Fame & Fortune: Realty diva Barbara Corcoran 'Jersey girl' trumped Trump with street smarts
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Bankrate: You had a natural knack for building a brand and elevating your profile. The now-famous one-day sale was your idea, right?

Corcoran: It was 1984, three years into the recession, and virtually no one was buying anything -- and why would they when they could get it cheaper the next day? That's when I was deep in debt, and I knew enough about money that I owed about $300,000 and that it couldn't go on forever. After I had decided to throw in the towel, I had that one last idea and thank God, it saved the business for sure. I made over a million dollars in about three hours and got paid within 30 days, that's the way I loaded the gun. But I took the million dollars and opened another office. That was just fortuitous because one week later the market started turning around for the better. It had nothing to do with the sale, it was just lucky timing.

Bankrate: Perhaps the premiere brand builder in New York was Donald Trump. You actually sued The Donald and won. How did that come about?

Corcoran: I was sued by him -- in fact, I'm in a lawsuit with him right now to get the balance of the commission on the same transaction -- and that was very valuable to me. It was the first lawsuit I ever had in my life, which is pretty amazing. I totally believe the customer is right -- even if they're ripping us off, they're right -- but with Donald, it would have been too big a rip-off for me to lay low on because it involved a couple million dollars in commission. It was the largest deal ever made in Manhattan. I guess this little residential broker making the largest commercial deal in history deserved a commission, but Donald was the kind of man who liked to pay his bills only when he had to, you know? So we sued and we won, thank God.

Bankrate: Did you admire him?

Corcoran: Oh, I greatly admired Mr. Trump and still do. He built his own brand, but in the process he built the brand called New York City. After he got finished with his marketing campaign on Trump Tower, he single-handedly and almost overnight changed the image of New York as a great place to live. I so much admired him for that because nobody else would have had the chutzpah and flash to make those claims and then make the claims come true. What I learned from him that I use in my own business again and again and again is: Paint the image and the reality will find it. I also respected him as a tough businessman, and even though the last thing I wanted to do was be involved in a lawsuit, it was a growing curve for me. I kept thinking he's a bully. He's suing us when he owes us money? What was great about that was, I was forced to go out of my comfort zone and interview all of the top attorneys and hire one of them because I knew I needed a bully to beat a bully. I think the lawsuit cost $500,000. Fortunately, and I didn't know it until afterward, my insurance covered lawsuits. It was such a nice surprise.