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ONALD TRUMP HAS many visionary ideas for his real estate in-
Dvestments, and he ultimately makes all the important decisions
himself, but before any final decision is made, he listens very closely
to the counsel and advice of experts. In every real estate project,
Trump retains top real estate specialists to help him—architects,
lawyers, leasing agents, accountants, contractors, engineers, design-
ers, and others. When it comes to legal documents or business ad-
vice, he calls on me first to get my thoughts. He knows that he can
accomplish much more than he ever could himself by using the ser-
vices of top real estate professionals like me. This chapter describes
how you can find really good people whose value to you will cover
the cost of their fee many times over.
Many small investors get into trouble because they try to do
everything themselves, right down to their own legal and tax work.
To be successful with your real estate project, you need to get the
best people in the field to help you.
For example, when I bought a radio station on Long Island with
my brother-in-law, Martin Beck, I knew nothing about the radio
business, but he did. He knew about ratings and how to attract more
listeners. He knew about the rating sweeps and how to increase your
advertising revenue. He had worked for an advertising agency selling
radio time, and he knew how advertisers thought, and the best way to
package what we were planning to sell. He also knew a lot about cost
saving. For example, you don’t need an individual newscaster for six
radio stations. You can tie in with CNN News and use their news for
all stations with minor changes based on locality. Previously, you
needed to staff a separate news department. With Marty’s industry
expertise, and my financing and business acumen, we created a very

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