Financial aid if you own a house but don’t live in it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It counts as an asset and will hurt your chances of FA. You can sell it or borrow against it.
Unfortunately, you'd be better off living in ithe house you own because some colleges give generous exemptions for the value of the house you actually live in.

What happens to other families who have periods where they can’t live in their homes? Children of Foreign service Officers, or people who need to live near transplant centers because they have a child who is on a waiting list, or whatever reason. (Neither of those is my actual reason but it’s similar in that it’s truly not a choice). It seems unfair that everyone else can shelter hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets and we can’t, because I will need those assets in retirement or an emergency as much as anyone else.

+1 Perhaps hire a financial aid counselor. Your situation isn't the norm, but if you have a lot of equity in a house, yes, you have to report it and yes, that will be an indication of wealth. And not sure how people are sheltering hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets legally on a financial aid form...

If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity in your house that you live in that’s sheltered. It’s not taken into account on your financial
aid application.

We are a solidly middle class family, but we bought our house 15 years ago, so between 15 years of mortgage payments and 15 years of appreciation I own a large percentage of it. It just seems unfair that other families whose financial situations might be identical other than the fact that they live in their house would get significantly more aid.

I highly doubt you are solidly middle class. Many who claim that make $150-400K. OP sounds lower income so they would probably qualify regardless of the house.

I am OP. The post you quoted is also me. I thought it was clear but I should have said. Between my income and the survivor benefits my kids get our family income is around 100K, which is below the median for a family our size in the state where we live.

I have about $400K equity. If I leave that out of the net price calculators they say we would get need based aid at our state schools.

I would hope your child would get aid. Apply around to a bunch of colleges and see. $400K equity in a house is very different than $400K savings with retirement and lots of other stuff. Remember here people call themselves middle class with 2-4 times that income. Just explain the situation that you bought the house married, spouse passed away, went to live with family as they needed a caretaker and kept the house as you will need to move back into it one day when relative passes.

Based on? Did OP say what assets exist other than the home? I know she said what her income/survivor benefits equal…but what about other assets?

[Anonymous]

OP here

My oldest is a HS junior so there isn’t yet a specific school to call. We are trying to figure out where to apply, and trying to anticipate likely levels of aid plays a role in that.

I am not being coy. I was upfront in my OP that I wasn’t going to give details because they are specific enough that it would be identifying. People are speculating and making guesses that don’t happen to be accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It counts as an asset and will hurt your chances of FA. You can sell it or borrow against it.
Unfortunately, you'd be better off living in ithe house you own because some colleges give generous exemptions for the value of the house you actually live in.

What happens to other families who have periods where they can’t live in their homes? Children of Foreign service Officers, or people who need to live near transplant centers because they have a child who is on a waiting list, or whatever reason. (Neither of those is my actual reason but it’s similar in that it’s truly not a choice). It seems unfair that everyone else can shelter hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets and we can’t, because I will need those assets in retirement or an emergency as much as anyone else.

+1 Perhaps hire a financial aid counselor. Your situation isn't the norm, but if you have a lot of equity in a house, yes, you have to report it and yes, that will be an indication of wealth. And not sure how people are sheltering hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets legally on a financial aid form...

If you have hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity in your house that you live in that’s sheltered. It’s not taken into account on your financial
aid application.

We are a solidly middle class family, but we bought our house 15 years ago, so between 15 years of mortgage payments and 15 years of appreciation I own a large percentage of it. It just seems unfair that other families whose financial situations might be identical other than the fact that they live in their house would get significantly more aid.

I highly doubt you are solidly middle class. Many who claim that make $150-400K. OP sounds lower income so they would probably qualify regardless of the house.

I am OP. The post you quoted is also me. I thought it was clear but I should have said. Between my income and the survivor benefits my kids get our family income is around 100K, which is below the median for a family our size in the state where we live.

I have about $400K equity. If I leave that out of the net price calculators they say we would get need based aid at our state schools.

I would hope your child would get aid. Apply around to a bunch of colleges and see. $400K equity in a house is very different than $400K savings with retirement and lots of other stuff. Remember here people call themselves middle class with 2-4 times that income. Just explain the situation that you bought the house married, spouse passed away, went to live with family as they needed a caretaker and kept the house as you will need to move back into it one day when relative passes.

Based on? Did OP say what assets exist other than the home? I know she said what her income/survivor benefits equal…but what about other assets?

I have some retirement, not a lot. That’s it.

[Anonymous]

It should just go with you agi-housing cost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here

My oldest is a HS junior so there isn’t yet a specific school to call. We are trying to figure out where to apply, and trying to anticipate likely levels of aid plays a role in that.

I am not being coy. I was upfront in my OP that I wasn’t going to give details because they are specific enough that it would be identifying. People are speculating and making guesses that don’t happen to be accurate.

Run the NPCs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here

My oldest is a HS junior so there isn’t yet a specific school to call. We are trying to figure out where to apply, and trying to anticipate likely levels of aid plays a role in that.

I am not being coy. I was upfront in my OP that I wasn’t going to give details because they are specific enough that it would be identifying. People are speculating and making guesses that don’t happen to be accurate.

Folks have answered your question then. Schools will take into consideration a house you own that you don’t live in as an asset. If you feel you have extenuating circumstances, you’ll have to wait to figure out the details until you’ve identified some specific schools.

[Anonymous]

Running NPC's at my kid's current top choice, if I put it in as if I live in the house, I get a family contribution of $2K. If I put it in as if I sell the house and have that money in investments, I get $18K. If I put this in as if I have the house rented out (so the rental income is added to my income, even though that money just goes back out in rent) I get $36K.

Over 8 years, putting two kids through college, that is an enormous difference.