Agree I may have been a bit harsh on the seasoning part, my apologies SD R. Its probably a good idea but not necessary. In the situation I recently was involved in the gift was close to 6 figures.
The part that really set me off was the adding of gifter. I have run into a few clients that had to do short sales with parents on the loan. In one case, the daughter was very underwater and had to walk. The parents (2 prominent Bay Area attorneys are taking a big hit for this). I got my car detailed last week and the detailer is underwater after his property went down by more than 50% in Oceanside. His Mother in Law is on the loan and needs her credit to move in another year or two so they cant walk or do a short sale. They are stuck in small 1BR condo with a baby worth about $125K and they paid about $300K. There are tons of other reasons not related to distress as to why this is bad idea (i.e. legal, estate, tax etc.) and should be avoided if possible.
