Selling a house that was gifted

What is the name of your state? Maine

I'm sorry if this issue has been posted in the past. I was unable to find a post that fit with the issue I have.

My gradmother paid off my mother's house for her, but when my mother went through a bad divorce, she gifted the house to my grandmother. We aren't sure how legal that was, but she was afraid that she would have to sell it, and didn't want that to happen since my grandmother paid for most of it. Before my grandmother died, she gave the house back to my mother.

My mother is living in a different city now and finds the expenses of having this house to be a bit too high, even with me paying rent. She doesn't want to sell the house to a stranger, but I personally can't afford to buy the house at present. She was told by a friend who is in real estate that because she had gifted the house to her mother in the past, she can't gift it to either of her daughters and if she sells it to one of us, it has to be for fair market value. Is this true? She was thinking of trying to sell it for a lot less anyway, but I'm afraid she'll get into trouble.

Thank you!

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by HarukoZ001

What is the name of your state? Maine

I'm sorry if this issue has been posted in the past. I was unable to find a post that fit with the issue I have.

My gradmother paid off my mother's house for her, but when my mother went through a bad divorce, she gifted the house to my grandmother. We aren't sure how legal that was, but she was afraid that she would have to sell it, and didn't want that to happen since my grandmother paid for most of it. Before my grandmother died, she gave the house back to my mother.

My mother is living in a different city now and finds the expenses of having this house to be a bit too high, even with me paying rent. She doesn't want to sell the house to a stranger, but I personally can't afford to buy the house at present. She was told by a friend who is in real estate that because she had gifted the house to her mother in the past, she can't gift it to either of her daughters and if she sells it to one of us, it has to be for fair market value. Is this true? She was thinking of trying to sell it for a lot less anyway, but I'm afraid she'll get into trouble.

Thank you!

**A: that's not true. Post on the Tax Lax forum.

OKay, thank you very much. I will do that.

[HomeGuru]

Ok, domo arigato.