chapter 7 with assets

[lostinmo]

Hello all, for some time my wife and I have been considering filling chapter7 . As with many people we have lived beyond our means and relied on CCs to live on. 2 years ago my wife lost her job and we fell behind, she was unemployed for about 8 months with no income until she got a job at about 1/2 of what she was making. just recently I lost my job which was about 2/3s of our income. we have about $200 in the bank.

We live in Missouri and are current on our house payments, own our cars outright(2004 grandprix, 96 f150 4x4, 88 camaro with salvage title and no motor, and a 98 honda shadow 750 motorcycle.
My wifes job requires her to have a dependable car, and i will need the truck to find employement. Our house payment is less than the rent of most places around here.

I have talked with 2 attorneys, but have not hired one yet, and they both think its best to walk away from the house seeing as we have $20,000 in equity. and Mo. only allows 15k.
Is there any thing I can do to keep the house, the grand prix, and the f150.

sorry for rambling on but im at wits end with our mismanagement of money, along with other family issues(the wife and I are fine and still love each other very much)

[liz417]

Okay, 1st of all welcome to this board You've got to think of this decision to file BK as a business decision, that's all. A new start.

Have you had an appraisal done on the house? Where did you come up with 20k? I maybe worth less than you think, expecially in this market.

[lostinmo]

house was appraised 10/07 for 50k we owe 29 and change

[backtoschool]

house was appraised 10/07 for 50k we owe 29 and change

Houses have gone way down in value since 2007. I would definitely get another appraisal. The chance the the house went down 5k in value is pretty high.

[LSUTiger32]

Mine appraised for $305,000 in 2008 and $246,000 a few weeks ago and I live in Louisiana which is one of the states least affected. It's the stigma of what is going on. You can probably count on the fact that it lost 10% and 20% is probably more likely. Of course with it being only $50,000 it might not have taken quite the hit but it easily could be appraised at $44,000 which would be the $15,000 equity. If it is a decent home and you only owe $29,000 there is no way in the world I would give that up. You can't rent for that cheap.

[liz417]

house was appraised 10/07 for 50k we owe 29 and change

Wow 2007, huh? As the other posters have stated, I think you need a new appraisal.

[backtoschool]

Hello all, for some time my wife and I have been considering filling chapter7 . As with many people we have lived beyond our means and relied on CCs to live on. 2 years ago my wife lost her job and we fell behind, she was unemployed for about 8 months with no income until she got a job at about 1/2 of what she was making. just recently I lost my job which was about 2/3s of our income. we have about $200 in the bank.

We live in Missouri and are current on our house payments, own our cars outright(2004 grandprix, 96 f150 4x4, 88 camaro with salvage title and no motor, and a 98 honda shadow 750 motorcycle.
My wifes job requires her to have a dependable car, and i will need the truck to find employement. Our house payment is less than the rent of most places around here.

I have talked with 2 attorneys, but have not hired one yet, and they both think its best to walk away from the house seeing as we have $20,000 in equity. and Mo. only allows 15k.
Is there any thing I can do to keep the house, the grand prix, and the f150.

sorry for rambling on but im at wits end with our mismanagement of money, along with other family issues(the wife and I are fine and still love each other very much)

What bothers me is that a lawyer would tell you to walk away from a house that you only owe 29k on.

Please consult with another lawyer. A new appraisal will very likely fix the equity issue.

[whipster1]

Sell the house and use that $$ to get another place. Come to Texas, everybody else is

We are even thinking about starting up a new country if you have seen our nutty Governor lately.

[frogger]

Welcome. Listen to the advice that has been given. Read, read, then read more of the stickys and posts on the board, and slow down...........

This is not something you want to do overnight. Patience is your friend.

[StartingOver08]

The appraisal rules have completely changed as of May 1, 2009.
It is highly UNLIKELY that your house is worth what it was in 2007 since this market has been trending downward for years.

The appraisers use closed sales within the last 90 days to determine the current market value. Find out what your home is actually worth.

I agree with the poster that said to find another attorney. To walk away from a home over $5k (if indeed that $5k even exists) is not rational.

[momisery]

I live in MO too. In our area the homes sold for around 100,000.00 in 2007. They have dropped in value in the Ozark area some to 85,000-90,000.00. We owe more than ours in worth, and we own a real lemon in GA. I would suggest the value has dropped. We never have found a great atty here most seem to know little and want to push you to the 13 instead of the 7. Of course I have been unhappy with the healthcare here too. Little place with low wages compare to GA and it cost me a ton more in premiums at my job for BCBS. I was told they kicked the HMO's out of here, they did that in SC too. Healthcare is pretty unaffordable in this state. The policies are 80/20 but where I work they dropped it to 70/30 unless you have been here for two years in Jan. of course... So, I pay 260.00 for two people, health, dental, and presciptions and my wages are about 2/3 of what they were in GA. My darn food cost more here than in GA or CA... and insurance is higher on my home, taxes are not so good either. But wages suck. Love the people though!!!! I feel sorry for the area really, would love to stay as everyone is so nice, but I can't afford to pay 3 times more for my darn radishes just to live here.. lol

[adviceplease]

Our house went down $70,000 in 5 years because of a lot of foreclosures in the area, I would at least compare to houses for sale/foreclosed around you to see the value and go from there.

[DeadManCrawling]

+1 for a new appraisal.

There is little chance the 2007 number is accurate now.

Even if it WERE accurate, the trustee has to account for closing costs and other fees, so being a few thousand over doesn't mean you will lose it.

An extreme example of housing drop: We live in the Tampa Bay Florida area. We received an unsolicited offer on our place in 2006 for our house. The people offered us just shy of 700k on our home.

It is now worth about 220k.

If you want to keep your place, you should be able to, and a new appraisal will probably surprise you (and your attorney).