<p>We had our home appraised about 2 or 3 years ago when we refinanced. Since then, I assume that the value may have decreased as much as 20 or 30k. It was appraised at $510 and I'm thinking it's not worth more than about $490 now but I may be wrong. Is it worth having he home appraised again for the FAFSA or is this amount not going to make a major difference when they're estimating our EFC?
any advice would be appreciated!</p>
<p>claire</p>
<p>I would not go to the time nor expense. If you can find some similar sales in the neighborhood, you can use that as your estimate, combined with the local market stats. No one asks for a copy of an appraisal.</p>
<p>If you are only filling out the federal FAFSA home equity is not considered. If you are appying to one of the 300 or so schools that utilize the Profile or a proprietary form you might need to state your home equity. Do check your college websites to see which forms you need.</p>
<p>FAOs have told me they use zillow.com. But there have been other discussions on CC regarding this with links to sites such as
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Federal Housing Index Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>
<p>When I guess-timated the value of our house for PROFILE, I averaged the numbers between zillow and fed. housing index, because I thought one was too high and one was too low.</p>
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<p>claire, refer to the FAFSA instructions…momofthree is right that FAFSA never asks for the value of your primary residence.</p>
<p>Using FAFSA only, as others have said, it makes no difference. But if your student is looking at schools that want supplemental info or require PROFILE as well, it is possible that your home value could make a difference.</p>