Name: Frank Trupia, MAI
Title: VP / Managing Director - N.Y.
Company: Valbridge Property Advisors | Oxford Group
Location: 424 West 33rd Street, New York, N.Y.
Birthplace: Bayonne, N.J.
Education: Bachelor of Science in Management from Rutgers University
First job outside of real estate: As a kid I worked at my father's candy store in Jersey City, N.J. We sold homemade chocolates, Italian ice and roasted nuts. When I graduated from college I worked for Dunn and Bradstreet for a year as a business analyst.
First job in real estate or allied field: When I was in college I worked as a title searcher at the Essex County Hall of Records. Although I thought of it as a part time job to earn money for the weekend, I learned a number of skills that have helped in my career as an appraiser. I also met up with a high school friend there that got me my first job in the appraisal business. After working for Dunn and Bradstreet for a year, I got my first job as a commercial appraiser with Haber Associates in Fort Lee, N.J.
What do you do now and what are you planning for the future? After spending about 15 years as a mostly a commercial field appraiser in N.Y. and N.J., in 2005 I was made manager of the N.Y. office of the Oxford Group. I manage an office of about six appraisers and also manage several appraisers in NJ. It's a relatively small company so we all wear a lot of hats. The Oxford Group joined Valbridge Property Advisors in early 2014. This gives us a larger national profile and the ability to refer work to capable appraisers all over the country and to tap into a knowledge base of a variety of appraisal specialties. As far as the future goes, I would like to help our company and Valbridge as a whole grow, and become recognized as a prime national player in the commercial real estate appraisal industry.
How do you unwind from a busy day in real estate? I spend time at home with my family. I also like to bike, read, listen to music and play guitar.
Favorite book or author: Book: I'll give you two although there are probably ten that I would say are my favorites: When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Authors: Ken Follett and Pat Conroy
Favorite movie:Again I have a lot of favorites but here are three in no particular order:
The Godfather, High Fidelity and Jaws
Last song you purchased/downloaded?
I rarely download individual songs. The most recent download was an EP by Bruce Springsteen called American Beauty.
One word to describe your work environment: Hectic
Rules to live by in business: No matter how trivial the task (or the level of the fee) always strive to do a great job.
If you could invite one person to dinner (living or dead) who would it be and where would you go? I would take Frank Sinatra to Rao's in Upper Manhattan. I hear it's great but hard to get into. I figure I'd have shot if I was with the Chairman of the Board.
What is your dream job? Closer for the Mets....guitar player in the e street band...whatever you call what Anthony Bourdain does....
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