Buying a house short term....let me explain

I would buy the house for her. If things go wrong and she falls short on money, you can always sell it again, with costs of course, but it seems that wouldn't be the end of the world for you financially. I assume you have investigated a mortgage for yourselves as there will be restrictions due to age for most mortgage lenders. But assuming that has been agreed, there will be no stamp duty to pay (as some have intimated). Capital Gains Tax could be an issue, but if you buy in joint names with your husband you would not pay any CGT unless the house rose in value by more than £21,000 in the year. I am assuming all would be settled within a year. And once she is in a position to buy the house herself, yes, there will be some fees to pay, but if you use the same solicitor a second time and it is fairly soon, they shouldn't need to re-do the searches and the fees should be fairly low.

This is a lovely gesture to make to your DIL and her kiddies, and I hope it works out well for you all. They have suffered a terrible tragedy and need all the help they can get. Yes, things can go wrong, but they have already gone badly wrong for this young mum, and she deserves a helping hand. You won't regret doing this for them. It will give them a new start in life that seems to be so important for them right now.

If anyone is buying the property for the first time, then it is difficult to determine which strategy to follow. Most of the real estate agent recommends to buy a home, if anyone is planning to live around 5-6 years. So that when it comes time to sell, one must not lose money by not being able to regain the initial costs of that property. One of my friends recently purchased Long Beach NY short sale with all the facilities like parking and water view.