<p>my parents have 2 houses. house#1 was built in 2008 and we currently have a mortgage on it. house #2 is the house we use to live in but haven't sold yet due to the declining housing market.house #2 is also paid off and we owe nothing on that house.house #1 is our primary residence. </p>
<p>on fafsa, do i put the value of house #2 and the mortgage of house #1 as our networth? or do i only put down house #2 and not include the mortgage?</p>
<p>Which house is considered the primary residence for property tax purposes? You need to use the other one when you report assets. Only the primary residence is excluded from assets. The way to report it is current market value minus any mortgage owed on the home.</p>
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<p>Luis…I don’t think the OP can “make a choice” about what to put where. The PRIMARY residence is where the student lives NOW and is not listed on the FAFSA. The fpormer residence house would be listed as another piece of real estate and since it it fully paid for, its full value would be listed as the asset amount.</p>
<p>^^Agree. You don’t get to choose. You don’t have to report your primary home - the one you are actually living in. Any other property must be reported as an asset. The value you report is the value of the property less any mortgage on that property.</p>
<p>You have to report house #2. You do not report house #1 if it is your primary residence.</p>
<p>Agree, for FAFSA the house you live in is not reported and the other house is reported as an asset equal to the value of the house. The value is what you could net if you sell the house immediately. In this market and depending on your region/area that number could be substantially less than what it is listed for (if it is for sale) or what it is valued at for insurance/assessments/etc. The easiest way to obtain actual value and document value is to call a real estate agent and find out what the comparables sold for.</p>