From left: REBNY President Steven Spinola, Rep. Anthony Weiner, Warburg President Frederick Peters, Elaine Mayers of Citi Habitats and Stacey Max of Bellmarc Realty

Tuesday’s approval of an amendment to a proposed Federal Housing Finance Agency ruling dealing with flip taxes could keep lenders from abandoning the New York City residential market in the future, according to industry experts.

The amendment pared down an earlier FHFA provision, announced in fall 2010, which would have barred government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from lending in all multi-family buildings in which a flip tax is written into the contract. In its original form, the proposal could have adversely affected roughly 50 percent of the New York City residential stock, according to Real Estate Board of New York President Steven Spinola.

The amendment was passed as part of a larger proposal that is still winding its way through the approval process. [more]

From left: Warburg brokers Leslie Rosenthal, Deborah Lupard, Richard Steinberg and firm president Frederick Peters

From the December issue: If the casting for season two of HGTV’s “Selling New York” is to be
believed, experienced actors, singers and models have an inside edge on
the popular real estate-themed reality show.
Producers went on the hunt for more brokers in the spring, choosing,
so far, three Warburg Realty brokers (along with company president
Frederick Peters) to join colleagues from Core and Gumley Haft Kleier.
During her audition, Warburg broker Leslie Rosenthal broke into an impromptu “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
“The performance aspect definitely intrigued them,” said Rosenthal,
who was an actor and singer before she started selling homes. “They
wanted people who are natural, who wouldn’t get intimidated by the
process, and who can do the takes, too.” [more]

Around 1,400 real estate professionals packed Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall last Wednesday for The Real Deal’s 6th Annual Forum. The topic? “The Road to Recovery.” Some of the industry’s most notable figures were on hand to talk to The Real Deal about the best buying opportunities, the foreclosure freeze and overall market conditions outside Lincoln Center. This is the first in a three-part video series related to the forum, which opened with a Q & A with Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal and was followed by a panel discussion featuring some of the industry’s biggest players. TRD

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Darcy Stacom, a vice chairperson with CB Richard Ellis and a long-time renter, has picked up a new, $4.78 million pad, according to the Observer. The four-bedroom apartment at 447 East 57th Street between First Avenue and Sutton Place had an original asking price of approximately $5 million. Frederick Peters, president of Warburg Realty, and Harriet Kaufman, an associate broker with Warburg, marketed the listing. Stacom is perhaps best known for setting records when she represented MetLife in the $5.4 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in 2006. [NYO]

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Agent’s conviction shows how state, industry deal with criminal cases

Courtney Wall; the TREGNY office where he was arrested

From the August issue: Agent Courtney Wall was slated to meet a client to finalize a rental deal on the morning of Aug. 29, 2005, when his life changed forever. “There’s been a little bit of a problem,” Wall told the client over the phone when city detectives showed up to arrest him. “I’m going to have to send someone else.” Wall, now 34, had a few minutes to gather his things, and then he was off to jail. The charge: jumping bail on earlier felony burglary charges. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison. [more]

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Elliman’s Ilan Bracha offers World Cup tickets as an agent incentive while other brokers head to China, Ecuador

Some of the summer’s traveling real estaters, from left: Lance Nguyen, Fred Peters and Max Dobens

Some brokers are taking advantage of the sticky-hot days of July by leaving town. And in one case, this year’s World Cu [more]

Elliman’s Ilan Bracha offers World Cup tickets as an agent incentive while other brokers head to China, Ecuador

Some of the summer’s traveling real estaters, from left: Lance Nguyen, Fred Peters and Max Dobens

Some brokers are taking advantage of the sticky-hot days of July by leaving town. And in one case, this year’s World Cu [more]

From left: Richard Grossman, Fred Peters, and Douglas Heddings

At Manhattan’s luxury buildings, doormen don’t just hold the doors — they hold the keys.

Which is why an impending strike, set to begin at midnight, could turn a lot of desirable listings into pumpkins, according to industry insiders. Without doormen, many apartments may be off limits.

So far, ongoing contract negotiations haven’t panned out between the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union, which represents around 30,000 building service workers, and the building owners’ Realty Advisory Board.

This has some in the industry nervous, according to Douglas Heddings, founder of Heddings Property Group, an affiliate of Charles Rutenberg Realty. Heddings said that the threat of a possible strike has emboldened many buyers to get in while they can.

“We have buyers now who are saying ‘I want to get in today,’ because they’re worried about having access tomorrow,” Heddings said. “Some buildings are prohibiting showings during the strike.” [more]

Stephen Kotler of Prudential Douglas Elliman

Prudential Douglas Elliman gave The Real Deal an update on its new Web site, which will include VOW capabilities and track listings’ price changes. Elliman has spent a year and more than $1 million developing the new Web platform, which is slated to launch the first week of April, according to Stephen Kotler, an executive vice president at the company. The redesigned site will include a virtual office Web site, or VOW, that allows customers to see not only Elliman’s listings, but all of the properties for sale in the markets where Elliman has offices: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Hamptons, and Long Island. Kotler, who is overseeing the launch of the new site, said the fact that Elliman’s VOW capabilities extend to markets outside New York City will set it apart from other brokerage Web sites. “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” TRD gets dirt on Elliman’s new $1M Web site” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

The Real Deal had a contingent of reporters and editors at the New York Hilton for the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual banquet and awards ceremony (click here to see an article on the event). The Real Deal’s Web editor Lauren Elkies interviewed a slew of real estate bigwigs from Bill Rudin of Rudin Management — who said Jonathan Mechanic of Fried, Frank (who The Real Deal also spoke to) is “the real deal” — to Bruce Mosler of Cushman & Wakefield — who said he loves The Real Deal, to Frederick Peters of Warburg Realty — who said “Virtual Office Web sites,” or VOWS, “will ultimately be insignificant.” [more]