<prompt> Human: Hey everyone,Long story short my mother in law is unemployed and having trouble with her morgage payments. Im currently living in the house and helping out with the day to day bills but she owes alot on the morgage that they want upfront from her. She went to one of those nonprofit morgage counseling places and they recommended for her to think about short saling the house to my fiance and I. 1. Is it acceptable to sell to a family member?2. Do you need the traditional amount for a down payment the way you would buying a normal house? The house itself is worth about 600,000 and she owes like 200,000 left on it.3. Would I also need closing costs, first year taxes etc.?Edit: Sorry everyone I neglected to say that she is selling us the house for what is remaining on the morgage with the stipulation that she gets to live there rent free. So we would not be getting the morgage on the house for the full 600,000 but instead for 200,000. Thats why I was unsure if we would need the 20 down payment or would the 400,000 in equitity on the house be the down payment.Update 2: I contacted a close friends mom who is a real estate agent for a recommendation for a real estate lawyer. Additionally the reason she is not just selling the house is to try to help us because we would be looking to purchase a house in the next few years. By selling us the house she doesnt have to worry about the debt she owes on it or covering any of the expenses and we end up with a 600,000 house for 200,000. Kind of a win win deal for both of us.I dont know much about the short sale option and i was hoping someone on here would know. Thank you!  <response>: A lot depends on her mortgage, but I doubt theyre going to approve a short sale to a family member. And your loan has nothing to do with her, typically. Although it wouldnt be a short sale if she has 400k in equity. 