Barbara Corcoran

Barbara Corkran. We discuss how growing up in a family but ten kids teaches you how to survive in a competitive business like real estate, why New York real estate will stay strong even in a down economy, and the golden ticket to building a successful company. Let's get into it. Welcome to another episode. Nice to be here. Thank you so much for coming in. You were, um, the first Corkoran quote unquote agent. Well, also the first Corkoran to

come into our new office here. I have a thousand questions I want to ask you, and most of the people who work with me, especially a lot of the women who work with me, when they found out that you were coming in here on my phone. I've turned it off now so there's no issues. I could ask you questions for ten hours because they have so many. One of our agents, actually Rachel and San Francisco nearly jumped on a plane just so she could be here

to meet you. I think you spoke at Barklay's a while ago when she was working on the trading floor there, and you changed her life. And I hear that from a lot of people, which is really really incredible. So good on you for doing that. Before I get into a lot of the real estate questions that I have UM and obviously shark tank questions and and everything that I think goes through my mind about you, I want to go back for a second because I have three

sisters and two brothers. UM. I was born in Houston, Texas, grew up there, bounced around Long Island outside Boston Way before I ever came to New York, and I was basically the middle child at older city blings UM. And then I had my little baby brother, and so I had that kind of like I guess middle child syndrome, even though I didn't think I did when I was growing up. But you're one of ten curious what's a

middle child syndrome. Middle child syndrome is like, is the kid in the middle who doesn't get all the attention because they were the first born and they're not treated like a baby because they're the last born. They're the one in the middle who like, okay did you eat, you ate? Okay, great, you're gonna live. Or you went to school, okay, great, you're gonna live. And so you have to figure out things on your own. It's a real I read about it once, I would think it

would be the best position. I was a middle child. I knew it. See, I knew it. You get to be yourself, no expectations on the top or the bottom. It's terrific. Spot, dude, where you pushed a lot as the middle child, or their heavy expectations on you. Do you remember any of that from your brothers and sisters?

Not at all. The way I saw it, I had an older sister on one side of me who protected me off from the top, and I had a younger brother on the other side of me, and he protected me from anything that was going to come from the bottom. I would never switch my my seat. But what's great about growing up with ten kids, which is an advantage to every child, I think, is you only have two parents to go around. You have ten kids who want attention,

so you learn how to compete. Yes, and if I were to say one thing that prepared me for the real estate career that I enjoyed it was the ability to compete, and I learned it at home. And how did I compete. I became the most creative child, so I could put on every game on the streets that happen in our neighborhood, and I was in charge. I could open up rock stores and sell rocks. I could put on Broadway shows in the basement on rainy day.

I could get my parents attention, and that was a huge advantage going into this crazy, wacky competitive business that we're both in. Don't you think that's a big part of being the middle child, because you're not guaranteed attention. I think that's a big deal. And for us in the real estate business, in the sales business, and the television business, all day long, I'm trying to figure out how to get more attention from our clients. Are developers,

are agents. The people were pitching, And as you say that about putting on shows and figuring out things to do, I'm reminded of all the times I got my little brother to do things with me, to perform in front of my parents, like magic shows, you know, we'd make little movies, and my little brother I had forced him to do it so that there always could be attention because I didn't. I didn't have the throwing arm. My older brother had the throwing arm. He was the quarterback.

My little brother had the throwing arm, he was the pitcher. And then I was just in the middle left. And you're nicer than I because you shared the limelight with your brother at least. I was never that way. If any of my sibling student anything for me, like my sister marriaging made my bed every day. My students did my dish night. I never shared the credit. He was like, what do I do to get them to do the

dishes for me? How my dish night? And all you had to do is compliment them when they were doing the dishes the night before. How do you do those dishes so well? So you were nicer sibling than I. You shared the credit, not for me. I was at to get the attention. Yeah, that's short and simple. So that competitive nature you you think you graduate college and you get into real estate. But one question I have because I don't know what the answer is, That's why I'm asking it is a lot of us I think

who got into the real estate business. It wasn't our first choice. It was kind of okay, I could try this, let's see what happens, or do something else. Where would you be today had you not said, okay, I'll get into real estate. Who knows, Maybe I'd be a waitress still at before league dinner where I really Is that

a real answer? Nobody? You never know. But I imagine I would own a chain of dinners today because I always thought I was smarter than my boss, that I could run the dinner a little bit better if only given the chance. But where would I be? I think I would have been in some kind of a career, making publicity and using my mouth to make a living, and probably advertising, public relations, maybe even politics, anything that I could swede people with my ability to sell, and

you know as well as I do. If you can sell well, can pretty much enter any field and do well, because there's always a need for salesman in every spot. You know, when I say salesman, it sounds like it's not so important, but it's essential to every business. You can't sell a product of service, you don't have a business. So I think I would have just been leading something using my mouth to lead. And you've always been a

good talker. I was a good talker outside of school, but in school I didn't say a word because I never had the answer. So it depended on the forum. But in my twenty two jobs I had before a star real estate, my gift in each of those jobs was I could talk. I could talk, yeah for sure. Yeah. And why did you stick it out? I mean, I can't imagine your position in the nineteen seventies getting into the real estate business, which I was not around. Then

you missed a great time. How did you muscle through that? Because I think people listening to this now they think things are tough now, but they don't know what it was like for you building your career and your entire business. What got you out of bed every day when you had a bad day or you lost agents, lost deals. I don't think I ever had the thought for a moment that I might fail. And the reason for it was I was so busy building that I had no

time to give anything any thought. And much like a teenager that gets in trouble if the hands aren't busy, my mind was so occupied with building that business every day that I never had the thought that it could fail. There was one juncture where I actually, I guess I'd have to admit that I warmed up to the thought of going out of business. And I don't know what year it was, but nothing was going on. Two thirds

of the competitors in New York City were down. I had no cash, I had no receivables, I had whining salespeople, and I actually thought of actually announcing the business was closing. I tried everything, but funny enough about adversity right popped into my head the one day, one price sale, and I made a million dollars one week later in two hours, selling eighty eight unwanted apartments at the same price to a line of people that didn't know they wanted to

buy until they were going fast and boom. I opened another office that same week, as my competitors continue to go out of business. That was probably the only eleventh hour do rest I had, but thank god I did, because you never know what you're made of until the chips are against the wall. That's where you find your greatest courage, or you find your greatest graciousness to admit

defeat one or the other. But you only have a black or a white way to go, And unfortunately, I thought of a creative idea, as I always thought somehow to save the day, so to speak. I created a market that everybody said was not there. And I must be honest, I was half surprised by myself. I thought it could work. It can't work, but let's get a shot,

throw it against the wall and see what happens. But that morning, when I went around to a makeshift temporary office on eighty three Street and First Avenue and saw two hundred some odd people eating in line for apartments that nobody wanted the day before, my holy ship look at this, and uh, of course I was smart enough to have pre signed contracts and giants stacks that people walked in and say they're going fast. Nobody asked who

signed those contracts? Are the real contracts? But there's something very alluring in the real sales concept in markets and markets that everybody wants what everybody wants, and nobody wants what nobody wants. So we took the nobody's and made them somebody, and everybody wanted them that morning. How did you convince the developer to do that sale? And to do that at those price points. I mean, I think, but all the developers I have now right where post COVID,

there's a lot going on. There's and there's a mass oversupply of new condo inventory. You could see a lot of it from our window here in Tribeca. There's stalled projects left and rights, and I wish I could go to all of them and say, hey, here's the thing. We're gonna lower all prices to a million bucks a unit, down from whatever their schedule A prices are, and let's get it going. But they would have lender push back. It would say it would be tough. How did you

do that? I'll tell you it's defeating you on it. If I might say, is your own limitation of things, it can't be done. There is a way. There's always a way. Um. What you have to appreciate more than anything in a terrible market is everyone's needy. And so the same guys that wouldn't be opened something a year before when things are rosy totally open. I mean, I had those units owned by Equitable Insurance, very powerful company in town at that point, financing the job along with

Bernie Mendick, who was the biggest developer that day. But they had nothing to lose by trying something. They had nothing in hand, and Bank him nothing in hand, and Developer and nothing in hand. And so it was like, hey, listen,

we're not lowering the prices. We're evening out the prices, because it doesn't make sense that people could grabble one bit and two bed in my studio at the same price, and once the two bedrooms one bedrooms go, believe it or not, if there's not enough to go around people who want the studios. And that's exactly what happened. There were level prices and you had to wait in line, and there wasn't enough to go around, and so they took a shot at it because what did they have

to lose. All I asked them to do was to give me two years free maintenance because I needed a sales incentive. And why did they give me two years free maintenance Because they weren't going to sell those soccers for two years anyway, and they knew it, And so what was I really asking for. I was just taking the cards and reshuffling the deck. And they gave me a shot, and it worked, and it worked and they got out of trouble. I made a million, little boy

a million. I made my million dollars plus and I was able to stay in business. Thank god. You've got to revisit your story here if you don't mind my saying. You could addit this out as you want, but you've got to read story. You had said on this one. Come on, look at everywhere I look, there's a problem. There's a problem you And I think if you were to ask the brokerage community in New York City now, they probably know us mostly for our out of the

box ideas and creative thinking. We were doing auctions in the city by lowering prices to below cost numbers to freeze out the marketplace so that Street Easy would be completely useless, so that buyers wouldn't pay attention to other inventory. They would just say, Okay, well, now I got to see what's going to happen to sixty eight seven Street, because somehow that just went from twelve to six. Something's

going on, let's see. We would then drive traffic that way and put the price up, and then inventory to started changing, and then it didn't seem as exciting anymore, so we change it up over and over and over. When did you open your second office because everyone's got there first. But when did you open your second The second office is the hardest office. I think I had fourteen offices when I sold. The second office is the

hardest office. It was on the west side of one block from Z Bars, and it was the hardest office because I couldn't cut myself in half. I didn't realize until my second office that I was a power in the shop. I was a mother, I gave the love of I drove the people, and I couldn't jump back and forth between East Side and West Side. But it was also my opportunity to learn the greatest lesson in my life. That is, I didn't have to multiply myself. I had to find someone with talent, and I hired

Barbara brian Uh sweetheart of a woman. On first glance, you wouldn't think she was a powerhouse. She didn't have my style, but she knew how to love people the way I knew how to love, and she nurtured those salespeople to become a force on the West Side within two years Latin and after that, I had the golden ticket to building a giant company. Find the talent and then build an office around them. I never opened offices

and looked for talent. I'd stumble into anybody in any walk of life and think, you know what, they would be a great mom, It's the key to a successful brokerage office, and they would be great at judging people. And then I'd open an office around that talent. And that's how I got in many marketplaces, simply because I found the talent first and build the walls around them.

How many agents did you have at that time when I opened that second office, Probably I don't really recall, probably thirty thirty five maybe, And the goal was just to physically be on the other side of town, because you needed to have that convenient office location. Not really. There was a common belief at that time which had been true, but I could see it was no longer true that people wanted east side, wanted east side and

people one west side. We have territories in town of brokerage firms did one territory versus another, But I could see those markets blending, and I wanted agents that knew both markets and new one did, and so we crossed fertilized across the park basically, and we were able to take clients from the east to the west and show the more stuff. And even if they thought they didn't want Central Park West, when they came in for Park Avenue, we seld them Central Park West because they'd get a

park few that they didn't get on Park. And so we built bilingual I should lingual whatever that where it is agents who could talk both languages for And then we did the same thing down the village. People said the village Martin was not a purchasing market. I saw very differently. It was delicious down the village, and so ho then Brooklyn early. I mean, it's just that people the customer change and the brokerage firms were the last

ones to change their interpretation. And so we got ahead of the other firms because we listened to the customer and watch what their new habits were. And they were shopping everywhere. Not immediately, but little by little they started shopping everywhere. Today, you take the east side, west side, downtown, uptown Brooklyn. You've got to be versed in everything, as you well noticed, you so successfully do it. But in those days, no one believed that would happen. Since preposterous,

but no one believed that would happen. It sounds so crazy now thinking about how you even sold real estate, then how would you generate leads? How would your business generate leads? At the time, was it mostly referral personal networking or people coming into the storefronts and going to the file cabinet. Well, initially we had no storefront and we were in whatever scrappy as we could possibly afford. We generated leads through advertising for them, and I had

a simple ad. It sounds ridiculous because the New York Times Classified was the only billboard in town. There was no streets, no internet, nothing, and so the message was welcome to New York. And we trained people on that initial call how to be friendly. No one expected that from the city. We had friendly agents. And then the minute I could afford a corporate campaign, I relabeled my brokers the Power Brokers, but we took full page as out with them standing with their kids, the dogs, looking

just like the people you'd like to hang out with. Okay, in Middle America more than New York City tough guy, and people broke into the image and they thought it would be nice to work with and they were right. We were great to work and we had nice people and they weren't eating alive, which is what people thought was going to happen when they worked as an agent.

So we encountered intuitive to what people expected, and my agents were groomed to be those people that we put out there, which initially was kind of bullshit, eventually became true, right like ever reason does. It was the scariest part about owning your own business because something I'm thinking about when you said you didn't have time to fail reminds me of obviously that book in the Financial Crisis and Too Big to Fail. But I like that, and we

I think we operate in the same way. It's you know, on the fifteen minute mark all day long, just go, go, go, go go. The faster you go, the more you do that. We just don't have time to fail. It's going to work out, and our backs are up against walls, and

we figure out what those walls are every day. But was it that day that you thought the business might go under and you created that market or was there there ever a general fear that the real estate market might completely change and people not want to come to New York And I'm thinking about that obviously in a post COVID world. Now well, banish that thead because it's just never gonna happen that people want to come to

New York. Of course, um, I know because I've lived through probably four dramatic cycles in the years I was building my firm. Uh And I can tell you that everybody in the end comes to New York. It's one of those towns because it's built on change. You think about the essence of the heart of New York City has change, that's the heart, and so you have to expect change. So I watched many groups of people leaving New York. Corporate America left New York. We've never had

corporations in New York ever. Again, everybody bought you into it. Yeah, yeah, Union Carbide went out, a few of the banks went out, and two years later they're back in h The Japanese are fueling on market, the highest prices in condo history. Left, The Chinese came home, scooped it all up. Okay, then they left, The Germans came in, and then the yuppies came in, and then though whatever, you know, if there's one thing you have to believe about New York, it's

always here. The heartbeat of the city has changed without it, it wouldn't survive. It needs that flushing and flushing out all the time. And your markets fly up and down as a real stage and with it. But I saw that as an opportunity to make money because if nobody is changing, there's no deals. If it's a buyer's market, seller's mark up and down, there's always deals. There's always ability to make you six percent, which I know is diminished a bit today, but there's always an ability to

make money. If you have changed, that's what you need a broker, no changing or new brokers. How did you leave your firm through those those recessions though you just said you went through four big market changes. As somebody who's leading a whole group with multiple offices and multiple other moms and people that are calling you every day. I know in the last time that we spoke, you mentioned a good part of your day was kind of nurturing your superstars. How did you keep the business excited?

How did you keep people motivated when everyone was talking about how negative things are in the New York Times every day is saying how bad things are. I stay close to people to listen hard as to what they were most frightened about, and then I addressed those fears smacked between the eyes on regular sales meetings, no matter what was going on, I brought my people together and I told them the way I saw the future or short term future, what the greatest fears were, and I

gave them my best advice to get over it. And I spoke from my heart because I didn't want to fool anyone or cheer lead anyone. I love this family. These were my kids. I found them, I groomed them, I supported them, and out of sheer love, I couldn't mislead them. And so they believed me. And that's cold inspiration, but not because it's trumped up, but because it was heartfelt.

And so when nine eleven happened and the world thought that the city was going to be over brokerage wise, nobody was buying a thing, and most of downtown moved out. We couldn't get into show apartments. I collicked everybody together three days later at the Pierre Hotel and people were crying. Uh. People were so upset, and I told them they're about to witness the biggest market they had ever seen, which

sound bizarre, but I believed it. I said everyone around the world sees New York City and it's bravery and its pain on their TV set every single night, and everybody around the world's gonna fall in love with New York. And so the deals you don't have now are going to come back by storm in six months and you're gonna have an entire international community wants the slice of New York. And that's exactly what happened. And then we all held hands in some godless America today at that moment.

Because I know it sounds hokey, it wasn't a show. It was intended for that moment to make people feel we were together. And people went out and believed they were going to make a killing, and they did. Within nine months after nine eleven, our sales I think increased roughly over where they were before nine eleven because the world came back by storm, and so to the city. I think people are always smarter than you think they are, but particularly with your family, you cannot lie or mislead.

You just have to really think what you really believe and share it. And I was apt to protect my people. They were they were everything to me. They were my family. They had to be uh not missed with so speaking you know. Yeah, the work life balance question comes up all the time. And how did you run a massive business that everyone knew all around the world and still raise a baby at night and the weekends? I mean, how did you? How did you do that? How do

you make that mental decision of where to put your time? Well, first of all, I don't think this ever, even without a baby. This, every anything is managing your time like that balance You just such a chop yourself. So many hours to this is so many hours for that. I had a practical approach when Tommy was born. I wasn't at work at seven thirty every day, which I couldn't wait to get to her. I'm surprised I didn't get

in before the doorman downstairs really on his shift. But I started going to work at night thirty was I was nursing Tommy and uh and I also wanted to hang out with him for a while. And then I was leaving the office at three o'clock to get the larger end of an evening with my child. And so how did I do it? I chopped my day, I had a shorter work day. Now could I have built the Corcoran Group as quickly as I did in those years if I had had a baby, absolutely not, because

something else happens when you have children. You get sibling rivalry that plays out in your heart, and that's a threat. You know, it's the thing, I should be at home, I should be at work. I should be at home, I should be at work, and that can be exhausting. And so I realized that sibling rival read played out in my heart to my top ages who wanted me now wanted something, and I wanted to be there on and my kid who was crying. Uh. I even built a huge office with a playpen with a nursery. I

got into all. I painted that as Sarian calm officers, but I brought Tommy in one day. I realized you can't be in both places. So I chopped up my day as our manage that until I sold a business. Of course, I want to fast forward a little bit in the time that we have left. Um. Uh, you sold, and that was your idea immediately to enjoy the rest of your life, all those crazy hours the agents. You know, if if I were to sell a company for sixty

six million dollars today, I don't know. Maybe I go to Greece My wife is from Greece, and she's always wanted to have at one point go to Greece, and so I feel like it would be hard for me, for our marriage, for me to on that day if I sold a company for a hundred million dollars to tell my wife. Yeah, but but I gotta still do stop. I think she might kill me. Well, I'll tell you something else. It wouldn't work, as you will know, you got to crease for a week or two. Big deal, Fine,

she'll be happy. What was your question? The question was you sold the company? The world changed, obviously, but then you kept at it. You kept working, right, You've you've got onto Shark Tank. Years later, you're investing in all these companies. When is enough enough for you? Or is it not? Ask anybody on any street corner whether it is such a thing as having too much fun? Yeah, and also no, I wanted more fun in life, all right.

I'm the lucky one that could constantly have fun. I don't go into any work that I don't enjoy a hundred and I don't dedicate myself to anything. I don't want to do a hundred and fifty percent job at And the reason for that is because I like to succeed. Maybe that's maybe a shade of insecurity, but I enjoy success, and more importantly, I can't wait to get to what other people would call work. I can't wait to see what the day brings. And I'm too curious see what's

around the corner. Imagine life without corners. Oh my god, I can't imagine. Yeah. So I don't even know if I answered your question, but you have? You did? You did? What do you love so much about being on Shark Tank? And you're what, eleven years into it later? I can take or leave it to some degree. What I love about Shark Tank is the opportunity to meet the entrepreneurs I meet on that show and to actually become part of their life and help them build a business and

help them become who they're dreaming about being. I think I'm very capable of making those dreams come true. I always feel like I'm on that show playing very good. Another thing, You're going to be rich, bing, You're going to be rich, And it's not just about rich, it's about success. And the more injured the entrepreneur is, the more insecure they are, the more apt I am to fall in love because they have something to prove. And I wrapped myself around those people like I wrapped my

neophytes at the corporate group and they became superstars. I'm just doing the same thing. I found another family, which is good because I like a family. What's next, Boil Right now, we're going to have a TV series on my life. I'm pretty excited about how these these series goes on enough seasons so that I die before it ends, so I don't even get to see the ending. Okay. And that's a reality show docuseries series. Yeah, well it's

called what's the halfway between comedy and drama? Traumay, traumay, traumay. I can't get that word, that kind of thing. Yeah, okay. And of course I'm in love with my podcast. Business unusual because it's another forum where I meet people who dial into the eight barber number, which is constant, tell me their business issues, where they're struggling, where they're stuck, and I get to use the gift that I've realized after all these years of business, I have best more

than my mouth. I give great advice. I know how to get people from a to be and get them on stuck and so I get to again have another phenomenal form where I help people and boy, oh boy, is it fun. And so my podcast is my sweet spot right now. Business Not to be busy, No, not because you are busy. I'm not so busy. Well, I'm pretty busy. Well I could be busy here, like if I don't sleep, but sure I'm eating sleep at night. Yeah,

I'm pretty busy, I guess. But that that is that taps into my great gift of being able to pinpoint people's personality. What would apply to the individual? My last question for you, because I know we want to wrap up, and I would I would not be happy with myself if I didn't ask this. You're starting a real estate business in New York City now by yourself, the weight on the world on your shoulders. What's the best advice

you give? One piece of advice you're talking about like your circumstances with your so many agents to take it from here there? Yeah, you know we we we're building again from the ground up in a very very different world than even when I started in the business in two thousand eight. You know, my legion when I got into it was men crashed and post ads on Craigslist meet renters, hopefully you can turn them into buyers. And it was Craigslist all day long. That was our thing.

There was no money for for ads, at least not for me. And now we're starting a brand new real estate company. We do a lot of other things. But on the brokerage side, what would your what would your advice be? Well for your specific circumstance, I would say the very important street you must cross right now is away from the dependence on you for sales. You're not going to be able to build an empire unless you walk to the other side of the street and learn

to sell through other people. It was hard for me. I was a powerhouse salesman when my business was young, when we had fourteen agents, only fourteen, and I was producing eight percent of the company income. I was a good salesman. I left it meet a faith and I decided I was not going to sell. You can't do both, and I started hiring people to self of me. And without that decision, I could have never built a powerhouse. Never your gift is marketing, your good looks and your

gift of gap. What you also have, which I think is your greatest gift, is you know how to motivate. Sure, and unless you make the time to work through other people and do nothing but motivate the crap at them, you won't be able to build what you envision for yourself. And that's a big call. How do you move out of something you do so well that generates money. But I'll tell you one thing. The minute I did, everybody else made up for it because they have faith in

them and they did it. They came through from me. Leap of faith. It's more than leap of faith. It's breast set of balls. Got it. Leap of faith with a brass set of balls jump across the street. Thank you so much, Barbara, thanks for coming on the pleasure. Really nice signing with you. I'm sure you'll be successful.

You already on. If you're to take action today. Based on Barbara Corkrand's entire blueprint for how she got to where she is, go to Big Money Energy dot com slash podcast to download an action plan that I put together for you, as well as the show notes. That's Big Money Energy dot com slash podcast. Find more podcasts like Big Money Energy on the I Heart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Big Money Energy is

hosted by me Ryan Sirhand. It's produced by Mike Coscarelli and Joe Loreesca and executive produced by Lindsay Hoffman.