A friend had me over the other day to look at a piece of land he just HAD to sell. He needed a down payment to buy his siblings out of the home he lives in. The property in question was his family home. He had lived there while helping his father pass from this world. Now that his dad had passed, the siblings wanted the home sold “to get their fair share”.

My friend’s plan was to sell his 1/3 acre lot adjacent to the house in order to get enough capital to buy out his siblings and remain in the house where he was happy. The only problem was, the location of the lot and home were depressed and the sad truth was, the lot simply wouldn’t sell for much, if it would sell at all.

My friend asked me to come over and together we looked at the house and lot and considered his options. Our conversation went something like this.

“Let’s review all of your options,” I said and then asked, “What outcome would you most desire?” He said, “Keeping the lot and the house.” “What other options are there?” I asked.

“Well,” he started. “We have a couple options. I could sell the house and start fresh. Or I could sell the lot and barely get a down payment for the house.” That’s all he could think of. I said, “Don’t you get a piece of the house if you sell it?" He said, “Yeah, I would get a quarter share.” I said, “What if you use that share for your down payment?" His eyes lit up and he said, “I could do that?” I called my lender and she said, “Yes, if the numbers work and it is written into the trust that he would get a share. Then he could use that share as his down payment.”

So he is now buying the house, keeping the lot and doing what he thought was not possible.

There are three lessons we can pull from this story.

1. When at a crossroads, analyze ALL your OPTIONS.

2. Bring in “experts” to help you think out of the box for solutions.

3. Whenever you possibly can, keep all of your assets.

Explore your options my friends!

~ TR

Author's Bio: 

Tim would tell you that he got off to a slow start. After growing up in the rural town of Portola in Northern California and barely graduating high school, Tim Rhode found himself at the age of 25 working as a grocery clerk with two young children to provide for.

He eventually found his “niche” selling real estate; and from 1986 to 2000, he sold over 2,500 homes and from 1997 to 2006 he invested in over 100 properties. Tim focused on saving money, keeping his expenses low, and playing solid “financial defense” which allowed him to basically retire, and he was financially free at the age of 40.

Not wanting to play hike, bike or ski all day, Tim threw his energy into his true passion: helping people thrive and live their most fulfilling life. He founded the nonprofit 1Life Fully Lived to help people of all ages gain the tools and skills they need to thrive and also co-founded GoBundance, a high-level mastermind, with David Osborn, Pat Hiban and Mike McCarthy to help healthy, wealthy, generous people lead epic lives. We have a women’s tribe now!

Tim has also authored numerous books and has been featured on a variety of podcasts and media outlets. He now lives near his children in the High Sierras with his wife and dog.​

You can connect with Tim at www.TimRhode.com.