The second annual Hamptons and North Fork Realtors Association (HANFRA) awards dinner was held late last month to recognize some of the area’s top-selling agents.
Hudson City Bancorp CEO and President Ron Hermance was the keynote speaker at the award ceremony, which was held at the American Hotel Inn in Sag Harbor on January 29. He discussed the availability of mortgage money from local lenders, the state of the economy and the benefits of hometown banking.
New HANFRA officers were also installed during the ceremony, including President John Halsted from the Corcoran Group, Vice President Susan Vinski from Brown Harris Stevens, Secretary Carol Salvadori from Pospisil and Treasurer Martin Gleason from Corcoran.
Sandra Pullman of the Corcoran Group in Bridgehampton was awarded the Realtor of the Year honors. Ms. Pullman has been on the board of HANFRA throughout the organization’s 12 years in operation.
The Rookie of the Year award was earned by Rebekah Baker of Brown Harris Stevens in Amagansett. In her first year as a licensed sales agent, Ms. Baker closed one sale and seven rental transactions in addition to acquiring five exclusive listings in 2008.
The South Fork Deal of the Year was awarded to Peter McCracken, Cee Brown and Jack Pearson—all of whom are Corcoran agents—as the listing agents and Mr. Brown and Mr. Pearson also served as the selling agents for the $12.4 million Shorewood Manor property on Shelter Island, a record-breaking sale on the island.
The North Fork Deal of the Year award went to Sheri Winter Clarry of the Corcoran Group in Southold. Her $19.5 million sale of the 135-acre Indian Neck Farm in Peconic represented the largest sale on the North Fork. Ms. Winter Clarry served as both the listing and selling agent on the deal.
Peconic Baykeeper Kevin McAllister received the Leadership in Conservation Award for his contributions to the environment. His numerous conservation accomplishments were deemed to have a significant positive impact on the quality of life on the East End.
According to Mr. Halsted, who is the senior managing director of Corcoran in Southampton, there was a banner turnout at the awards ceremony this year in spite of the economy. “It was a sold-out crowd and a really great event,” he said during an interview last week.
Dawn Watson on Feb 17, 2009