Douglas Elliman Real Estate announced that two of the leading real estate teams in Manhattan are merging.
Barak Dunayer, one of Halstead’s top-producing agents, has partnered with the award-winning Jacky Teplitzky Team at Douglas Elliman Real Estate, along with this wife, Yael Dunayer, and team member, John Machamer.
Barak Dunayer started his real estate career in 1999 out of his Upper West Side studio apartment and subsequently built his successful agency, BARAK Realty, into one of Manhattan’s premier boutique firms, including two Manhattan offices, over 40 sales associates, 400 transactions per year and over $500,000,000 in volume. In 2012, his company was acquired by Halstead Real Estate where, for nearly seven years, his sales team was consistently ranked among the firm’s top producers.
Dunayer served as an adjunct professor of real estate at New York University, has presented at the New York Real Estate Institute, Ivy Real Estate School, Baruch College Newman Institute, Jewish Community Center of Manhattan, National Realty Club, the Real Estate Academy and various REBNY panels.
Born and raised in Israel, he grew up pursuing his first lifelong goal of becoming a world-class trumpet player. As a young musician, he won numerous musical competitions, played principal trumpet in some of Israel’s prominent youth orchestras and has appeared several times as a soloist with both the Haifa Symphony and the Israeli Philharmonic.
 After graduating high school and serving in the Israeli Army (Lead Trumpet at the Israeli Army Band) he received a full scholarship to study at The Juilliard School and landed in New York. An avid runner and triathlete, he has successfully completed six Ironman 70.3 races, three Olympic distance triathlons, and two marathons.
Together, The Jacky Teplitzky Team will now be comprised of eight agents total. Their services will continue to cater to the New York City and Miami market place, and the new members will be based out of the team’s existing office at 575 Madison Avenue.
Houlihan Lawrence announced that Regan Andrews has joined its Brewster brokerage.
Andrews, who has been in the real estate business for seven years, was most recently with Berkshire Hathaway Hudson Valley Properties in Pawling, where she sold more than $7.5 million in 2018.
A 40-year resident of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, Andrews has renovated and built homes in Pawling. She has real estate licenses in New York and Connecticut and is a member of the National Association of Realtors, New York State Association of Realtors Westchester, Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, Mid-Hudson Multiple Listing Service, Connecticut Realtor Association and Greater Fairfield Multiple Listing Service.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Fordham University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.
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Houlihan Lawrence has announced the addition of ten new agents to its White Plains office:
Vincent Caiola is a former paramedic and 9/11 first responder. He left that field in 2014 to become an international flight attendant and later entered real estate. He joins from Keller Williams Realty.
Susan Cermele joins Houlihan Lawrence with 18 years of experience in the sales industry, working most recently as an agent with Keller Williams Realty and in financial services as a mortgage banker and licensed financial services salesperson.
After several years in real estate, Paul DiMarco moves to Houlihan Lawrence from Keller Williams Realty. Before that, he owned his own company for 17 years. DiMarco holds a degree in architecture from the New York Institute of Technology.
Tulay Erdem joins Houlihan Lawrence having previously been with Post Road Realty in Mamaroneck. A native of Turkey, Erdem grew up in Switzerland and moved to Northern California in 2006, where she worked in property management for several years. Erdem is fluent in Kurdish, Turkish, German and French.
Caroline A. Kaplan recently moved back to New York from Florida. Prior to entering the business, she worked in the concierge healthcare industry and owned and operated an outdoor boot camp in greater Tampa.
Teresa Keys brings 16 years of real estate experience to Houlihan Lawrence, joining the firm from YCL Real Estate Consulting. She enjoyed a prior career as a public school teacher in Yonkers.
Jorge Mejia held managerial positions in banking as well as working as a financial coach before entering the real estate field. He is a native of Peru.
Jenifer Moore, who is part of the Gino Bello sales team at Houlihan Lawrence, was most recently at Keller Williams Realty. She specializes in the northern Westchester and Dutchess markets.
Emanuela Szabados comes to Houlihan Lawrence from Keller Williams Realty. Szabados is a member of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, New York State Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. She is fluent in Romanian.
Gary Voorhees has a broad knowledge of the real estate markets in Westchester and Putnam counties. He was most recently with Keller Williams Realty.
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Douglas Elliman has welcomed Paul Orenstein to its East Hampton office.
Previously the owner of Hampton Briggs Antiques in Bridgehampton for the past 20 years, he has had an illustrious career in design and décor.
Orenstein’s work has been featured at the Hamptons Designer Showhouse, Traditional Home and Kips Bay Showhouse.
He holds a Masters Degree in Social Work from Adelphi University and is former board member of the New York University National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction. He is also an advocate for LBGTQ youth and has performed clarinet on stage at Carnegie Hall.
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Douglas Elliman has welcomed Clare Ambrose to its Sag Harbor office.
And Irish native and Sag Harbor resident, Ambrose helped build a successfull catering company alongside her husband at Events by Peter Ambrose and previously worked as Club Shop Manager at Maidstone Golf Club.
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Douglas Elliman has welcomed Shawn Burns to its Hampton Bays office.
Specializing in investment properties, the former investment banker plans to bring his expert financial industry insight into the world of real estate.
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Warburg Realty announced that Christopher Totaro has joined the company.
As an investor and broker, Totaro brings with him almost two decades of experience in buying, selling, designing and building in New York City and East Hampton.
He will join the company’s downtown office in TriBeCa, headed by Sales Manager Brennan Zahler.
A native to Southern California, Totaro relocated to the mountains of Colorado for 15 years where he raced bicycle, attended university and enjoyed success as an artist and entrepreneur.
He moved to New York City in 2002, where he built his construction business while continuing to work and show his art in NYC, Tokyo and Shanghai.
Previously affiliated with Halstead Property, he is a REBNY Certified Negotiations Expert.
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Douglas Elliman Real Estate has welcomed Mary Anne Fusco back to the firm.
The seasoned broker has handled over $900 million in sales throughout her 20-year career.
Fusco brings with her a roster of residential listings throughout New York City and will be based out of the firm’s Upper West Side office, at 1995 Broadway.
Before rejoining Douglas Elliman, Fusco was most recently at Warburg Realty. Prior to that, she worked with Town Residential and Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy. She was an executive vice president at Douglas Elliman before joining Town in 2014. Previously, she owned her own Atlanta-based construction company.
Fusco is a member of numerous professional organizations including the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and was most recently honored as a Woman of Valor by the Capuchin Food Pantries for the work she has done for the less fortunate in New York City.
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RE/MAX Holdings announced the promotions of Josh Bolgren to Senior Vice President, Business Growth; Brett Ritchie to Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer; and Roy E. Schwalm, III, to Senior Vice President, Finance and Strategy.
Josh Bolgren was promoted from his previous role of RE/MAX Region Executive Vice President, where he provided strategic support and direction to Region Vice Presidents in multiple U.S. company-owned regions.
A primary architect of a strategic reinvention of regional services, he now leads the RE/MAX U.S. Business Growth team, which covers the entire company-owned footprint across the country.
Bolgren joined RE/MAX in 2003 as a Financial Analyst.
Brett Ritchie, promoted from his role of Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, oversees all accounting and tax functions of RE/MAX Holdings and its affiliated companies.
Ritchie joined RE/MAX as Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer in February 2017.
Roy Schwalm, promoted from his role of Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis, is responsible for financial planning and analysis, strategic planning and corporate development-related activities.
As a member of the senior leadership group, he’ll be deeply involved in ongoing innovations across all aspects of the business.
He joined RE/MAX as Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis in September 2017.
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Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty has announced its companywide production leaders for 2018.
Peggy Moriarty, a licensed associate broker in the company’s Cold Spring Harbor Office, was named Top Producer.
Moriarty has achieved Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty’s greatest honors over her decades-long career, regularly taking top office and companywide awards for Production, Units and Listings leadership.
She is a longtime member in the Gold Circle of Excellence and was elected to the company’s coveted Hall of Fame in 2010, placing her among an elite group of outstanding professionals recognized for years of exemplary service, consistent performance and outstanding community involvement.
Dee Donovan, a licensed sales person in the Northport office, was recognized as Top Listing Leader and Unit Leader.
Donovan is also the holder of many previous awards for excellence over a nearly 20-year career.
Within one year of joining Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty in 2015, Dee was the Northport office in leader in Units (sales), Production (earnings) and Listings (listed properties), and has held onto these distinctions in subsequent years. In addition, Dee finished in second place Companywide in 2017 in the Top Producer, Top Listing and Unit Leader categories.
She also achieved membership in Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty’s Gold Circle of Achievement in the shortest time possible, based on her outstanding production volume.
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Steven Leslie has joined Homes By Mara Realty after 26 years with Mel Patto, Inc. Realtors.
He worked as a salesperson at Me Patto for the first 15 years and then as an associate broker for 11 years until the company closed.
Beyond working over two decades in real estate, Leslie also played all over the country as a drummer for different bands.
While working with those bands he gained early sales experience through his responsibility with booking his own and other bands during the late 1980s.
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Houlihan Lawrence announced that Susanna Cronin, Susan O’Brien and Kathryn Delaney have joined its Rye brokerage.
The three agents were most recently with Coldwell Banker’s office in Rye.
Susanna Cronin, who has 20 years of experience in residential real estate, began her real estate career in 1999 with Coldwell Banker where she received sales awards as a top producer. Prior to that, she was an Account Executive with BCA Advertising & Marketing in New York City and, before that, a Commodity Trader with Cargill in Europe and the U.S.
She holds both Masters and Bachelor degrees from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland and earned a diploma in International Trading from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris. She is fluent in French.
Susan O’Brien has been in real estate sales for more than 20 years. At Coldwell Banker’s office in Rye she was the second highest producer in total sales volume.
Prior to her career in real estate, she was a municipal bond salesperson.
O’Brien, who has won numerous sales awards, has a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a Master’s degree from New York University.
Kathryn Delaney has been in the real estate business for 10 years and holds real estate licenses in New York and Connecticut.
Originally from Australia, she lived in Canada, England and California before settling in Rye in 2003.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and is an Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) and Luxury Property Specialist.
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Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty’s Renee Zurlo has been named General Manager of the Greater Hudson Valley region, covering Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster Counties.
Zurlo will be overseeing 11 offices in her new role as part of a company strategy to accelerate growth in markets where it has dominant market share and help them agents grow their personal brand and business.
Previously, Zurlo served as the Orange County Regional Manager at Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty. She has been a Realtor for over 24 years and has been with Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty for the past ten years.
June Stokes will continue in her role as Rockland County Regional Manager.
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Houlihan Lawrence has announced the appointment of Jane Abbate as the new manager of its Briarcliff Manor brokerage.
Abbate has been in real estate for more than 10 years, the last six years in Houlihan Lawrence’s Chappaqua brokerage.
She is a member of the Mount Pleasant Planning Board, past member of the Mount Pleasant Architectural Review Board and member of the Briarcliff Rotary Club.
Prior to her career in real estate, she was in banking and managed what is now the Wells Fargo branch in Briarcliff Manor.
She replaces longtime manager Howard Chwatt, who is retiring.
Abbate is a Certified Buyer Representative.
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Houlihan Lawrence has welcomed local real estate veterans Cindy Gayle, Alexandra Heller-Burbank and Lindsay Matthews to its Bedford/Pound Ridge brokerage.
Cindy Gayle brings a 20-year background in real estate tothe firm and joins from Coldwell Banker, where she received numerous sales awards.
She holds a variety of designations including Certified Relocation Specialist, (CRS), Certified Buyers Representative (CBR), Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) and Luxury Homes Specialist.
Alexandra Heller-Burbank has 25 years of real estate experience.
Prior to joining the Bedford office, she was an agent with Coldwell Banker. Heller-Burbank is a member of the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors.
Lindsay Matthews was previously with Renwick Sotheby’s International Realty in Bedford, where she was a consistently top-ranked agent.
Matthews is a Certified Buyer Representative (CBR) and a member of the New York State Association of Realtors (NYSAR), National Association of Realtors (NAR), Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service (MLS), Rhode Island Association of Realtors and statewide MLS.
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Houlihan Lawrence has recognized Pollena Forsman as the top agent in Westchester County for 2018.
Forsman has been the number one-ranked agent in Westchester Single-Family Homes since 2014 and number one in Larchmont and Larchmont-Mamaroneck since 2010, also counting Harrison, Rye and New Rochelle among her core markets.
She has additionally led luxury sales in the Larchmont Manor neighborhood since 2012, and in recent years represented sellers in two of the highest sales ($4M+) in Purchase.
A top-producing Associate Broker for 23 years, Forsman has booked a career total of over three quarters of a billion dollars in volume, with over $360 million in luxury sales.
