How Donald Trump's Homes Have Boosted His Wealth

Donald Trump has been making a lot of headlines lately. However, that’s nothing new.

His career began in the 1960s, when he took a foreclosed Cincinnati apartment complex and turned it around for a tidy profit. Then he turned his attention to revitalizing pieces of Manhattan real estate that had been forsaken during its 1970s financial crisis. After restoring Central Park’s Wollman Rink in the 1980s, he gained the high profile that he enjoys today, and it shows no signs of abating.

Trump is mostly known for the properties that his company owns, but he is almost as well known for the real estate that he owns privately. As befits a larger-than-life personality such his, he resides in sprawling estates all over the world, all of which have gained notice when he’s bought or sold them, or even just renovated the pool.

Maison de L'Amitie is a 60,000 square - foot piece of real estate that Trump bought for $41 million in 2004. One year later, on season three of The Apprentice, winner Kendra Todd was given the $25 million task of renovating it, and she went all-out, lining it with gold and diamond fixtures.

In 2010, Trump sold the property to Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million. That was actually $25 million lower than Trump’s original asking price, but it’s still a 130 percent return on his investment, which led him to characterize the flip as a sign of an improving housing market.

When he sold the mansion, Trump gave up almost 500 feet of ocean, as well as a garage that can fit almost 50 cars and enough bathrooms for 22 people to powder their noses simultaneously. However, he’s also giving up sky-high taxes --- he paid close to $1 million in real estate taxes in 2007 alone.