Sometimes You DO Want The Other Guy’s Problem — And He Wants Yours

I was talkin’ with a good friend in another state, a builder, who’s been having difficulty selling a fourplex he finished building last summer. He really hasn’t been tryin’ all that hard though. The location is fine, as I’d not hesitate putting my own daughter in it to live. It cash flows bunches with 20% down. So what’s the problem? He’s a builder, and didn’t build it to keep it. It’s a drag on his capital and he’d just as soon get rid of it, and sooner as opposed to later.

What to do?

Think about it — he’s a builder for Heaven’s sake. I wonder…are there other, far less successful, smaller builders out there with indebted land, eatin’ them alive? Ya think? Let’s keep goin’ down this road. Are there, just maybe, some investors out there with lots ready to build but can’t cuz they’re outa money, or whatever? Um, yeah.

Here’s a scenario.

My buddy offers to swap his units at their market value, for building lots held by another local builder who needs to get out from under the crushing pressure of the debt service. My guy gets an incredible price on the lots, while getting full market value for his fourplex. The troubled land owner in one simple transaction, goes from being slowly but surely buried alive financially, to owning a brand new fourplex — with cash flow.

Please tell me who loses in that scenario? Nobody, that’s who. Everybody rids themselves of stuff they didn’t want — everyone wins.

There are hundreds of matches out there — they’ll take your problem child if you take theirs. The cool thing is, they view theirs as much worse than yours. The funny thing? You feel exactly the same way.

I did this at least a dozen times back in the day, maybe more. It can’t be forced. My experience has shown me time and again that when you get the two Don’t Wanters made for each other, it’s clearly obvious. You stand back, look at the potential results for both sides, and it either makes manifest sense, or it doesn’t.

Are one of your properties turning you into a Don’t Wanter? Get a hold of me and we’ll see what’s possible. Call me at 619 889-7100 or through the Contact BawldGuy button up top. Have a good one.

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