FAFSA, how to determine value of rental property for assets

How do I determine property value for the FAFSA assets question? I recently heard a financial aid advisor say that I should use the property tax assessment but I also heard never use the property tax assessment. I’ve also seen the suggestion to assess at 80% of valuation because of the repairs and commissions necessary to actually sell. I have also heard that financial aid officers use the FHFA HPI calculator when they are not sure about the assessed value on an application (my FHFA number was quite a bit higher than zillow). I have also heard “use zillow or redfin or…” Anyone know?

We used the town’s appraised value (not the lower assessed value). Honestly, the appraised value was probably a bit low at the time, since the market started to rise steeply two years ago. It didn’t matter. The value of our rental property torpedoed any chance of receiving financial aid from the school reputed to be the most generous in the nation. Since all our income now is from rental property, this was akin to telling the farmer to sell his land, or the tailor to sell his sewing machine, in order to pay for college. It is what it is.

Yikes, that stinks. How did you find the appraised value? I can only find the assessed value on my property records.

In my town, they list the appraised value, and then it is assessed at 70% of the appraised value. Perhaps where you are, they tax on the full appraised value. Go to your town’s property assessor’s website, and it will probably say what they do.

Make sure that your child applies to both an appropriate in-state public school, and a safety in-state public school, and to schools where he might get merit money, since it is entirely possible that the equity that you have in your rental home will make your child ineligible for financial aid.

In my state, assessed value is equal to one-half market value. Their determination of market value seems a bit low to me, but that’s favorable for you in terms of reporting the asset. Google “how does assessed value compare to market value in (state where property is located).” Report market value less any outstanding debt (mortgage) on the property.

Thanks Kelsmom, very helpful.