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TRUMP UNIVERSITY WEALTH BUILDING 101

If you buy a park that includes mobile home rentals (rather than just the
pads), value the park separately. Rental mobile homes generate strong cash
flows, but they can wear out quickly. If you calculate their rental income to fi g-

ure their worth, you will overpay. You can easily buy repossessed mobile homes
for a fraction of their cost new. Value mobile homes as you would a used car.

Profitable Possibilities with Zoning
As property investors struggle to boost their income yields, zoning and land-
use opportunities are becoming more important. If you can add another fl oor
to a rental house, sell off extra land as a buildable lot, or convert a house to an
Adult Congregate Living Facility (ACLF), you can pocket thousands of dol-
lars of found money (for more discussion of profit-making ideas, see my book,

Make Money with Fixer-Uppers and Renovations , Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons, 2004).
Investigate whether you can enhance a property’s current use and profi ta-
bility within current zoning and regulatory rules. Sometimes the government
changes a property’s rules of use, and current property owners don’t notice or

don’t investigate the maximum usage permitted. Alternatively, figure out a
way to persuade planners and elected officials to grant your property (or area)

a higher and better use.

Property and Property-Related Stocks

These past three chapters have repeatedly encouraged you to develop and
nurture your abilities to think like an entrepreneur and open your mind to
possibilities and probabilities that less thoughtful and enterprising folks miss.
If you do, you can multiply your potential for profits while diminishing your

risks. Through intelligence, effort, and entrepreneurial talent, you can almost
guarantee yourself a winning outcome. Not everyone wants to think like an
entrepreneur, or own investment property. If that’s the case for you, consider
buying shares of real estate investment trusts.

What Are Real Estate Investments Trusts?

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are companies that own income-
generating properties (or, in some cases, mortgages). Some REITs specialize

in large apartment complexes, office buildings, shopping centers, self-storage
facilities, or industrial properties. Other REITs own a mix of property types.
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