^ Think out it as a hybrid of OP’s Options #3 and #4. There is a rental property which is still 8000 miles away and being managed remotely. Kiddos stays in a place owned by parents. Make own meals, buys groceries and shovels etc… No room or prepared board is paid. Call it Option #3B in which instead of the family have TWO properties to pay for or manage, there is one.
@blossom Really how difficult is it to understand that you could have a POSSIBILTY of saving 160k. Something that you could LOOK AT. Who knows, maybe it is 80k or something else. His could have savings goals in which there was a level at which doing this was worthwhile to his family. This was OP’s OWN IDEA for goodness sakes based on his understanding of his OWN situation. I read OP’s original post, Option #3 where he keeps his rental property, which is being managed 8000 miles away, and has his kids live there and go to school. Obviously, OP thought this was an affordable POSSIBILITY and DOABLE by his kids or else OP would not have suggested. OP lamented that it would result in a lost rental income and I only suggested the MERE possibility of looking at duplex or some other rental property because a KID does not need an entire house and then he could still get a rental income. His own Option #4 was having TWO properties. Keeping the rental and having the kids at another location. So again, I had SIMPLY SUGGESTED LOOKING AT THE POSSIBILITY of having ONE property that you could have both, maintaining a rental income and having college room paid for. And if OP was going to do that, to sell the Oregon home, He might want to POSSIBLY look at other areas in the country which could POSSIBLY be better. I am DONE with this conversation. I simply provided a twist to OP"s OWN idea of doing this with him knowing his own family’s situation. He wouldn’t be the first person on the planet to do so.
Gear mom- you are making great suggestions.
And if you add “please consult a tax expert first” so this family can better understand the implications of selling the first house and buying/managing the second, I will endorse your suggestions 100%. Truly. The cost/value implications of property ownership with the new tax plan are poorly understood right now- even by experts. The “hit” that certain homeowners are going to take on their taxes now that local taxes are no longer deductible-- not yet clear how that translates to home costs in different parts of the region. Etc.
I can’t imagine that navigating this from overseas is easy!
All of the four kids would have to live in the house then for a year and work before they can start college, and if the parents are helping out financially then the kids will not be independent and residency will stay with where parents live.
A long term plan is needed.
Are all of the kids supposed to go off to college alone in the US, are they going to fly home for every break?
Or is the family going to relocate to the US, maybe to the house they still own and have a mortgage on?
The OP said they are coming to the US this summer and will make a decision. I think he will decide that the family needs to relocate to the US for the ‘college years’ if they want to afford US colleges and give their kids a lot of options.
He’s making foreign wages and would need to pay American prices for college. If the OP lived in the US and only made $50k per year, his kids would have limitations on college choices and would probably have to go to a community college or state college. $50k just doesn’t stretch very far for 4 kids for college. He has some assets that probably put him just outside the limit for federal aid.
If the students are top level academics, there might be a lot of aid from the ‘meets full needs schools.’ The only real asset the family has is that rental house worth $170k (equity). The foreign income is probably all excluded from income by the foreign earnings credit. There is the rental income. There is $10k for one child’s savings account. A school like Harvard could give a big need award.