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Diary of a Real Estate Rookie: My Year of Flipping, Selling, and Rebuilding – and What I Learned (The Hard Way)
 
 
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Diary of a Real Estate Rookie: My Year of Flipping, Selling, and Rebuilding – and What I Learned (The Hard Way) [Paperback]

Alison Rogers (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews) |

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Rogers may be a real estate rookie, but her cheeky dedication to Rupert Murdoch, whose refusal to pay me a decent wage launched me on the adventure of a lifetime is the first clue that she's no newbie to writing. A founding editor of the New York Post real estate section, Rogers is now a real estate agent and columnist who tells the story of her first year of business, and her first year of marriage, with a sharp wit and relaxed style that really sparkles. It is a story of failure, and tears, and immense love, she says, adding, Don't worry, there are some pretty tricked-out luxury condos along the way. That pretty much sums it up, but the book doesn't just rely on funny turns of phrase: it also provides plenty of working advice, including tips on handling lowball offers, staging the sale of a bohemian apartment and talking to your realtor. Those looking for some good information on the real estate industry in a book that doesn't feel like homework will be hard-pressed for a better choice. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

The founding editor of the New York Post real estate section, Alison Rogers now works as a real estate agent and writes the weekly column “Diary of a Real Estate Rookie” for Inman News. She has written for Fortune Magazine, The New York Times, and Money Magazine, been published on Salon.com and in the New York Post, and spoken about real estate at the Brooklyn Real Estate Expo, the Harlem Home Fair, and the Learning Annex Real Estate Wealth Expo at the Javits Center.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 215 pages
  • Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; Original edition (June 5, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1427754659
  • ISBN-13: 978-1427754653
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #746,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Alison Rogers
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
There are no shortage of books out there for first-time home buyers, but Alison Rogers' Diary of a Real Estate Rookie: My Year of Flippin, Selling, and Rebuilding -- and What I Learned the Hard Way is easily the most interesting I've read, probably because it hasn't a how-to guide filled with platitudes like "don't buy the first house you see."

As the title would suggest, this isn't a how-to guide at all. Instead it's a former real estate writer's tale of her first year as a real estate agent/aspiring investor -- it's a quick and funny read (I finished it in one sitting), and it's a remarkably candid expose of all the problems that prospective home buyers can face in dealing with agents. The book begins "More than six million Americans move each year. If anecdotal evidence is anything to go by, more than 5.9 million of them hate their real estate agent." She describes the unethical tactics that many of her competitors use to inflate their incomes at the expense of clients. Sprinkled throughout the narrative are informative sidebars like "tricks to keep from overpaying", "the greatest rental search tip ever" (definitely worth the price of admission), and "five tips to ease the pain of selling."

In addition to being a valuable guide for rookie buyers, this is also probably the first book anyone contemplating a career as an agent should buy.

At 212 fun-to-read pages, you can't go wrong with this book if you're interested in real estate.

Zac Bissonnette
AOL Money and Finance Writers/Editor
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I don't know anything about real estate; I'm scared of it, and if I didn't need a place to put my children and my furniture, I'd never have anything to do with it. Ms. Roger's book pulls back the curtains enough to show that it's a world at least as scary to those in it as it is to us. Her writing is breezy, funny, personal and honest... you end up liking her tremendously, and -- this is weird -- wishing you were in the market for Manhattan real estate, just so you could hire her. Which is a bit like wishing you could go whaling after reading Moby Dick, but still. A must read for anyone who's about to dip a toe into the waters of home buying... esp. if you find yourself thinking your broker must be a lizard person. She's not! Or, at least, this one isn't.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Surreal estate February 7, 2008
Format:Paperback
Like some other reviewers of this book, I had no innate interest in real estate when I picked up this book. But Alison Roger's narration ROCKS. She manages to be sharp/smart/sassy while also disarmingly self-denigrating - I can't wait to see what she's going to come up with on the next page. This is also a delicious memoir in that the memoirist doesn't try to interest you in herself in any narcissistic way -rather, she has genuinely interesting stories to share - to educate, explain, inspire, entertain, and warn you - and since they happened to have occurred to her personally, well, hey, it's a memoir. Above all, seeing how her remarkable (often sardonic) sense of humor get her through the tough spots is refreshing, almost addictive. I read most of it in one sitting and haven't quite finished it yet because I love the idea that there's still some waiting for me like a hidden treat.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A repeat buyer's viewpoint
Real estate columnist Alison Rogers decides to go out and do the job about which she's been writing. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Nina M. Osier
Great read
I really enjoyed this book. Rogers' prose is not only entertaining, but full of advice and an honesty that is very rare in the real estate industry. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Candace
THE DIARY OF A REAL ESTATE PREDATOR
This book is the story of a predator real estate broker with credentials but lacking empathy for the homeowners she has "flipped" off. Read more
Published on April 8, 2010 by Martin
Excellent
The book came very fast and was in perfect condition! I'd definitely order again, thanks.
Published on February 10, 2010 by Sydney Thompson
Nothing to do with flipping
I was really excited to get this book after reading some of the reviews and thought it would be a valuable read for the beginning flipper. Read more
Published on January 22, 2008 by M. Robbins
Alison Rogers tells it like it is
If this book were an apartment it would be a "sunny condo conversion - panoramic views, oversize windows, 3 BR, 2 BA, closets galore, one of a kind architectural details, built... Read more
Published on December 1, 2007 by Emily Fisher
honestly written
The author is cynical, politically incorrect but brutally honest in this account of her life as a real estate saleswoman. Read more
Published on November 26, 2007 by William D. Tompkins
Real Estate Confidential
There's something for everyone in this genuine and engaging memoir which reads like something that a young Anthony Bourdain might write about the real-estate business. Ms. Read more
Published on October 8, 2007 by Mr. Front Porch
Fabulous and Funny
I tore through this book in a single sitting, mining it for real estate tips (of which there are many), and for the engaging narrative. Read more
Published on August 6, 2007 by NYC Reader
Funny, touching, helpful - it's memoir and how-to in one!
I love this book. It's not many people who can make you laugh with them AND at them, cringe at their emotional ups and downs and still come out admiring them. Read more
Published on August 1, 2007 by No Chicklit Please
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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power trio, lowball offer
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Real Estate Rookie, New York, New Jersey, Wall Street, East Orange, Big Media Exec, City Hall, San Francisco, The Four Cs of Real Estate, Park Slope, Going Broke, Jersey City, Union County, Bored of the Boards, Social Security, Greenwich Village, Staging the Bohemian Apartment, Media Inc, Gil Neary, Home Comforts, Central Park, The Sheriff's Sale
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