retired a and my my mother plans to retire in about 5years. My question is, should they hold onto the property and do the upgrades necessary to sell it in the future? There is a renter there currently I should add. Could they pull out money from the equity and give that as a "gift" to myself or my brother in the meantime? There are so many things to think about and I want to make sure that they are able to plan this out to make the most sense. Any advice or suggestions would e very helpful