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T HINK B IG

the apartments have maids’ rooms, wood-burning fireplaces, and
16-foot ceilings. A four-bedroom condominium sells for as much as
$13.5 million. The building was a huge success and the construc-
tion loan was paidofflongbefore its due date from the sale pro-
ceeds from units.
Ironically, once the Trump World Tower was completed, some of
the people who fought the construction because it blocked their
views bought units in Trump World Tower because of its superior
construction and far superior views.

PRINCIPLE 1: BE WILLING TO PAY A
PREMIUM FOR A PRIME LOCATION

BY GEORGE ...A STORY OF SMART OVERPAYMENT

Perhaps the best example of paying a premium price for a piece of
real estate occurred in 1962 when I was counsel for Sol Goldman and
Alex DiLorenzo Jr., the multimillionaires I worked for early in my ca-
reer. Since they were considered to be the most aggressive purchasers
of real estate, they would get dozens of listings sent to them every
day. Part of my job was to screen the sale offers and get Sol’s opinion
as to which ones were of interest to him. One day, a disheveled old
broker came into my office and handed me a crumpled piece of paper
listing an apartment house in Brooklyn Heights that was for sale by
the family who had built it and owned it for over 40 years. The asking
price was $860,000 which, at that time, was a lot of money. I didn’t
know whether the price was high or low but I did know that Brooklyn
Heights was a desirable neighborhood, so I brought the listing into
Goldman. I told him the broker was a “nobody” and I doubted his
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