Powerhouse Principles

March 17, 2008
Lauded as the “Trump of the Tropics” and the “Steven Spielberg of Real Estate,” Perez has written a book that—according to Donald Trump—“has taken all the lessons from the school of hard knocks and given you a leg up on the competition and a tremendous head start in becoming as successful as him. Or me!” Since not all readers are going to be billionaire builders, what can the average person glean from this volume written by “the country’s number-one private developer”? Readers will find much to appreciate in Perez’s clear presentation of his “five guiding principles” including passion, discipline and learning from loss. Perez’s motivational language translates easily into concrete advice emphasizing the importance of research, focus and planning—for instance, Perez advocates starting small: “Pick an achievable goal, then be unwavering in your pursuit of it.” Subsequent sections focus on the fundamentals of picking properties and “The Ten Commandments of Negotiation.” By building on each chapter and drawing on case studies from his own career, Perez annotates his own decisions with advice and recommendations to provide the reader a solid guide to getting into the real estate market.