Massoud Behrani, a retired Iranian colonel who fled to America during the Iranian Revolution, works as a trash picker along a Bay Area highway on a hot day in August. He has been unable to find a high-paying position with an aeronautics firm despite four years of searching, and has instead been reduced to working two jobs as a menial laborer to prevent his family from burning through their savings too quickly. With his daughter recently married to a well-educated Persian man from a respectable family, Behrani’s immediate concerns are his teenage son Esmail, who will need money for college, and his wife Nadi.

Browsing the legal notices section of a newspaper’s classifieds during his lunch break, Behrani finds a listing advertising the upcoming auction of a one-story bungalow in the beach town of Corona, which was seized by the county. Recognizing an opportunity to quickly increase a modest initial investment by flipping this house and selling it high, Behrani tears out the ad and decides to attend the auction.

The following morning Behrani arrives at the auction feeling confident. Although he only has $48,000 left in savings, he outmaneuvers the two other prospective buyers and secures the house for $45,000.