Donald Trump, multi-billionaire real estate investor is unashamedly big on self promotion. His name is predominate on the book jacket. But that is not inappropriate as he is the focus of the book. His major deals and properties are the center of attention and make the book worth reading.
George H. Ross, successful New York City real estate attorney, long-time associate of Trump and apparantly player in the Trump reality show, The Apprentice, is the major contributer to the book. His name is next. Mr. Ross has been in the business a very long time and also lectures on the skill of negotiation.
At the bottom of the page we find the author, Andrew James McLean, who has written several books on real estate investing.
This book is interesting, if simple. The anecdotes about Donald Trump make it worth reading. The details of the Trump Tower, Mar-A-Lago, and the GM Building, for example are very interesting. There is also quite a bit of chest thumping and self-congratulations in this short book, but who can argue with success?
The advice given in this book is very good, but neither new nor Earth-shaking. Anyone who is making it in the real estate world probably already knows this, but it never hurts to have it reenforced. The point that hit me the most was to avoid the tendancy to focus on the property more than the customers. There are tips on negotiation, how to find and treat customers, how to handle difficult people and how to stay out of trouble. This is not a how-to book, but has some excellent pointers.