<p>Ok so when my family first immigrated here we could not afford a house so we lived with my aunt and uncle in New Jersey. Their house is really expensive but we didn’t have to pay anything for it.</p>
<p>A few years ago my parents purchased a house in Philly for 90k. But I still live with my uncle and go to school in jersey. So our primary residence is my uncle’s house.</p>
<p>My question is will the house in Philly significantly reduce my eligible aid? My family is on the low income side. Makes about 20k a year. </p>
<p>I know there’s nothing I can do but I just want to know like do colleges think we can sell this house for 90k to pay for my ed.?
The house will become our primary residence after I graduate high school…</p>
<p>The value of the house is what it is worth if you had to sell it quickly minus whatever is owed on it. There is some asset protection allowance built into FAFSA. You could run the net price calculators for the colleges you are interested in using the value of the house and see how it impacts your financial aid. </p>
<p>The net value of that house (sale price of what you could sell it for NOW minus any loans you have on it) would increase your family contribution by 5.6% of that amount for FAFSA purposes. Profile schools likely treat this asset very differently and yes, they could expect you to sell it or take out a loan against it (which would be a challenge at your income level).</p>
<p>Schools do NOT provide need based aid so that families can hang onto secondary real estate. </p>
<p>With such low income, it may not impact your FAFSA EFC at all. With an AGI below $50,000 and if you meet one of the other qualifying criteria (qualify to file a 1040a or ez, be on food stamps etc) you could qualify for the simplified needs test that ignores assets.</p>
<p>“A few years ago my parents purchased a house in Philly for 90k. But I still live with my uncle and go to school in jersey. So our primary residence is my uncle’s house.”</p>
<p>Who is living in the purchased home? no one? your parents? one parent? who? Is it a rental?</p>
<p>Did your parents pay cash for that house or do they have a mortgage on it? </p>
<p>How low is your family’s income? edit…I see the income is $20k. Is that before or after taxes? </p>
<p>Looks like the family income MAY be low enough to ignore assets.</p>
<p>(I’m not sure if that owned home might be considered to be the primary residence even if they’re not living there yet…since they don’t own another home and seem to be living in NJ for educational purposes. We need more info. If a parent is living in that home and working in the Philly area, then THAT is the primary residence for FAFSA purposes.)</p>
<p>I believe the family would need to file a 1040ez or 1040a,and meet one other criteria to be eligible for simplified needs. This would be the first thing to check. If they are taking deductions for,that home they own, they would need to file a 1040…not the short form.</p>
<p>No, it’s 1040ez/1040a or they are getting free/reduced lunch or other such criteria. The 2nd criteria is the AGI. They are in auto 0 range. Yeah, it’s complicated and we don’t have enough info.</p>
<p>Last year we did file 1040A married jointly with adjusted gross income 15k. But my parents don’t know if they’ll get 1040A again this year. They made 22k this year total they saw on the W-2s but didn’t file tax yet so don’t know.</p>
<p>Check with the experts on simplified needs…but I think if your income is below the threshold AND you get free lunch, you could qualify for simplified needs.</p>