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'Rookie' no more: a farewell

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

When I had been a journalist for about 15 years, I got hired to launch a new Saturday section at the New York Post, one that would be entirely about real estate.

With the help of my deputy Andy Wang and a really talented team of people, we created something that was part sports section, part personal finance advice, and part dream-home catalog. The section was new and different, and sales of the Saturday paper shot up. For two years I covered real estate so closely that I lived and breathed it, and that changed my outlook. more...

Success: Luck and sweat

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelleyboone/2078304297/" target=blank>Kelley Mari</a>.

The No. 1 business book in the country is "Outliers: The Story of Success," the new book by Malcolm Gladwell, author of "The Tipping Point." "Outliers" is basically a collection of weird little scholarly studies and anecdotes strung along like pearls on a necklace, arguing that it's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart.

Lyrics from "Pippin" aside, Gladwell spends a lot of his time indicating that a strong factor in success is that the seed finds fertile soil -- as in his story of the kings of Silicon Valley, who were all born within two years of each other, because any computer geek older than that would have been ... more...

The new mortgage market: Think 1999

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, March 24, 2009.

ROOKIE: Tell me about what the mortgage market looks like.

BRIAN BRADY: The world has been reset to 1999 in terms of underwriting guidelines. Bankers consistently react badly to market conditions. When there's euphoria they loosen, and when there's fear they tighten. That's the opposite of what they should do.

The smartest thing I've seen done in 15 years, in terms of financial engineering to market conditions, is the use of ... more...

Real estate media tips to remember

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, March 17, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alex-s/126621473/" target=blank>alex-s</a>.

Braden Keil died last week at the young, young age of 53. The obits mentioned that he was a longtime real estate reporter at The New York Post and -- I love this phrase -- a "prince of the newsroom."

But this didn't even quite get to my friend Jason's summation: that he pretty much single-handedly invented real estate gossip reporting. The whole idea that if Nicole Kidman or Kanye West moved somewhere, that people would want to know what the place looked like -- before that fueled "TMZ" or MTV's "Cribs," it came from Braden's "Gimme Shelter" column. more...

Double-teaming a listing

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, March 10, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/35460364@N08/3316837711/">joel.parham</a>.

I hit a new high-water mark this week: I took my fourth listing.

That is, my fourth simultaneous listing. Two of them are rentals, but in this market that's pretty darned exciting.

I also knew that I couldn't handle everything. I do publishing work about half-time and I love it. The steady income helps smooth the highs and lows of real estate. As important as the money, the steady work itself keeps me focused on a world of deadlines and short-term results, which makes me a better real estate agent. more...

Battling real estate perceptions

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, March 3, 2009.

Rupert Everett thinks I need new shoes.

This is not just something I made up to justify a shopping spree to my husband; it's a quote from a profile of him in the New York Times magazine. Actually the quote is, "I think a Realtor should have good shoes, especially in this climate," and it comes sandwiched in between an inappropriate joke about chemotherapy (not that I can think of an appropriate one) and a remark that an apartment is a bit "family-ish." more...

A lesson in real estate rejection

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, February 24, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/fboyd/2697110891/" target=blank>°Florian</a>.

I just got back from Montreal, a great city. We were there for five days and it was an amazing break. I knew I needed it, but I didn't know how badly.

But of course I'm a Realtor, so I kept working a little. In particular, I had a listing with an active bid, so I had told all parties that I thought my phone would work in Canada and we could keep tossing the ball back and forth. more...

The lost listing

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, February 17, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/cameronparkins/208183396/in/set-72157594226437397/" target=blank>cameronparkins</a>.

"Hey, you remember that townhouse we pitched?" my co-worker yelled across the room. "Our big competitor's got the listing."

Well, of course I remember that townhouse that we pitched, since it was the most expensive property that I'd ever pitched and my first team pitch as well. Plus, those of us who haven't remembered to follow Bernice Ross's advice to clean our desk to make room for new business easily found the file that had been sitting there since last May. more...

The real estate litmus test

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/striatic/3834364/in/photostream/" target=blank>striatic</a>.

Life is very exciting. I have two, count 'em, two whole listings, with two more, count 'em, two more, coming down the pike.

Two of those are rentals, which historically have been considered to be lower status in New York, but at this point are the most marketable things around.

So I'm fairly busy for me, and you would think that would make me more focused and better at guarding my remaining time. more...

Working through lean times

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, February 3, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/letheravensoar/523916111/" target=blank>Letheravensoar</a>.

If you haven't seen "Marley & Me," it won't destroy the movie to tell you that one of the cutest moments in the movie is when the John Grogan character, played by Owen Wilson, illustrates the passage of time by describing the flow of his work. It goes something like this: "I wrote a story about gas prices. I wrote a story about water prices. I wrote a story about the council election. I wrote a story about orange juice." more...

The real estate dues blues

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, January 27, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/hammer51012/3010232028/" target=blank>Hammer51012</a>.

This happens every January: Fired up with the energy of having played with the geeks at the Connect conference, I decide that I'm going to embrace technology again. It's good for me, this yearly attempt. I'm like a Polar Bear Club swimmer, jumping in and freaking out, but readying myself for a more lasting and satisfying attempt later in the year.

And today I jumped in and had two very distinctly opposite experiences. more...

Weathering big chill in Big Apple

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, January 20, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/tais/2289024318/sizes/l/" target=blank>t_a_i_s</a>.

Oh yoicks is it cold out there. We are in a spell where the highs are in the 20s and the lows are in the teens. I had already learned from going to school in Boston not to wear earrings in this kind of wintry weather, but I wasn't that aware of my new glasses and so now I have an abrasion on either side of my nose where my glasses have kind of frozen onto my face.

The outside, though, is something I'm basically avoiding: At this point it's all about wrap up, run the errand, and get back indoors. Except when indoors is my office. more...

Finding football metaphors in real estate

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, January 13, 2009.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/adobemac/257265795/" target=blank>adobemac</a>.

NEW YORK -- People at the Real Estate Connect conference in New York City have teased me for wearing my sneakers, but it allowed me to hit a lot of panels.

A sampling of what I've seen:

Inman News Publisher Brad Inman ran us through the crazy number of changes that have hit the economy in the past nine months more...

Compile 'B' list at Connect

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, January 6, 2009.

After a hectic and chaotic year where I wished many, many times that the phone wouldn't ring so much, Christmas week has been as quiet as a library.

I don't know if this is a recession signal or not; for all I know, it may have been like this last year, and I didn't know because I was off visiting my mother out of cell phone reach. But this year, my husband and I have been just running and running to weddings and such, and I jumped at the chance to stay in town while things were a little slow. more...

Pollyanna and the rosemary plant

By Alison Rogers, Tuesday, December 30, 2008.

Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/chichacha/2473930145/">chichacha</a>.

Last year I was full of optimism. My New Year’s resolution for 2008 was to relax more and work less, and yet I was sure I would have a good year.

My prediction came true, and I worked smarter, and some deep relationships paid off, and I had my best year in the business ever. more...

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