Edward Herson, senior vice president at Halstead Property, hosted a spring “Halstead Private Brokerage Event” last night, offering potential buyers and sellers an opportunity to converse with real estate professionals (see photos above). The attendees had an opportunity to interact with Michael Vargas, co-founder of Vanderbilt Appraisal Company, banker Tom Hennessey and attorney Richard Tesler. The event was part on an ongoing informational series, started two years ago by Herson. “It’s about building my brand under the Halstead name,” he said. TRD

15 Central Park West and (from top) Dolly Lenz, Howard Margolis and Michele Kleier

What does “trophy” really mean in New York real estate these days? The New York Times takes another look at the semantics of the market’s upper-upper-echelon this week, polling a number of the top brokers and appraisers in the city and not coming up with much of a consensus. Minimum “trophy” price tags ranged from $10 million to $45 million, with uptown trophy homes drawing higher cutoff prices than downtown ones. Definitions of “trophy” homes included: “my neighbors are famous;” “an apartment in 15 Central Park West;” and “I own what you want.” [more]

Andrew Fautley

From the April issue: Andrew Fautley, a veteran New York City appraiser, has been cracking skulls for years. No, he doesn’t moonlight for the mafia; he takes out his aggression on the rugby field. And now he’s taking his hobby, which was catapulted to the forefront of the American consciousness with the blockbuster movie “Invictus” last year, to the world stage. Indeed, with the recent Olympic Committee decision to bring on rugby as an official sport of the games (in exhibition in 2012 and officially in 2016), Fautley, 47, is trading in his calculator for his rugby jersey. The cofounder of the Vanderbilt Appraisal Company has left his firm and the world of real estate in New York City, upstate and New Jersey indefinitely to manage and help coach the U.S. men’s Olympic squad. [more]

From left: Michael Vargas, a principal with Vanderbilt Appraisal Company, Kathryn Higgins, an associate broker with DJK Residential, and Melissa Cohn, president of Manhattan Mortgage

Late last month, Rep. Gary Miller offered an amendment to the House
Financial Services Committee’s “Consumer Financial Protection Act of
2009.” Miller’s amendment — which passed the committee but has yet to
be voted on by the House — stipulated that the Home Valuation Code of
Conduct would ultimately be sunsetted. According to one of the California congressman’s aides, Miller’s
amendment to the House Financial Services Committee’s act will likely
be bundled into a larger financial regulatory reform bill, and
Democrats hope to bring the bill to a vote in Congress sometime next
month. For many New York City-based appraisers and brokers, the end of HVCC cannot come quickly enough. HVCC, which went into effect May 1, requires that a third party with no
stake in a sale select appraisers. The code was designed to promote
appraiser independence and stop appraisers from inflating the value of
a property when it comes to mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac. Loan officers, mortgage brokers and agents are not allowed to
select appraisers under HVCC. “I think there are some good elements in the code,” Michael Vargas, a
principal with Vanderbilt Appraisal Company, said. “What was important
to get out there is that applying undue influence on an appraiser is
inappropriate. Promoting appraiser independence is very important.” [more]