Annette Rogers looks back on 40 years in the real estate world

Annette Rogers’ start in real estate was somewhat by chance.

Rogers was vacationing on Longboat Key and befriended one of the tennis pros at the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort. Rogers isn’t one to sit still, even on vacation, so she began working in the pro shop. That’s when the tennis pro mentioned his mother needed help at Coldwell Banker.

Rogers helped and was hooked.

Forty years later, Rogers, who will turn 90 Sept. 1, is still going strong and leaving a mark. In 2002, she sold $63 million of property.

 Most recently, she received the Realtor Emeritus certificate, which is awarded to Realtors with four decades of service.

Today, Rogers is still a Realtor, now with Sotheby’s International Realty, though she slowed in the past four years to care for her husband, who died in 2014.

Before becoming a Realtor, Rogers was an art enamelist and batik artist, a nurse on-and-off for four years and ran a hotel in Jamaica. She said her careers in those industries taught her skills that proved useful in real estate.

“You have to listen to what people are telling you and what they want and need and how much they feel comfortable spending, whether they should rent or buy, and send them to the right people to help them find the right place,” Rogers said. 

“Her work ethic is unbelievable. The energy she puts into her work and the loyalty you give your clients, I’ve never seen anyone like that before.”

Rogers has sold real estate from Anna Maria Island to Englewood and all points in between.

“There are all sorts of people, and you have to enjoy all sorts of people and adjust yourself and your own thinking to the people who you’re working with,” Rogers said.

Outside of the real estate world, Rogers became a fixture in the community. She was one of the first three recipients of Girls Inc.’s “She Knows Where She’s Going” award.

Originally from Connecticut, Rogers was drawn to the Sarasota area because of the beaches and the arts. Throughout her time here, she has been a donor or involved with the Sarasota Ballet, Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota Opera, the Van Wezel Foundation and the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County.

She also picked up a second hobby playing matchmaker.

“I’ve been responsible for several marriages, so I really should have been a marriage counselor,” she said.

In one instance, a decorator called Rogers and said she just moved to town and wanted to meet people. Rogers told her she knew a lot of women in town she could befriend, but the woman stopped her to explain. “No,’’ she said. “Men.”

Rogers had a client whose wife had recently died, and the wife had told Rogers prior to her death that her husband shouldn’t be alone because he was too wonderful. The decorator told Rogers she wanted to meet this wonderful man, so over breakfast one day, Rogers introduced them by phone and that night, the decorator and the man had dinner.

“And they never stopped having dinner,” Rogers said.

It’s this knack for people and the knowledge of the culture of Sarasota that Michelle Burke-Phillips said makes Rogers so well-known. That, and her drive.

“Her work ethic is unbelievable,” said Burke-Phillips, Rogers’ former broker manager of Premier Sotheby’s at the Plaza Office. “The energy she puts into her work and the loyalty you give your clients, I’ve never seen anyone like that before.”

That energy is something that Rogers said new Realtors need.

“They have to have a lot of energy, and they have to be dedicated,” Rogers said. “And they really can’t have any other job at the time. [They need] dedication to their job and to be available any time people want to see other properties.”

Rogers recounted a time when she showed the same couple homes on the north end of Longboat Key and Englewood and she drove back and forth with them until they made a decision.

To Rogers, the luxury market, in which she specializes, isn’t any different from other real estate markets.

“People want what they want and what they can afford,” she said. “You don’t just push them above what they can afford and sometimes, people shouldn’t be buying. You have to tell them, ‘Let’s wait awhile.’”

Burke-Phillips said Rogers is so well-known that going out with her means running into admirers.

“Every time I go out with Annette, whether it’s at the Longboat Key Club or Saks, someone will always come up and say, ‘You’re Annette Rogers aren’t you? You sold my parents or you sold me … ’” Burke-Phillips said. “She has this aura of celebrity because people remember her, and I think it’s because she did such good work. She’d sell to parents and then [their] children, so I think that’s a legacy.”

Michael Saunders, CEO of Michael Saunders & Co., calls Rogers a master of the work. 

“Over the course of her exceptional real estate career, Annette Rogers has certainly made her mark on the industry through her persistence, dedication, driving focus and tenacity,” Saunders said in an email. “While at Michael Saunders & Co., she achieved a noteworthy and benchmark year in 2002 with a sales volume in excess of $63 million. Known for her stylish image and personal attention to detail, she works her magic with buyers and sellers — truly a master at her art.”  

Deborah Landau met Rogers 28 years ago when Rogers sold her apartment to her on Longboat Key. Landau, like Burke-Phillips, said her work ethic and loyalty are what makes Rogers special. Also, her fashion sense. Both women called Rogers a style icon.

“I think that she is true to herself, and she is generous and good-hearted, and she cares about the people. She cares about people on every end,” Landau said.

Asked if she’s retiring, Rogers said that’s a good question. She’s looking at this birthday as a chance to find a new adventure.

“Ninety means a new passion and a new way of life, such as a word that makes you have to do something else, maybe. Give more or enjoy more,” Rogers said.