Is there info anywhere on what people generally put for furniture values etc ??

[indebt00]

I am filling out the paperwork for lawyer and have to put what all our furniture is worht...instead of guessing low amounts I thought I would see whta others have listed as a general reference....is there anything out there?

I am in AZ. thx

[optimistic1]

Use craigslist, that is your best bet.

Its somewhat difficult to price furniture. Put it this way. If you were going to sell it TODAY, not tommorow or next month, at a yard sale, what would you ask for it?

That is the value that you use.

[justbroke]

And, it's a fire sale, not a "I'll hold out until I get what I ask for". So, using Criagslist as a guide and thinking "garage sale -- everything must go". Generally if furniture is 5-7 years old, it doesn't have much value anyhow.

[DeadManCrawling]

Or picture this:

You load up the pickup truck and trailer with all your furniture. They you drag it all out to the local gas station and put up a handpainted sign that says "Furniture Sale".

What would you expect to make from such an endeavor? Not much probably, and that is about how you should value things.

[eddiep]

Someone posted a link to Salvation Army and Goodwill. I am going to use those values. I figure that will be a good response if the trustee asks how I arrived at the value.

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-arrays/D477340FFA28755C8525743D0049D1EF?openDocument

http://www.goodwillsew.com/page.asp?dbID=295

[falken]

I am surprised everyone is suggesting pre-2006 reform values.

Assets should be valued at what it would cost to purchase the items at a retail store, taking age and condition in to account.

Now, that tells you that congress doesn't get out much seeing as there are not really many retail stores where you can go buy used items. However, average ebay/craigslist values or goodwill prices are good values to use.

It is no longer garage sale or fire sale auction values.

[optimistic1]

I say, go with whatever your attorney tells you. I had one tell me to use pawn shop value, and the other to use ebay value, and another tell me garage sale value. All will be relatively low, so it should bring you in under the exemption for personal property.

[justbroke]

I am surprised everyone is suggesting pre-2006 reform values.

Nothing really changed, in practice, accept the BAPCPA added language "replacement value shall mean the price a retail merchant would charge for property of that kind considering the age and condition of the property at the time value is determined" for property not secured with a lien. (11 USC 506)

So, yes, the post-BAPCPA world was to not just say a couch is worth $20.00, it certainly left open the valuation with respect to age and condition.

Using CraigsList, or eBay or other similar sources for valuation is appropriate because there really isn't a retail merchant that generally engages in this type of business. (Well, Salvation Army and GoodWill are a couple.)

CraigsList (unlike eBay), however, is more like fire sale pricing. I have never received what I expected on even new items... on CraigList. This makes the valuation too subjective.

Yes, Congress messed up on this one... and the Courts realize this.

[CH33 Paralegal]

Value your furniture in a liquidation environment.

try to picture what your furnishings would be worth if you had to sell them via a yard sale or at the pawn shop.

Please don't let the actual logistics of driving a refrigerator to the pawn shop prevent you from estimating this hypothetical scenario.