Own many houses, will I recieve financial aid?

Paying for College
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<p>Hi, I was wondering whether property values are factored into the financial aid calculator? My situation is pretty weird, my fathers owns many properties, yet his income is negative at this point due to the slump in the housing market(not rental properties, just investments). Can I expect any financial aid?</p>

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<p>Your primary residence is not considered when filing the FAFSA. However, any other properties are considered investments. The value of those properties minus any outstanding loans will be considered as assets on the FAFSA. And no...most of them are probably not in the minus column. If that is the case, you will probably have to show some documentation to that effect. You say these aren't rental properties. What are they? Land, empty buildings? What?</p>

<p>Also, for the Profile, your primary residence home equity will also be considered...and add to that the value of any other properties.</p>

<p>To be honest, from what you put here, there is no way anyone can tell you whether you will receive financial aid or not.</p>

<p>Is your dad employed? Does he have an income from work? What about your mom? What about any savings or other assets besides the properties?</p>

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<p>My dad is self-employed as a "real estate developer" in which he buys houses only to flip them approximately one year later but he also owns a car-dealership(this is where the income tax would come from). My mom is "stay-at-home" and the savings beside the properties is relatively empty because my dad is forced to pay near half a million per year in property taxes alone(he is working just to stay afloat with the economy as it is). We could really use the financial aid but it is extremely hard to demonstrate this need due to the monetary assets my family has in properties right now.</p>

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<p>Yikes...either it's a high tax area or your family owns a lot of property.</p>

<p>I don't know what to say. Perhaps someone else here will have some pearl of wisdom. I'm not as versed on the self employed business person and financial aid as others here. Re: the properties...my guess is that the expectation would be that something could be sold to help finance your college education. But that is just my guess.</p>

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<p>Yes that is my consensus as well but my dad dosent want to sell with the economy as it is because the property values in my area(Sanibel Island, Florida) are so devastated right now. I also have a limited "trust" given to me by my grandpa for college that would cover about one year of my choice univeristy (private OOS) so the issue is not restricting my college options currently but it will in the near future.</p>

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<p>FAFSA will consider equity in anything except the primary residence as fair game. Unless your family owes more than the property is worth in which case there is no equity to go after. The calculations are separate for each property.
For example: property A worth $500,000 mortgage $400,000. Equity $100,000.
Property B worth $300,000. mortgage $400,000. no equity. (you don't count any negative numbers though as that is a "paper loss" and not a real loss unless the property is sold. </p>

<p>Does that make sense?</p>

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<p>The value of the properties is definitely fair game. They are assets that can be sold or borrowed against. Business people often take risks in order to turn a profit. The bigger the risk, the bigger the potential profit. The downside of this is that a turn in the economy like we are currently experiencing can drastically cut into those profits. Your dad wants to wait it out so that he can make money, which is understandable. However, that is his choice. He still has those assets, and he could still sell them for some amount. It is the amount he could sell them for that is used in determining aid. It may seem unfair, but it really is not. He is choosing not to sell them, which in turn translates into less eligibility for need based aid.</p>

<p>It is possible that his situation is really bad, though. He could actually not have much equity in those houses, given the real estate market. If that is the case, they may not affect your EFC all that much.</p>

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<p>"Can I expect any financial aid?"</p>

<p>If I read your post(s) correctly, your dad owns two businesses... an auto dealership and a real estate investment firm? </p>

<p>Based on the $500k in property taxes you quoted, you are probably not a good candidate for "need based aid". However, based on the information you provided, your family "should" pay much less than the advertised price for your college education.</p>

<p>How much salary above the property tax expenses does your Dad take out of his auto dealership?</p>