Page 129 - Trump University Commercial Real Estate 101

Locking in Y our Profit

Be prepared for that argument. Your response can then be that you
are working with a group of investors, and their guidelines dictate a
maximum of 20 percent down for any deal.
If all else fails, you can always look the seller straight in the eye and
ask: “ Mr. Seller, would you buy this property based on these numbers? ”
Then shut up.

Know When to Walk Away

We talked earlier about the walk - away close . That can sometimes work
when you really want the deal and nothing else seems to be having an
effect.
Even if you never use that close, you must be constantly prepared

with a firm number in mind — beforehand . As you know, negotiations

can get intense. If you try to do your walk - away calculation when
you ’ re emotionally charged, you will get yourself into bad deals. It ’ s
too easy to rationalize on the fly why you can offer a higher price than

your strike price.
The best way to inoculate yourself from this fever is to have plenty
of deals in that pipeline of yours. This is a numbers game. If you ’ ve
been basing your offers on actual results and not on pro forma projec-
tions, then those numbers should be your solid point of reference.
You ’ ve heard of the bigger fool theory , in which you can always palm
your deal off to someone dumber than you? Don ’ t be the last person in
that chain, who ignored the all - important strike price.

Don ’ t Be a Weasel

I ’ ve actually heard people brag about having as many as 42 clauses in
their LOIs that will allow them to get out of any deal at any time. They
think they ’ re being very clever. Everyone else just calls them weasels .
Most companies are built on reputation. How many still - solid compa-
nies can you name that also have the reputation of being weasels?
In commercial real estate, you usually have a 30 - day inspection
period; occasionally it ’ s as long as 60 days. During that period, you can

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