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So..you have decided that you want or have to move. You may not have decided that you want to rent or buy. Perhaps that decision is made for you depending on your employment,credit or other life situation.

So what is your plan B, if plan A doesn't work out?

Prospects come to me every day explaining what they want in a home. Sometimes they start with what they need, which is great. You have to have a "floor" of tolerance. Those minimums you can't do without. But what happens when what you need is not available?

The current generation is not used to the word NO. The previous generation is also not accustomed to hearing that nasty word. I can try to be conciliatory. I can educate. I can try to make it happen. But I can't perform miracles and when I finally get to that point and say no, what you want is simply not possible in my market at this time, I get silence. They have no back up plan, no alternative.

Say you have a job transfer, and you own your current home and selling fast and getting everything you want out of that transaction still leaves you falling short. Do you rent at both ends? Do you sell low in one place hoping to buy low in the other to make up the difference? Do you sell low at one end, and rent on the other end because you don't have enough left to buy?

What if you NEED to rent a horse property and have a limited budget, a tight time frame and no other apparent options? My suggestion is to start at the bottom. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. Hope is not a strategy for sure, but planning for the worst is. Maybe your plan would be to buy a horse property and that's your worse option. Maybe not. Maybe your worse option would be to sell your horses. Maybe it would be to have to pay for boarding your horses and renting a house. Maybe it would be to sell your horses, which would no doubt be a huge lifestyle change and perhaps unbearable.

Without a doubt, choosing and planning require some tough answers to tough questions. But you have to have a plan, and you have to allow time for it to work. Consult with local REALTORS. Explore all your options and don't rule anything out as a possible solution. Someone who offers you alternatives is trying to help. Maybe you don't hear what you want to hear, but if you hear it from numerous people and the options are becoming clear, I hope you have time to react, and come out with the best solution at the time. Otherwise, have a plan B well in advance.