<p>How do you assign value to home equity? I was kind of hoping that it was figured on what our township assesses for taxes...of course that figure is much lower than the real equity. I know about how much equity is in my house, but not exactly. Do people actually put the equity they have, or estimate it? If they do put exact figures, how do they find them out? Maybe this miserable housing market will work to our advantage!</p>
<p>Federal Housing Index Calculator</p>
<p>Perhaps this will help?</p>
<p>You have to put down an actual number, even though it is based on a hypothetical sale. So it is an estimate, but it has to be based on something. For a realistic number, get a realtor to give you an appraisal. Or use Zillow.com to get an estimate. </p>
<p>The goal is to have some back up in your file in the unlikely event someone official questions where your estimate came from. You of course would not want to use the tax assessment low-ball number to cheat.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for this info! FresnoMom, that calculator really gave me a great figure, even if I added 10%. dt123, Zillo wasn't able to help, they gave the tax assessment low-ball number! lol! Anyone on this board have personal experience with this issue?</p>
<p>We went with the tax assessments but our EFC was 100%, so any number we put down was irrevelant. We had to file FAFSA and tax forms yearly to maintain the merit aid qualification. </p>
<p>We live in an isolated development (70's style homes) with very little home sells to base a good RE valuation. Likewise when we were applying 2002, the housing market had collapsed because of 911 and general cyclical nature of the economy. I felt that the tax valuation was as good as anything and the county probably had better numbers than the RE people.</p>
<p>Our state (MI) makes it easy ... homes are valued at 50% of the market value. Unfortunately, we are actually becoming a market of homes that are valued at more than they can actually sell for. That makes it tough to put the value down. I used to work in financial aid, and we rarely had to question the housing values people put, even when we verified. Most people were pretty honest. There are things that will flag you as "full of it," so just be honest. You can always call local realtors & ask for "comps" in your area. Tell them where you live & give them the basics about your house. They can give you a ballpark idea.</p>
<p>According to the book "Paying for College Without Going Broke"--you estimate home value by determining how much you could get for your house if you had to sell it today and not let it wallow on the market for 3 months. In addition, you need to subtract the real estate broker's fee and any costs you would incur to spruce your place up to get it sold. This figure may be very different than actual appraisal</p>
<p>For example, our home was just appraised at about 500K. To sell it immediately in this weak market, I suspect the price would need to be lowered by 50-70K---subtract the broker's fee, costs of paint and redoing the hardwood floors and I think our actual value for FA purposes is closer to 400K</p>
<p>They may have changed the rules since I worked in Financial Aid years ago. When we verified info, though, we wanted verification of appraised value --- the reason for that is because there is an expectation that the family can borrow against the worth of the home. I am very surprised that the method Momof2sons outlines is okay. If so, that is certainly in the favor of applicants!</p>
<p>Paying for College is a well known financial aid resource put out by Princeton Review. I would refer folks to this resource as a reference on home equity and also check with the individual schools</p>