Here's my situation .

I own a home that I bought 5 years ago for $400K . I have two years left on an interest only loan . I have an equity line of $185K . In total I owe $585K on this house .It would appraise at around $520K today .
The reason my equity line is so high is I put down $60K on two homes I bought for investment in Kingman ,AZ . I put $20K down on one and $40K on the other two years ago and have interest only loans on both for another three years . I am negative on both with tenants being present. All together about $800 negative . My credit cards are up to $65K because I had empty homes for a few months and repairs I had to fix .
I put both homes on the market and of course they won't sell . It looks like I will lose the $60K I put down on them to get rid of them .I will be doing this if they don't sell by April 2008 .They've been on the market for 5 months now.
It looks like overall I might be losing everything . I am now starting next month renting out my primary home to at least be able to survive a few months .

My question is that I had an idea to buy an affordable home and lock in a 30-year fixed rate , so if I have to file Chapter 7 in a year , can they take my primary home if I make all the payments on it? Would I lose my car that I owe $10K on and is worth $18K ?

The investment homes would all be lost and my great 750 credit score lost of course .

I make less than $40K a year so I am able to file chapter 7 in California .

Is this a good idea to buy another home to secure myself from losing everything ?

Thanks for the help.

In a Chapter 7, one issue that arises as to secured creditors is whether there is any equity in the property after subtracting the debt, and whether the equity exceeds the state exemptions or the federal exemptions. Each state makes an election whether to follow federal or state exemptions. It is not a bad idea to purchase a home now so that you will have one later, but you should not place yourself in an equity position in excess of your exemption because the Chapter 7 Trustee will claim that equity. I am wondering how you will qualify for a 30 year fixed rate loan? Don't you have a debt/income problem?