Here’s the basics: We own an LLC that buys, renovates & manages small apartment buildings. According to the FHFA webpage calculator the equity is $850k. I’ve read here that taking 20% off for “quick sale value” is standard, so that puts our equity at $600k. The largest building that holds 2/3 of that equity is “commercial”, in that it is more than 4 units and would not qualify for a residential loan. I read in a thread that might make a difference in how it is counted.
We own no other personal real estate, we live in one unit in one of the buildings, so we can’t even put down rent as a personal housing expense. Though we are in our 50's we have only about $100k in retirement accounts, the business is our retirement plan. Our income varies according to the LLC expenses and the profitability of another small business, last year was $115k, 2014 was $98k. Our son is applying mostly to Profile schools and we essentially have no protected assets at all. Our daughter is 3 years younger so overlap will be only 1 year.
It looks at first pass in the calculators like we’re not in good shape for financial aid. Does anyone have a clue what can we expect? Will they try and treat the LLC as a passive asset rather than an active family business? I qualify as, and have filed taxes as “Real Estate Professional”, I have no W-2 income at all while my wife has a full time job.
We’ve been pretty discouraged at what we’ve found out so far, a lot depends on how the LLC assets are valued. Any insights or tips would be appreciated.
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