Q: How to transfer property ownership with only existing mortgage value and no capital gains?
My mother's name is on the title and mortgage for the condo I am living in while I pay all the fees. I am set up as a renter with no profits. I am now in a position to take ownership of the property and remaining mortgage. Adding my name to the existing mortgage is not an option. She doesn't want to 'sell' it to me at the remaining rate to devalue properties around me. Is there another option to transfer ownership and remaining responsibility to me? She is not looking to gain anything from this transaction and is hoping not to face any additional fees. Any guidance or advice would be appreciated.
A:
Unfortunately, this is not an easy situation. If you want to avoid fees, you should probably talk to a tax attorney. I do not think you can avoid all taxes. You may be able to defer taxes or maybe defer then fall into an exception, but Uncle Sam always gets his cut in the end. Your mother could probably pass her interest on as a gift. But that creates gift tax issues. Like I said, you need to talk to a tax attorney to help you structure the transfer in a way to reduce taxes.
In terms of moving the interest, you can do that via quite claim deed. The mortgage is the more complicated topic which you will need to talk to a lender about.
In terms of devaluing the property around you, who knows? You are talking about market speculation now. It’s a guess at best. I wish you luck.
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