您可以访问 http://www.ximalaya.com/swf/sound/red.swf?id=135760165 收听本期节目-介绍Trump 在大学期间如何开始运营自己平生第一起大项目的。
在第三章Trump介绍自己的成长过程时,讲到他从自己父亲那里学到了很多,比如:
I learned about competence and efficiency: get in, get it done , get it done right and get out.
那么第四章中,“辛辛那提的孩子“中,Trump其实就是把他的第一桩大交易作为这样一个例子完整地呈现了。
Trump上大学时,周围的同学或者看漫画书呀,或者关注体育新闻,但Trump当年看的是联邦住宅管理局的丧失抵押品赎回权的房产名录,也就是开发商手上那些资不抵债的被政府收回的项目清单,
iN COLLEGEwhile my friends were reading the comics and the sports pages of newspapers, I was reading the listings of FHA foreclosures. It might seem a bit abnormal to study lists of federally financed housing projects in foreclosure, but that's what I did.
Get in
Trump就在这些项目中找宝贝,还真让他找到了一个他看得上的项目,就是位于Cincinnati, Ohio(俄亥俄州的辛西那提)的一个叫Swifton Village的项目。这处物业有1200套单元房,空置率2/3(800套都空着),开发商已经难以承受重负,政府也收回了房产,大家都想躲避一个灾星一样避着它,但Trump和他父亲却觉得这个项目有的搞。
Swifton Village was a 1,200-unit apartment development in Cincinnati, Ohio, and it was a very troubled place. There were 800 vacant apartments, the developers had gone under, the government had foreclosed and the whole deal was a disaster. But from our perspective that was great, because it gave us a terrific opportunity
他们是花600万美元买下了Swifton Village,而且又很快从银行那里拿到了抵押贷款,外加10万美元的修缮款(为啥银行那么痛快就给他们放贷?这个Trump没有明说,但他给了些数据,两年多前这个项目建起来时可是花费了1200多万美元,其中的各种运算逻辑我就不细述了)总之他们很快拿到了抵押贷款,所以可以说当时Trump父子是没怎么掏自己腰包就把那个项目拿下来了。那银行贷款怎么还?用租金呀,房产先买来,然后出租,用租金还贷款。
Trump有这样的大项目做, 还是很兴奋的, 他喜欢bigger job:
The fact that it was such a big job appealed to my father and to me because it meant we could focus a lot of energy on it without feeling we were wasting our time. It takes almost the same amount of energy to manage 50 units as it does 1,200—except that with 1,200 you have a much bigger upside。
要运行这个项目,那就得想办法把房产租初去, 租给谁呢? Trump 还是想选择优质的客户的。 那么接下来就是get it done 了, 我们就一起看看Trump怎么做
Get it done and get it done right
接下来Trump就着重讲了他是如何定位他的项目的。
当Trump接手这个项目的时候,这里的空置率有60%多,而租住在这里的人,在Trump看来就像是要把这里拆了似的,他们有些是附近的山民,家里7,8个孩子,挤在一个一居室或者两居室的房间中,而且在Trump看来,这些人好像并不觉得他们应该交房租似的。Trump说如果你要是追得紧了,那他们就可能租个房车,一大早开始收拾,到晚上的时候就人走房空了。Trump不能吃这个哑巴亏,所以他也派出人马,24小时巡逻,看到谁家门前停着这种房车,立马上门先讨债。
总之用尽方法,终于把这些在Trump眼里的不良租客都请走了,可以说是完成了对不良资产的剥离。
接下来Trump就开始提升自己的品牌形象,他开始对新买进的项目进行装修,把窗户全部换成漂亮洁净的白色百叶窗,把原先的铝皮门换成了仿殖民时代的那种白色的门,还打磨了地板,修正了过道和院落,是投入重金去升级产品,现在的这处物业那在Trump眼里是干净、整洁、漂亮有品位、有档次(We painted the hallways, we sanded and stained the floors, we kept the vacant apartments immaculately clean, and we landscaped the grounds.),而且还在当地报纸上登出漂亮的广告,为产品做宣传,那么口口相传,很快所有房间都出租出去了,(people came to check us out, and the word of mouth started getting good. Within a year, the buildings were 100 percent rented.)
那么到现在,在这个买下这项目后到成功的把它100%出租出去,可以说是完成了get in, get it done, get right
什么样的管理者是Trump 看得上的?
那么能把事情做成还是得有人帮,Trump在这个过程中,也是多方物色好的项目管理者。
Trump说他的项目经理有过那种老实但过于木讷的,也有那种很机灵,但根本不知道管理中首要事物是什么的,终于,让他遇到一位叫Irving的fabulous man,一位已经65岁了狠角色。
He was one of the greates bullshit artists I've ever met, but in addition to being a very sharp talker and a very slick salesman, he was also an amazing maager. Irving was the kind of guy who worked perhaps an hour a day and accomplished more in that hour than most managers did in twelve hours.
Trump 也总结说,
It's not how many hours you put in, it's what you get done while you're working.
这个人不光有一张厉害的嘴巴,也不光是个油滑的销售,他还是个特别出色的管理者。 他一天用一小时完成的事情比大多数的管理者用12个小时完成的事情还要多。
所以--- 不在于你在一件事情上投入了多少时间 而是你在你投入的那段时间里到底做成些什么----这应该就是Trump 在第三章中提到的,competence and effeciency(能力与效率)
但Trump对于这个Irving还是蛮矛盾的,因为这个人并不是一个道德高尚的人, 其实他连个基本合法的公民都算不上,
It turned out that Irving had done all sorts of con jobs and swindles(欺骗), and he’d often been in trouble with the law.
这人到处行骗,甚至还有法律上的麻烦缠身呢。
But with Irving I had a dilemma: he was far and away more capable than any honest manager I had found, and so long as he was in charge, no one under him would dare steal. That meant I only had to keep my eye onhim. I used to kid Irving. I’d say, “We pay you $50,000 and all you can steal.”
但是,Trump看起来他就是那个get things done的人,而他要的也是这样的人。
为什么一直留着他,有利可图,每年付给他5万,还外加他又偷5万,就这样Trump也还是觉得他得了便宜似的。
后来这个Irving 把这个项目打理得很妥帖了, Trump 在这个项目上花得时间和心思就在慢慢减少。
和优质客户保持尊重和联系
Trump 对自己的一些优质客户还是非常尊重的, 他举了个例子,一位老者,是个犹太人,二战时有段时间是被关在波兰的一所集中营里,刚来美国时,是一个卖肉的人,butcher,然后买下了那家店,Trump遇到他时,他已经拥有14家自己的butcher shops。他们在Swifton租了两套房,收拾得非常舒适。Trump很尊重这位老先生,在Trump看来,老先生的经历给了他生存的智慧和敏感。
I had a lot of respect for this guy, because he had street smarts, he’d been around, and he was obviously a true survivor.
在Trump买下那片地产后若干年,他又在Swifton的街头遇到这位犹太老者,这位老者和Trump说的一席话,让Trump下定决心要将这片房产出手。
then he took me aside and whispered, “Donald, you are a friend of mine and I have to tell you, sell this job.” And I said,
“Why?”
“Because it’s going real bad—not the job but the area. It’s being surrounded by people who are so bad they will cut your throat and walk away and not even think about it. I’m talking about people whoenjoycutting throats.” That was the exact expression. I never forgot it.
而Trump的反应呢:
Now, I’m someone who responds to people I have respect for, and I listen. Again, it’s instincts, not marketing studies
接下来两天,Trump就开车在街头转悠,他的确是感到有些麻烦正在发酵,酝酿中
saw that there was trouble brewing, that neighborhoods were getting rough.(举止野蛮,粗暴)
所以Trump就挂盘出售了。
Get Out -- 寻求平稳降落
那么到Trump挂盘出售时,他这个项目的状况怎么样呢?
银行贷款:相对资产的规模,微不足道(our debt was very small relative to the size of the complex.)
出租率,租金收入每年70万美元进账(rent roll, had reached about $700,000 a year)
3但真的能让他们大赚一笔的还是卖掉资产。
selling was how we made a real killing.
也很快就有买家来联系他
买家是一家房地产投资信托基金,Prudent Real Estate Investment Trust.(Prudent 有谨慎的意思,这里是这家信托基金的名字)
当时正赶上房地产信托投资的好日子
Those were thego-go days(好日子)when real estate investment trusts were very hot.
他们可以分分钟就从银行拿到贷款,但在Trump看来这些人既不懂房地产,也没什么能力,简直就是些人傻钱多的主儿
(I called them the guys with the white bucks)。
Trump举例说他们中有些人从来也不去考察项目,就是砸钱买买买,到后来发现他们花钱买的东西根本还没建呢。
而这家打算买Trump他们这个Swifton地产的Prudent基金是派个年轻人来做先期考察和评估的,这个年轻人和Trump差不多年纪,但Trump说人家看起来跟个孩子似的,也不问项目相关的事,从电话里订考察日程起,就开始惦记去当地一家最好的餐厅去吃顿午餐,还一直督促Trump去订位(make a lunch reservation)。然后这位小主儿的飞机还晚点了,当然这位小主儿来考察项目时,Swifton的出租率仍然还是100%,而小主儿除了这个也没啥别的问题了,连过场都懒得走,就是特别迫切想去那个高档餐厅吃一顿,接下来就是他们花了3个多小时吃那顿午餐,吃完都下午4点了,Trump把那孩子送上飞机,当然接下来,那位young man 对自己的老板是把Swifton这个项目大大肯定了一番,最终对方同意这笔交易,出价是1200万美元。这给了Trump他们的接近600万的利润,所以这次不很长的投资还是带来巨大回报的。
Trump说如果是自己只有一天时间去考察一个项目,那午餐这种事情完全可以跳过,你得更多地了解和项目相关的事情,比如人家项目运营的那么好,为什么要卖呢?最好的真正动机是什么?所有专注度很重要,专注可能会带来更多的敏锐,可能能发现些潜在问题呢?
那么真正要get out,就必须得把合同坐实了,当时买卖双方签合同,是有些惯例的,比如买家出10%的保证金,如果最后买卖黄了,那么买家最多损失10%的订金。另外比如出租率这种非常关键的评估资产优良程度的指标,是以签合同时的数据为准还是以成交时的数据为准,这个在当时也是有行业里的惯常做法的。而Trump他们在合同里就加入了说他们保证在签订合同时房屋的出租率时100%(we were willing to represent that the project was 100 percent rented at the time of the contract signing),至于说3,4个月后交割时的状况,他们不保证(but we didn't want to the same promise at the time of closing)。而且Trump他们还在合同中强调,就是如果买卖黄了,那么对方是要付一笔巨额罚款(a huge penalty)。而不是行业惯常的10%的订金。
那么到他们签合同时,Trump已经感到乌云慢慢从天边升起来了, 很多到期的租户都选择不续租了(By then, I could see the dark clouds clearly on the horizon. A lot of tenants had their leases coming up and weren’t planning to renew)
最终: on the day we closed, there were dozens of vacant apartments.
那么 Trump也是给出了些忠告:
Frankly,the Prudent people should have been more prudent。But as I said, the REITs were hot to trot(trot:小跑,就是涌入这里的资金太多了,这里太火热了,大家好像都在跑步签单。), and they couldn’t make deals fast enough(大家都觉得自己签单的速度不够快). In the end, of course, it never pays to be in too much of a hurry.(欲速不达,心急吃不上热豆腐。匆忙行事必有付出)
总结:
1. 捡破烂的商业模式 介入项目
2. 做好项目的前提--定位项目
3. 做好项目的关键-- 物色有效率有能力的管理者,和优质客户保持友好和联系
4. 能脱手项目,全身而退--小心、谨慎、专注,Prudent, prudent, prudent and more。