Valuing personal property...going nuts....

[reallynervous]

We will be filing under the Federal exemptions. As I understand it, we have to list the value of everything we own. I have started trying to make lists. I am doing it by room to keep organized. I was doing good with the bigger type items - it is when I get to valuing the smaller stuff that I am going nuts.

Mainly with my kids' toys. They have a bunch. We overbought and moreso, so has our family. Dd is the first girl on my dh's side since his Mom so everyone has loved to buy her dolls. She has tons of Barbies, Bratz, etc - none that are collector just ones she plays with. We also have a lot of kids' books. Ds has a Gamecube system with lots of games which is what mostly everyone buys for him as it is pretty much what he plays with most of the time. I have no idea of their value. I tried to look them up on a site that buys games, but we didn't keep the cases, etc so it seems places like that wouldn't buy them (I just have them in a little soft-sided cd case).

Can anyone share how they went about valuing similar items?

Do you have to value all the small items like those in a kitchen junk drawer. Tape, stapler, batteries, office supplies, etc.. How about holiday decorations, etc? Christmas ornaments? I have only a few that would be collectibles - Radko adoption ornaments - all others are just regular type.

As I am doing this, I want to purge as well. Can I send the stuff I want to get rid of to auction? I usually hold a Spring yard sale and have a pile of stuff already together for that, but I am wondering if sending it to auction would be better as I would have documentation from them?

Any advise you can offer would be really appreciated. We are still awaiting our tax return to get signed on with our attorney. I am just trying to get a head start on some of this stuff.

Because our credit card debt is so high, I am thinking that they may look more closely at us in this area. So, I want to be sure I do everything correctly.

Thanks for any advise you can offer.
reallynervous

[JollyGG]

Keep in mind you should be valuing all stuff at garage sale values.

I had a few broad topics in my values. For example:
Kids toys - $100
Jewlery (excluding wedding) - $50
Garage tools - $150
Pictures and decorations - $30
Holiday Decorations - $50

I only listed the big things singly like couches, computers, dressers, beds, stoves, refriderators, washer, dryer, tv..........

I didn't list the little things like office supplies or small kitchen stuff at all.

A common question at our 341 was if people had forgotten to include anything. But the trustee was usually asking specifically - Don't you have a lawn mower, do you have a grill, do the kids have bikes. All that happened if those were forgotten is they were added later. We listed ours as I have indicated and other than the general - have you listed all of your assets- question she didn't have a single question regarding our list.

Try to be thourogh but don't get bogged down by the little stuff. And DON'T OVERVAULE your stuff.
Our entire house of stuff only came to around $4000 and from what I have read that is normal.

[BassBoy]

If I may, you do not have inventory your childrens belongings. They are not filing BK, you are.

[BKTango]

Keep it simple...in and out nobody gets hurt. Garage sale pricing only, ask yourself "If I bought this today at a garage sell would I pay $20 for it?" I like you listed everything, and I do mean everything. The rule of thumb our lawyer guided us with is most families in our situation usually only have maybe 2-3 thousand dollars worth of stuff, and that includes everything. We came in at around $2000. Don't nit-pick the small stuff, just start with big items, then go to clothes, then to kitchen appliances (small), then outdoor, personal items, children's (although this really doesn't need to be listed), then just do a general or miscellanious cat.

[SinkingFast]

If I may, you do not have inventory your childrens belongings. They are not filing BK, you are.

Because the OP is using Federal Exemptions, they have to inventory everything, BB.

At least that's what our attny told us.

Federal is EVERYTHING.

States are typically the Debtor's bedroom and common use areas of the home. Not the kids' rooms and things.

[SinkingFast]

Our attny just said "Misc Household Goods" or "Misc Clothing" and assigned a $$$ value. He didn't do a detailed breakdown of anything not specifically asked for on the BK paperwork.

If you want to have a yard sale to get rid of smaller items your family no longer uses, do it. You're not gonna impact the value of your overall "assets" significantly.

As far as the Game Cube and games,.......... Our daughter sold her PS2 and a bunch of games to one of those "Gaming" stores. I think she got a whopping $100 total for everything.

As BKTango said, look at your stuff and think, "What would someone else ask for this at their yard sale??!!"

[JollyGG]

Also it doesn't hurt to take a quick look at your exemptions before making the list.

For example in my state clothing is exempt - I didn't spend time messing with it. Wedding rings are exempt - I didn't waste time worrying about the value of them.

Be realistic about your stuff when you value it. For example, would anyone pay money for your used junk drawer supplies or half a box of office paper, or twenty million spatulas in your utensil drawer, or old computer equiptment? If the answer is no then they have no value to list.

[reallynervous]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I wrote a thank you post yesterday but it doesn't seem to be showing up here. (I hope I didn't post it under the wrong post by mistake).

I will relax a little on the valuing and just do my best. We did our pre-bankruptcy counselling this morning, so we are one step closer.

reallynervous

[CindyLou]

Remeber, no one is going to come to your house and see what you have. Be honest, but don't kill yourself in the details.