The FAFSA excludes the value of a family business. If the rental properties are a wholly owned family business and structured in the appropriate fashion then the FAFSA does not count their value. If the family chooses not to take K1 distributions from the wholly owned family business and rather keep all proceeds in the business…that ‘income’ also doesn’t count.
CSS-PROFILE takes the value of rental property into account. Then again, the Profile takes the value of your gold crowns into account. After all, ya coulda’ gotten stainless steel and those gold thingies can be pulled and sold at a pawn shop.
Yup…it’s a great system. One just has to figure out the loopholes, of which there are plenty.