Question about asset and possibility of "trade"

[ChargersFan]

I am getting ready to file Chapter 7. I have talked with two attorneys and had a meeting with a 3rd but cancelled it I felt so comfortable with my second one. I have a home that is underwater so none of the exemption amount will be needed there. I have a car worth about $8000 and the state allows $5000 plus up to $5000 of the unused homestead exemption or a $600 wildcard. It is a 2002 model car with 100,000+ miles so my attorney says he doubts they would take it anyways. I have a vacant acre of land that I'm worried about - it touches my house property but is only deeded on a quit claim and was never surveyed together. The tax value is at $27000 (FMV) and $9000 (net value). I spoke to a real estate agent who values it at $10500 but says it would probably get less than that but it would allow for negotiation. It is family property and used for farming. My attorney says it would seem odd for the trustee to take it (we can exempt $5000) as of the $5500 left over the trustee would take 25% not to mention the cost of hiring a real estate agent, etc. That seems right as it wouldn't leave much vfor creditors but I'm still concerned so I'm looking for opinions and then have a question: if the trustee were to want to take it could I offer a trade of another asset (say $5000 out of my retirement account which is protected) in place of it?

[justbroke]

Many Trustees allow a debtor to "buy back" non-exempt assets in the bankruptcy. Let me first start by saying... never mortgage (or borrow from) your future to pay for something today. I would never touch a retirement account. (Do as I say... not as I did. I did borrow a lot from my 401(k) and it was nothing but a waste of time and money and I lost significant value in my future 401(k) balance.)

Having wrote that, if you could fund a buy back, then by all means you can negotiate with the Trustees. The only "unknown", really, is whether you have the type of Trustee that lets you actually negotiate a deal, or the type that just says "well, just bid on it at auction". Yes, there are two types! And no, I can't even begin to speculate which type of Trustee you would have in your Chapter 7.

There is really no telling. What you should really be deciding is... in what position do you want to be immediately after discharge, and then project that five years down the road.

Don't underestimate Trustees. They make hardly anything on a no-asset case (I'm talking $60). If there are assets, then they are known to administer them where they can earn something for the estate. People kick around the number $600-$1000 as the minimum the Trustee would "technically" administer (as there is a cost to "administer" the asset). It appears that at least one of your attorney consults is telling you about this threshold. Please don't ask what how this threshold works because it is too dependent on your specific Trustee and your case. It is really up to the Trustee. Some will play hard ball (tell you to just bid at auction!) and some may be "nice" and abandon an otherwise difficult asset.

(An asset with no encumbrances will always look "juicy" to a Trustee.)