Page 212 - Trump University Commercial Real Estate 101

TRUMP UNIVERSITY COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE 101

engrained those scripts first in my head, then in the heads of all my

agents. Those tools made us hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Floyd had a motto: “ We get by giving. ” He even had lapel pins
made up with that saying. I ’ ve always remembered that, because his
simple statement has made me a fortune over the years.
Call it karma , call it the law of reciprocity , call it whatever you want,
but it works.
Look around and satisfy a need that someone has, and you will be
repaid in spades. Make it a habit to be a net giver and you can ’ t help but
benefi t. Go the extra mile to get a transaction completed for a broker
or seller and you will get something in return; maybe not right away,

but definitely in the future.
I ’ m not talking about mysticism or religion here. You can be cold
and calculating if you choose; but if you first give something of genuine

value, it has a way of ricocheting around and eventually coming back to
you. I can ’ t explain it — I just know that it works, and hope you try it.

Tame the Overactive Spreadsheet

Many investors spend time making sure they get the expenses right
while analyzing a deal, and also assume that the value of the property
will increase. Big mistake. This is not looking at the deal through the
eyes of a conservative investor, but through the eyes of a speculator.
I ’ ve seen spreadsheets that are even worse — they not only show
increasing property values, but they increase that value faster than they
escalate costs. You can take a pastrami - on - rye and make it look like a
phenomenal deal if you aggressively model it in a spreadsheet.
Don ’ t get caught up in the hype, regardless of what an anxious
broker or seller is promising.
If you want to be a conservative investor, you must assume three
things:

1. The project will take longer than you thought.

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