Hi, I’ve been researching our EFC. Understand that we have to count rental property equity. However, the before-tax equity can be misleading as it ignores the following costs that we will incur if we were to liquidate our rental properties to pay for our kids’ college:
agent commission and transaction costs
capital gain tax
depreciation recapture tax
Is it “legal” to count equity after tax? I’ve not come across discussion threads on this topic and would appreciate insight / guidance on this.
No, you use the value of the property. It is okay to value it as if you’d sold it today, before any touch ups or remodeling. A quick sale price might be $100k and not the $120 you could get if you repainted, got a new roof, etc.
Hi, maybe using numbers below will help to clarify
Property value today - $200,000
Outstanding mortgage - $80,000
Equity if I keep property = 200-80 = 120
Property value today - $200,000
Outstanding mortgage - $80,000
Agent commission to sell - $12,000
Capital gain to IRS - $20,000
Dep recapture to IRS - $10,000
Equity if I sell property = 200-80-12-20-10 = 78
No clarification needed. Your first post is easy enough to understand, as should be the responses that you received. To get the equity number, the only thing that is subtracted from the current fair market value of the property is any debt that is secured by the property.
Potential capital gains tax, agent commission to sell, depreciation recapture – none of that comes into play. Capiche?
Here’s the documentation that shows it’s as simple as current fair market value less debt.
From the FAFSA:
*As of today, what is the net worth of your parents’ investments, including real estate?
Net worth means the current value, as of today, of investments, businesses, and/or investment farms, minus debts related to those same investments, businesses, and/or investment farms. When calculating net worth, use 0 for investments or properties with a negative value.*
Nothing about taking a guess (and that’s what it would be) about any possible costs that you might incur if you were to sell the rental property.
Similarly, the Profile only asks about “current market value” of real estate and “what you owe” on real estate. There are no questions that ask you to guess about how much you might pay in capital gains tax or broker commission if you were to sell the real estate.
Why would colleges do it any other way? There are costs associated with owning property. If colleges allowed families to apply deductions to property value (other than debt) or against their gross incomes so they could qualify for more aid, they’d essentially be subsidizing their lifestyles. Why would they do that?
Honestly, even if you used the $78k as the value, you’d probably not be looking at a lot of need based aid. That’s a big asset, and assuming you have other assets or family income, you’re unlikely to get federal need based aid.
@meritorbust , can we assume that your rental income/property activities are a side business, not your principal source of income? If so, the points offered here so far apply. However, if property revenue is your main business, there are other considerations and subsequent evaluations, as regards FA.
Although not 100% of it. In general, you would be using values from the IRS Schedule E forms, with whatever adjustments the individual colleges choose to make.
A $120,000 asset would add $6720 (5.6% of value) to your FAFSA EFC.
So…don’t blame the asset value of this house for making you ineligible for need based aid. Very likely, there are other factors contributing as well…like income, and parent assets.
@thumper1 correct, it’s not this one specific asset, but several of them collectively… Bummer that the collective rental equity is much greater than the shielded 401K balance… If only it were the reverse… Anyway, not complaining nor blaming…