From left: Richard Steinberg, Wendy Greenbaum, Linette Semino and Frederick Peters

Richard Steinberg, executive managing director with Warburg Realty, was presented with his firm’s top prize last night, based on his 2010 sales performance, during Warburg’s annual award ceremony. Wendy Greenbaum, also an executive managing director, took home second place for sales performance, while agent Linette Semino was named rookie of the year. But sales talent isn’t the only thing Warburg is celebrating this year — the firm was recently cast for the second season of HGTV’s realty reality show “Selling New York.” TRD [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

[more]

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: Dottie Herman of Elliman, Frederick Peters of Warburg, and Matt Daimler of Buyfolio.com

While it’s true that most brokers can’t read minds, with a VOW they can come pretty close.

Real estate pros say that VOWs, also known as “Virtual Office Web sites,” can give agents a backstage pass to their clients’ predilections. VOWs allow buyers to view an agent’s listings — and those belonging to other brokerages — all on the same Web page.

But VOWs present serious invasion of privacy issues and as a result can be a real turn-off to homebuyers, critics say.

VOWs can track your buying behaviors. For example, if a buyer tells a broker that she has a budget of $1.2 million, but the broker sees the buyer checking out $1.5 million listings on the company’s VOW, the broker could potentially push the buyer to make a larger purchase than she had talked about. [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]

The Real Estate Board of New York’s 114th Annual Banquet was the usual whirl of floor-length dresses, schmoozing and cameos by politicians like Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson (see slide show above of The Real Deal’s Lauren Elkies interviewing people at the REBNY event, and click here for a Webcast from the night). But for the first time, a woman presided over the event — new REBNY Chairman Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the tri-state region of CB Richard Ellis, swathed in a sparkling blue gown. Her presence at the microphone, however, didn’t do much to quiet the boisterous crowd, which was just as loud as usual despite the fact that there were slightly fewer attendees this year than last — 2,000 versus 2,300 last year — according to REBNY President Steven Spinola. The crowd’s smaller size didn’t do much to dampen the markedly higher spirits that set this year’s event apart from last year’s. “Last year, this was like a funeral,” said Jeffrey Levine, principal of Douglaston Development, who attended the banquet with his son Benjamin. “We were licking our wounds from the collapse of Lehman. There’s no question everyone tonight is in a much better frame of mind.” [more]