Keeping Your Assets
During Bankruptcy
Put on your thinking
cap as this gets rather complicated. Some states use federal exemptions while others use
state mandated exemptions. To make things even more convoluted, some other states allow
you to choose or combine exemptions.
You'll want to ask your lawyer to explain your options. You may have an opportunity to select the most advantageous option for your situation.
Before you can protect any real estate, you'll need to have it's fair market value carefully calculated. This can be done in two different ways. You could spend the money and order an official appraisal. This is the most straight forward option but unfortunately it's also the most expensive.
A less expensive option involves obtaining an appraisal from an experienced realtor. Most realtors will be happy to "pull comps" (get a list of the latest sales of similar homes in your area) and from that data determine an accurate value. And best of all their services are usually free.
If you use the realtor option be sure to instruct them to keep their valuation as accurate as possible. Tell them to avoid either inflating or discounting the value based on what they think you want to see. Tell them you want the most unbiased and accurate value they can come up with.
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