not even sure where to start

[heywoman]

ok so the refi appraisel came back. It's very low, of course. like REALLY low. we may be able to qualify for Ch 7 but we have to talk to the lawyer. i want to get off this roller coaster.

[heywoman]

oh! duh! ymmv that's a new one to me.

[ValleYum]

YMMV=Your mileage may vary.

Refinancing does take a while. Hope it all works out for you!!

[df04527]

Your mileage may vary

[heywoman]

what's YMMV? I'm completing having a breakdown. it could be 3 months before we finish refinancing. idk what we'll do if it takes that long. i know this isn't a refi forum , we just don't know where to turn. if we get behind in our bills, it could jeprodize our refi closing. the real estate agent did the compartive cost analysis or whatever and according to that we have $54000 equity. we can't even afford to get our taxes done. this is all such a mess.

[ValleYum]

We've had a real estate agent out and he's supposed to be doing a comparative market analysis but he's sort of jerking our chain. Is that what we'll need for Ch 7, or a full fledged appraisal? Or is there a difference.

There is a definitely a difference between a full fledged appraisal and a CMA - in costs alone appraisals are usually $300+ and CMAs can be free or you pay a few bucks for the agent's time. We were able to use a CMA for our Chapter 7. We paid an agent who was considered the 'short sale specialist' in our area $25 to do it and she came over, walked through the house and took a few pictures. She then emailed me the report within a couple of days.

I also printed out the Zillow zestimate (~$25k higher than CMA) and my property tax valuation (~$60k higher than CMA) and gave it all to the attorney - he went by the CMA on our petition and the trustee was fine with it, YMMV. Get all the info you can and let your attorney help you make the best decision for your case.

[heywoman]

we have credit cards about $33000. we might just make it if we weren't paying those.

[karm43]

Do you have a lot of unsecured debt? If it were gone can you make your mortgage payment?

[heywoman]

this maybe on this site some where but I wouldn't know where to look for it. But here's where we are: we may be caught having just barely too much equity in the house to file ch 7, but not enough to refi. For Ch 7 purposes what do we need to find out what our home's worth? For tax purposes the county of course has it at an outrageous amount. But a few years ago when we tried to refi it was appraised incredibly low. we're talking 40K difference between the two. We've had a real estate agent out and he's supposed to be doing a comparative market analysis but he's sort of jerking our chain. Is that what we'll need for Ch 7, or a full fledged appraisal? Or is there a difference.

[heywoman]

we saw the lawyer Thursday. It looks like we'll have too much equity in our house to file Ch 7. that's kind of what i was thinking would happen. We're waiting for an appraisal. It's good really, because i guess we'll refinance and not have to file BK. but in the mean time for the first time ever we don't have $ to pay credit card bills this week. we're in a catch 22 a little. sigh. i can't believe how much the county appraised our house at. there's no way it would sell for ANY WHERE NEAR that. Thanks again for all you who've posted!

[ess]

I just filed for Chapter 7 today. I am filing alone not with my husband but both our incomes are taken into consideration. We are over the limit however, once you deduct your expenses including health insurance, union fees, car maintenance, food, cell phone etc. it brings it well below the income limit for Chapter 7. I'm not sure about the six months that was mentioned since they are using ours for the past year.

[heywoman]

I doubt we could sell our house unless we took a huge loss and even then, idk if we could sell it. all bills pretty much are in both our names. The cell phone might just be in mine, idk. The house is in both our names.
Thanks for the tips and replies everyone.

[keepsmiling]

Welcome to the best place you could be. Stop guilting yourself. It's not your fault that the price of gas and groceries has zoomed out of control, and that the cc co's get away with usurious interest rates. It doesn't sound like you are living too high on the hog.

Start getting in the frame of mind to NOT pay the next cc bill. It's nerve wracking but only the first coupla times And start thinking about getting yourself Google Voice.
Thursday is almost here. You'll feel better after your appointment. I cried... a lot... the first time. Fortunately there was a box of tissues right there on the table.

Meanwhile, tomorrow make a few phone calls to some other bk attys as you will want to talk to more than one.

You must have a lot of equity in your home. That is something you will want to think about. I take it you don't have a credit line on your home? What is your estimated value of your home, how much do you owe.... unfortunately the homestead exemption in your state isn't so great. Times like this, it turns out it's a good thing to have a home equity loan....you kind of get punished for paying off your house.

Does it make sense to think about selling your house? Would you realize a nice profit and possibly be able to pick up something else, cheaply?

[df04527]

Welcome.... Your household income is counted the previous six months not previous year. Good advice is to read and learn as much as you can here. this site is a plethora of information for you.

[heywoman]

Hamburger is over $3/ lb here! for the cheap stuff! I think we're just below, like within $500 , of median income. I would look at what we made in 2011 right? As in what our W2s say right? we're just under that amount. So if we are under it, we are more likely to qualify for ch 7 right?