I'm owed $243,500. What to do?

[Account Closed]

Hello fellow BPers, I'm in a situation where my deceased father loaned his best friend who is a real estate developer $262,5000 on a handshake. No contract was written (not the smartest move). Anyway the friend acknowledges the debt and has paid me $19,000 since July of last year. We worked out a monthly amount of $1,500 for 15 years. This guy is a bigger developer but is highly leveraged, which makes me uneasy for the long term. He has offered to trade me a cash flowing commercial property for the balance of the loan, I would have to finance the remainder of building. Would you look at a trade if the deal was as good or better than the current cash deal or let it ride and save the cash up ?

[Ryan Dossey]

I would look for the trade. You want something NOW. He may mean well for 15 years but he can't predict the future and neither can you. If he doesn't wake up tomorrow you're SOL.