I filled out the FASFA in the fall and just realized I haven’t completed the CSS. But in the interim I noticed an article that says you should not over-value your home. I FASFA I put just a little bit below the Zillow estimate - which is waaaay more than the tax assessor’s view of the value of my home. What should I use to estimate the value of our home? And if the CSS value is different from the FASFA which was already turned in - is that a problem?
Your value of your primary residence does NOT NOT NOT go on your FAFSA…at all. Where did you put that? The fafsa directions are very clear…real estate does NOT include the home in which you reside. Is that what you are talking about?
I assumed I has been asked the home value in fasfa. That’s actually good news. Just misremembering. If that’s the case - how best to value the home in CSS?
At least where we live, the assessed value of your home is multiplied by the Common Level Ratio (issued by the County and which changes every year) to approximate the value of your home. That might be why your assessment seems so low compared to estimated sales price.
Zillow seems to be what most people use.
As OP’s correction attests, only the CSS asks for home valuation. I went to several sites (Zillow included) and picked the lowest one. I suppose you could use the value used to calculate property taxes, but it’s always way lower than market value (thank goodness) and not really an honest picture of what your house is worth on the market.
The idea is what it could sell for tomorrow, as-is. Your house, not what the last nearby one sold for, either.
Most sites tell you not to use assessed value, which is the town’s own calculation. Eg, in my area, a discount is applied for homeowner occupancy. For various reasons, the actual assessment runs high. Zillow, et al, are based on neighborhood comparisons, not your home, which may have different upgrades or not, or flaws. Imo, go as low as you can justify.
I was able to use the fed calculator to our advantage, some don’t find it so.
http://www.finaid.org/calculators/federalhousing.phtml
Zillow overprices homes in our area by a lot, IMO – by probably more than $100k (in SoCal). Zillow assumes that there is no deferred maintenance issues or repairs necessary. In our case, I went for local neighborhood comps (I actually saved flyers from local homes with same floor plans). There is a house identical to ours down the street that has been for sale for over 6 mos. asking $695,000. I took that price (which arguably is priced too high, as it hasn’t sold, even though it has been completely renovated) & deducted $100k for necessary upgrades which we’d have to do in order to sell our house (3 new bathrooms, new flooring/carpet & a new roof). I feel, if asked, we could justify our estimate with these facts.
I used the lower value of the Zestimate range on Zillow.
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