I would HIGHLY suggest you consult with a CPA on this. First, you have to know the value of the property on the date you received it, in order to take the correct depreciation on it each year, as required by law. Your depreciation value is based on the "LESSER" amount of FMV at the time it was available for rent AFTER you received it, or what you paid for it. Since it was gifted to you, one would technically thing the "lesser" value to depreciate on would be zero. But that's not so.
Since I'm sure the property is worth more than $14,000, the giver of this gift is required by law to file a federal gift tax return and pay taxes on their gift to you. The recipient of the gift pays no taxes on it at all. But I'm talking about federal income taxes - not things like property taxes and the such.
As the new deeded owner of the property, you need to know it's FMV for depreciation purposes. THe best way to get that, is to have it appraised by a qualified, licensed, certified property appraiser. An appraisal will cost a few hundred dollars is all.
Do note that I am NOT talking about your county property appraiser. The county property appraiser does not appraise property for fair market resale value. They appraise property based on square footage of land, and square footage of living space for the sole purpose of determining it's value for property tax purposes - NOT for FMV sale purposes. So you can NOT use the value of your county's property appraiser for depreciation.
You will need the FMV of the property on the date the property was "available for rent" upon it's being deeded to you, or as close to that date as possible.
