Quotes By Barbara Corcoran

Refinancing your mortgage usually makes sense if you can lower your interest rate by at least two points. But the most important question to ask yourself is, how long will it take you to break even?

I got along with people very well at every job I had, people liked me and I liked them and I loved being on my feet.

I have a theory and I really believe it. I think your worst weakness can become your greatest single strength.

I've been in real estate for my whole life, I've been trying to sharpshoot the market with my investments, I'm never right. All you need to do is get near the bottom. That's good enough.

I did everything in my power to give my brokers brand identity and clout in the market. I saw my job as parent to build them up and if I took care of them, then they would take care of their customer.

You may not like the idea of putting money into a home when you're moving out. But it's demanded by the market. You need to show it off. You don't have to rip out the kitchen and bathroom. But maybe replace the tiles or the countertops. Get professional advice.

Especially if you're over 40, shortening the term of your loan to pay it off sooner could make you mortgage-free in retirement.

I had probably seven agents by the time I became a legitimate real estate broker.

I became a larger than life figure for one reason only. When you're quoted in the 'Wall Street Journal,' the 'New York Times,' constantly as the expert in the business people assume you're a lot bigger than you are. And then I had to run like hell to catch up with my own image.

I gave up years ago on the concept that you could actually have balance in your life, I think it's a phantom chase.

Whatever you got you have to accentuate. I ran my female card up and down the ladder my whole career, because I was in a man's world. It was worked by women but owned by men. I was the only female owner in my field at that time.

Most great entrepreneurs I know are nothing like the other kids. They're almost like tangent lines - those lines that seem to go nowhere. Nothing connects them, until they get out in the real world. Then they connect just fine.

My greatest strength as a child, I realize now, was my imagination. While every other kid was reading and writing, I had seven whole hours a day to practice my imagination. When do you get that space in your life, ever?

I built the business exactly the way my mother built and ran her family. I wanted a replication of the big, happy family I grew up in. I wanted happy people having fun.

I was well motivated. What I wanted to do was work for myself. I had twenty two jobs before I started my business at the age of twenty three and I didn't want one more boss telling me what to do. So I was motivated simply because I didn't want a boss.

If a house is priced appropriately, make a bid 10 percent below that amount.

It's rumored that doing well in real estate is to be able to close a deal. I did not find that to be the case for myself, I was probably the worst closer out there and I didn't find that was true of my top super stars either.

When you're a big money earner and your husband isn't, it makes you question how feminine you are. I felt I was less feminine than if I was a supporting wife, or a second fiddle, or 'Mrs. Higgins.'

Don't you dare underestimate the power of your own instinct.

I sat down and collected all of our eleven sales for the past six months and I added them all together and divided by eleven. I then took that average and presented it as the average price for a Manhattan apartment. The media ate it up.

My husband had a very strong identity and was successful in his life. Thank God for that. There's no way I can control him. I wouldn't stay married to him if I felt I could. I can readily take my business personality into the home. But he forces me to be a partner rather than the boss.

No loan is free. The costs are in your loan somewhere, maybe rolled into the amount to be refinanced or even coming at a higher interest rate.

In business, you're the Chief Salesman. Create a sense of demand, rather than waiting to have demand.

In New York City, the meek don't inherit the earth. The big mouth does.

People stayed with me and worked extra hard for me because I could see the potential in them - I'm not so sure they could see the potential in me.

I was a hot-dog stand lady, I was an orphan housemother, I was a waitress 3 or 4 times. All of those jobs did not have good bosses. They basically told you what to do, when to do and when to hop. And I just didn't like that very much.

Every single thing I learned about marketing and building my business, I learned from my mom, and she had never been in the workforce. She just had great practical sense.

A funny thing happens in real estate. When it comes back, it comes back up like gangbusters.

Refinancing doesn't reduce your debt, it just restructures it, so be clear about what you want to achieve with a refi.

The joy is in the getting there. The beginning years of starting your business, the camaraderie when you're in the pit together, are the best years of your life. So rather than being so focused on when you get big and powerful, if you can just get the juice out of that... don't miss it.