From left: Barak Realty founder Barak Dunayer and new head of rentals Brian DusseauBarak Realty has officially launched its rental division, founder Barak Dunayer told The Real Deal.

Following a four month search, Dunayer hired Brian Dusseau two weeks ago to head the new rental division. Dusseau had been at Bond New York for the past five months after spending three months at Keller Williams NYC (note: correction appended). Dunayer also brought on Tamara Sanchez, who most recently served a short stint at now-defunct BP Vance Real Estate and was at Core before that, as the firm’s rental listings director earlier this month. Additionally four agents have joined the firm to focus primarily on rental listings. [more]

Barak Dunayer, left, dons a pilot’s cap for a special presentation
today; Jeffrey Tanenbaum was one of many Barak agents who received a
check.

Small real estate firms in the city face a particular challenge: often, they invest time and money in training new agents, only to later lose them to bigger firms.

Barak Dunayer, head of the 40-agent Manhattan residential brokerage Barak Realty, is testing out a new way of combating this problem.

In an elaborate, aviation-themed presentation today at his Upper West Side office at 237 West 72nd Street, Dunayer explained that his agents will now receive cash bonuses for productivity and other, more subjective qualities, such as loyalty and customer service. [more]

As the economy has shaken up the real estate industry, far more firms have closed offices than opened them. But another firm has added an office to the “open” column: Barak Realty, which signed a lease yesterday for a storefront space at 1458 Third Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd streets, Barak Dunayer, the firm’s president, said. The company needs to build out the 700-square-foot space and plans to open the office in November, Dunayer said. Sixteen or 20 agents, both new hires and a few “anchors” from the firm’s 237 West 72nd Street office, will work out of the new space, he said. [more]