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]

Co-op boards are rejecting buyers with increasing frequency, and according to New York Magazine that may have something to do with the bargain prices on apartments during the downturn.

Though there’s no formal tracker of board rejections, there were 53 broken co-op contracts in September, 70 percent more than in August and the highest monthly total this year, Streeteasy.com data shows. In fact, there have been “remarkable” year-over-year increases according to New York Magazine. On the other hand, 19 condominium contracts were broken in September.
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After a tumultuous two years, Barak Realty, the residential brokerage founded by Barak Dunayer in 2000, is turning its focus more to rental listings, Real Estate Weekly reported.

In 2009, the firm had as many as 37 agents, but as the market slowed, and Dunayer decided to add on to his managing responsibilities by returning to selling properties, some agents began defecting. Dunayer said he moved from his private office on to the sales floor to show that, despite his agents’ complaints, properties could still sell. However, some agents felt as though he was trumpeting his own listings at their expense, Real Estate Weekly said. The article quotes an unidentified source who was turned off by Dunayer’s aggressive style…. [more]

From left: Sotheby’s Kathy Korte, Peter Ashe founder Asher Alcobi, CB Richard Ellis’ David Pogue, Related Companies’ Charlotte Matthews and Barak Realty founder Barak Dunayer

Compiled by Lauren Elkies

In honor of Earth Day, The Real Deal checked in with some New York City residential and commercial real estate companies — from Sotheby’s International to CB Richard Ellis to Related Companies — to find out about their latest green initiatives. While a number of companies said their clients don’t seem to care about their green efforts, the firms do. Click here to see what the real estate companies said about their latest green initiatives, their most interesting sustainability efforts and their plans for Earth Day…. [more]

From left: Shaun Osher, Sofia Falleroni, Barak Dunayer, Marc Lewis, Gary Malin and Edward Longley

The Manhattan residential real estate market is doing fairly well, according to third-quarter reports released today by several of the city’s major residential firms, but a total housing recovery is unlikely soon as recent accounts indicate that there are hiring freezes and layoffs at Wall Street financial institutions like Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse Group AG. “Since the financial services sector is one of New York City’s key economic engines and if we see layoffs and the hiring freezes persist, you could see fewer property sale and rental transactions in the first half of 2011,” said appraiser Jonathan Miller…. [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]

From left: David Arena, Elizabeth Stribling, David Schlamm and Barak Dunayer

In the wake of the financial crisis that ripped through the country, real estate pros did their best to keep their heads above water in 2009. As 2010 commences, The Real Deal asked a number of New Yorkers hailing from different parts of the real estate industry why they are glad 2009 is over. Click here to see what they said is their top reason. TRD

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Three months after signing the lease, Barak Dunayer, president of Barak Realty, has opened his second sales office. In a climate of uncertainty, Dunayer said the time was right to open the Upper East Side location. “Recessions are terrible things to waste,” he said. “And when the market goes down you have a lot of opportunities to expand, if one can afford it.” Besides, “Everything is quicker and negotiable today — the rent, the terms, branding, he said. The company is paying $140 per square foot to lease the roughly 700-square-foot space on the ground level at 1458 Third Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd streets. Dunayer’s wife, Yael, who runs the company with him, designed the space…. [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]

From left: Hall Willkie, Diane Ramirez, Dottie Herman and Barak Dunayer

New York City real estate is headed for momentous changes, for better or worse, industry leaders say. “We’re not going to recognize our industry when we’re through these
next few years — in a good way,” said Hall Willkie, president of Brown
Harris Stevens, speaking on a panel discussion last night as part of
REBNY’s 2009 Real Estate Master Series. Other panelists included Diane Ramirez, president of BHS sister company
Halstead Property; Dottie Herman, president and CEO of Prudential
Douglas Elliman; and Barak Dunayer, president of Barak Realty. Jeffrey
Appel, senior vice president and director of new development financing
at Preferred Empire Mortgage Company, moderated the discussion.
… [more]