Calm Seas Don't Create Good Sailors

I read a quote recently which essentially said that "calm seas don't create good sailors." As we plow through the turbulent waters of today's economic times and market conditions it gives those of us in business the opportunity to hone our skills and to be creative in serving our clients and customers thus advancing our respective businesses.
Today while drafting up an agreement of purchase and sale, I had the opportunity to exercise my creativity to the agreement in principle of both the buyer and seller. My client is the buyer whom had purchased a lot on which to someday build a home. As many do, they somewhat lost their enthusiasm to build and in the meantime saw a new home they took a liking to. The solution which has yet to be finalized, was to have the home's builder/seller, take the buyer's lot in on trade plus cash to complete the purchase of the home. This sounds simple and in principle is but executing the transaction in an orderly fashion takes a bit of fitnesse. Obviously the seller doesn't want to be committed to owning a lot if the buyer reneges on the house purchase and vice-versa but that is easily handled and both parties protected if the right steps are taken.
I suspect as the year progresses we will see more real estate transactions of this type take place. Many potential buyers may be looking to make a purchase and either can't or won't until their current property is sold or somehow othrwise disposed of. By getting a little creative, it can be a win win for both a buyer and seller and thus faciltates a transfer(s) of ownership that may have otherwise not happened. It may not exactly constitute smooth sailing but the waters can indeed be calmed by plotting and taking the right course.