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

by Alison Rogers (Author)
Key Phrases: power trio, lowball offer, Real Estate Rookie, New York, New Jersey (more...)

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)
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Review
"Alison Rogers's adventures in real estate are must reading for me every Friday afternoon. They're educational and, better yet, very funny."

--James R. Hagerty, housing reporter, The Wall Street Journal

 

"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."

--Publishers Weekly

 

"Witty bunch of horror and success stories mixed with real advice for other Realtor newbies."

--Newsweek

 

"With a sense of humor and a little moxie, Ali Rogers demonstrates how every woman can be a Rich Woman...and absolutely love it! No one ever said that attaining financial security and independence was easy. Yet it can be fun, adventurous, and character-building."

--Kim Kiyosaki, Investor and author of Rich Woman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing (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 (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #282,221 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive guide to real estate for first-time homebuyers AND new agents, July 24, 2008

By	Zachary H. Bissonnette "Zac" (Amherst, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a Virgil for a Contemporary Hell, July 11, 2007

By	Skeptical Reader (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous and Funny , August 6, 2007

By	NYC Reader (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

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. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the basics but has no patience for dry "how to sell your home" tomes. I'd also recommend it for sheer entertainment value. It's a first-person window into NYC's crazy real estate biz and Rogers sounds like a smarter, savvier (but admittedly cash-starved) Carrie Bradshaw.