Barbara Corcoran: the puppy sale that sold 88 apartments nobody wanted in under 3 hours
Her company was close to going under. She had 88 apartments with no kitchens and creepy lobbies that every broker in New York had passed on. She remembered a puppy sale her mother took her to as a child, ran the same play, and made about $1 million in one morning. Here is exactly what she did, and how to run the same sale on your own product.
The puppy sale
Barbara Corcoran grew up one of ten kids in Edgewater, New Jersey. Next door to her grandfather's place lived a farmer who bred Jack Russell terriers. One day her mother took her along to one of his puppy sales.
The farmer had 8 or 9 puppies. Outside, there was a line of about 30 cars, full of what her mother called "fancy city people" up from New York. "There was so much fighting in the line when the last puppy was taken," Corcoran remembered, "because there weren't enough puppies to give everybody a puppy."
The farmer did this on purpose. He always booked more buyers than he had puppies.
The problem
Years later Corcoran was running a Manhattan real estate firm with about 90 agents, and it was struggling. In one bad stretch she could not cover her overhead and took a side job as a messenger. In her own words, she was "on the brink of going out of business."
Then a developer, Bernie Mendik, and an insurance company came to her with 88 apartments they could not sell. They had already been to every broker in town. They did not want a public auction because it would embarrass them. The units were, in her words, "the losers in the marketplace": "They didn't have kitchens, high floors, low floors, back apartments, creepy lobbies, they had everything wrong."
She told them there was no way to sell them. Mendik answered: "You're a smart girl, you'll figure it out."
The plan
She went home and thought about the farmer. Then she copied him exactly.
1. Every apartment got the same price
"So I priced the 88 apartments exactly alike. Different floors, different locations, views, no views, kitchens, didn't have a kitchen, had a back wall, whatever. Equalize them like the puppies."
2. One day only, first come, first served
Nobody could reserve a unit or come back next week. The sale happened on one morning, and whoever got there first chose first.
3. Fewer buyers allowed in than you would think
She told brokers: "Bring only your best customer, because there's not enough to go around."
4. No advertising
Word of mouth only. "A secret sale with no advertising to support it."
5. Remove the reason to wait
Buyers were offered financing on the spot, so the mortgage was not a reason to go home and think about it.
Sale day
The sales office on the Upper East Side was due to open around 8 a.m. Corcoran got there at 6:30. About 150 people were already waiting in line for 88 apartments.
"I said go, I gave them the sheets, the addresses. They ran, husbands, wives, single people ran."
Every unit sold in under three hours, including the worst one. "Even the guy who got the loser, the really disgusting apartment with the same price as everybody else, he was happy because he saw how many people were waiting behind him and couldn't get anything."
The numbers
| Figure | Number |
|---|---|
| Apartments | 88, all at one price |
| Average sale price | About $64,000 |
| People waiting at opening | About 150 (she has also said 180) |
| Time to sell out | Under 3 hours |
| Her commission | About $1 million to $1.2 million |
| What she did with it | Opened two new offices |
| Advertising spend | None, word of mouth only |
| Her company, about 10 years later | Sold for $66 million |
Why it worked
Same price removed the reason to compare
When everything costs the same, nobody stands there working out which unit is the best deal. The question changes from "which one?" to "will I get one?"
Too many buyers made everyone decide fast
150 people for 88 units meant some would leave with nothing. Everyone could see that, so nobody waited.
The crowd was the proof
A buyer did not have to trust the apartment. They could trust the line behind them.
One morning killed "let me think about it"
There was no later. The only choice was now or never.
Run your own Puppy Pull: step by step
1. Pick what you will sell all at once.
Do this: choose a fixed number of things: spots in a class, units of a product, client slots, appointments. Write the number down. It must be smaller than the number of people you can get interested.
2. Give everything one price.
Do this: drop tiers and options. One price for every unit or spot, so people decide on "yes or no", not "which one".
3. Set one opening time, and only one.
Do this: pick a date and hour when sales open. No early access, no holds, no "I'll buy next week."
4. Invite more people than you have spots, privately.
Do this: build a list at least 1.5 to 2 times bigger than what you are selling, by direct message, email or word of mouth. Tell them plainly there are not enough for everyone.
5. Make the demand visible.
Do this: show people how many others are waiting: a waitlist count, a live room, a line. The crowd is your best salesperson.
6. Remove the last reason to wait.
Do this: answer the obvious objection before opening day: payment plans, a guarantee, everything they need to say yes on the spot.
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Sources
- BiggerPockets Real Estate podcast, interview with Barbara Corcoran (full transcript)
- CNBC, "Barbara Corcoran says she made $1 million in a day selling apartments nobody wanted", February 26, 2023
- Business Insider, "Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran once made $1.2 million offloading 88 'dumpy' apartments in under 3 hours by treating them like puppies for sale"
- Barbara Corcoran, Facebook post on #BusinessUnusual: "88 apartments that nobody wanted to buy when I was on the brink of going out of business"
- Barbara Corcoran, "Use What You've Got, and Other Business Lessons I Learned from My Mom" (2003)
