<p>The equity in the 2nd home would definitely be considered as an asset for financial aid purposes – but over the short term you aren’t going to build much equity. In order to make the down payment you will have to draw on some other asset (such as savings), that would also be counted for financial aid purposes. In other words if you have $100K in the bank, or if you have $50K in the bank and $50K equity in a 2nd home – either way, you have $100K worth of assets.</p>