Barter: The smartest way to beat a down economy

I flew into Reno Thursday night to attend a two day conference called the “Steele 300 Trading Event”.  It is hard to properly describe what this meeting was about, but basically it was a group of people who had came together to trade, barter, exchange etc.. You could bring to the conference anything of value this could include: real estate, notes, fine art, guns, automobiles, time shares, jewels, business opportunities/services and anything else you can imagine.

With the government printing so much money our currency is being devalued at an alarming rate.  To avoid taking a loss by holding their assets in the form of cash it is only sensible for people to look for other inflation proof ways to hold their assets.  This ended up being mostly real estate but a few other things were brought as well.    Many of the attendees were agents or brokers and represented clients who either had a problem that needed solving or were just ready for a different opportunity.  In the world of exchanges the phrase “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” is more than true. 

The turnout at the event was relatively small with only about 30 people.  Of these 30 about 6 of us were either totally clueless or very new to the concept of bartering.  Most of the other individuals were extremely experienced and very savvy at making deals.  Between everyone in the room there was probably closed to 120 million dollars worth of real estate and 20 million dollars worth of cash, what I had contributed less than 1% of this.

These people are problem solvers, so they get excited about someone who comes to an event like this one with a big problem.  Each person has an opportunity to share their biggest problem and what they have/want.  Collectively the group bounces ideas off each other brainstorming possible deals that will solve problems and create win-win solutions, it’s an awesome experience. 

 I brought two things to the conference; my dad’s Harley and 2 acres of land in Lancaster, CA that my parents purchased 12 years ago.  Before going to this conference my dad did not believe deals could be made with either of these possessions, but I got offers on both and I’m going to share with you what they are.

1998 Harley Davidson Sportster Sport

The offer: An Embassy Suites timeshare in Kauai, HI

                1 Floating Week

                $1400/Yr in fees

The terms: Equity for Equity

 

2 Acres Land in Lancaster, CA

The offer: 320 Acres of gold mining property SW of Carlin, NV

The terms:  Give our 2 Acres in Lancaster + 50k Cash and give the seller a 3-5yr option to purchase the property back.  For however many years the option is the seller will pay 10% per year on the initial investment of 100k (50k worth of land, 50k cash), plus a 10k bonus at the end.  If the seller does not exercise the option to purchase the property back we get the land delivered free and clear.

Ps. The owner values the property at 1.2 million.