AdvantageRealtyFL.com

My Congratulations go out to 2 of my Realtors on the "Beach Team" St. Pete Beach FL. Danielle Decker who is new as a Realtor closed her 1st deal. She worked in tandem with Stacey Underwood who has been with our firm for 3+ years. Congratulations to both! As 2018 draws to a close I am thankful for having yet another good year!  At AdvantageRealtyFL.com our boutique style and one on one service sets us above the crowd of Real Estate Associates.  I now am looking forward to an even bigger & better 2019 for our firm. We are a great place for experienced Real Estate professionals to place their licenses. We do not charge our associates any monthly fees or transaction fees. We provide the main sign panels for your listings and offer one on one Broker support. We offer free institutional advertising featuring the best in newer technology. I only hire enough Associates in any given area to handle the work load for that area. This allows for more leads and consequently more com

Just 21 days left in 2018, hard to believe another year is coming to a close. The Real Estate Market had another great year! I am totally enthused with the outlook for 2019. I am especially impressed with the growth in our Lakeland/Polk County market. The logistics industry has gone gang busters creating job openings galore. Where there are jobs there are demands for Real Estate. With that being said I am going to pay special attention in my recruitment efforts to that area. I lived in that area for 14+ years living and working in Lakeland. Graduated 3 of my 4 children from George Jenkins HS. It was a fantastic place to raise a family. In 2015 I moved to St. Pete Beach after my wife had passed away 2 years prior and my children had moved away. Living on the beach for nearly 4 years   has been great fun but I'm thinking it's time to return home (Lakeland). My son is the only child I have that still resides in Florida and he is in Lakeland. So I should be in place startin

The Real Estate Market is strong & getting stronger. 2018 Sales are finishing up strong and I look for 2019 to be a great year. In fact I am so confident that I am increasing the Commissions that I pay my Associates. I will be publishing my pay schedule for 2019 in the next couple of weeks. For recruitment purposes I will be focusing on my 2 Established markets (Lakeland, Polk County & St. Pete Beach, Pinellas County). If you are a experienced (at least 1 year) licensed Real Estate Associate or a Broker Associate in either of those areas you might want to reach out and explore making a change for the new year. Does  NO FEES  and higher commissions appeal to you? Do you want to work with a Broker that is there for you? Contact me Broker Richard Castret 863-640-3127 (cell) or email AdvantageRealtyFL@outlook.com for a confidential conversation on what Advantage has to offer. MAKE $$$'S IN 2019!!! AdvantageRealtyFL.com Your best source for Real Estate in Central Florid

ATTENTION PINELLAS & PASCO COUNTY REALTORS! Business is great here on the West Coast of Florida! The winter season is just getting wound up. WE NEED EXPERIENCED ASSOCIATES to handle the work load NO FEES & HIGH COMMISSIONS Want to learn more? Contact Broker Richard Castret, Call 863-640-3127 or email: AdvantageRealty@outlook.com All inquiries kept in confidence  

With the cold weather setting in up North and the Holiday Season in full swing we have a huge new client base to work with. Our problem is we don't have enough inventory of quality homes to offer to the many clients we have   HELP! HELP! HELP!!!       We can't sell homes we don't have and you can't sell a home no one can find! In an effort to expand inventory we are offering deeply discounted listing programs to our sellers. Savings amounting to several thousands!!!!       SELL YOUR HOME NOW! CALL: 727-317-3735 OR EMAIL AdvantageRealtyFL@outlook.com   

With Thanksgiving upcoming I would like to discuss Real Estate as it relates to the season. Florida during the holidays is a mecca for people to migrate south to visit our beautiful warm State. Sometimes they are visiting their lucky relatives that already reside here or taking a vacation at one of our major resorts. Over the years I have met many of those 'pilgrims" and in a lot of cases I have worked with them to move here. Countless times I have run into them at local venues and listened to them expound on how they love it here and would love to live here. I totally enjoy helping making that a reality. If you are a seller it is a fantastic time to have your home on the market reaching people you might miss at other times of the year. We currently are offering Discounted listing programs that can save you Thousands as a seller. I am the Broker for Advantage Realty FL and in addition to my highly qualified Associates I will be personally handling listings during the Holid

As some of you may know I am rolling out a new business model for Advantage Realty. I had hoped to have it implemented before now but I am working out some last minute details. If you haven't previously been following my blog please feel free to scroll back for prior posts, especially the one titled "Overview" My goal is get back to what it is all about  SELLING REAL ESTATE!   Over the 17 years I have been in this business I have watched our Industry lose focus on what it is we do. Many Brokerages focus on making their money off the backs of their Associates. Either by office fees, administrative charges or other misc. charges. On top of that some other firms have become thinly veiled pyramid schemes focusing on how many Associates they can load up on. ENUFF!! The truth is I got into this business for the thrill of seeing people's faces when they are successful in purchasing a new home or selling their old one. That never gets old. Now that I am a Broker I don'

Today is Tuesday and as I do every Tuesday I focus on recruitment. To do that I would like to share an overview of who we are and what we want to become. Advantage Realty started it's existence in 2003 as Advantage Realty of Lakeland with one location in Lakeland. I lived and worked in Lakeland for 15 years plus. Our company was small but impactful. Our Realtors had a place in the community and business was good even in the downturn. We thrived and survived by evolving and by taking care of our clients above all. In 2015 I started my office here in St. Pete Beach and we now have a strong foothold in Pinellas County as well as Polk County. Now my goal is to now expand our membership in those 2 areas and the surrounding 20 Counties that are contained in our MLS (Mid-Florida Regional MLS). My design is to form up several small (boutique) groups in those remaining Counties. Their purpose is to create a profitable environment for all our Associates. NO FEES, higher Commissions acco

Good Monday Morning! There are many pitfalls in this business however today I'm just addressing one of them: "GETTING CAUGHT IN THE CHEAP SEATS" Over the years I have used this term along with the question are you a Wheel Estate Agent? When you are young and starting out or in an Office that cherry picks referral's feeding the high $$$ ones to office favorites you can get trapped being either one. I was able to avoid being either by setting myself out right from the start working higher priced properties. If that is what you list that is the type of buyers you will attract. I am not saying don't sell an occasional Mobile Home or a major fixer upper but make the bulk of your listings high end quality   homes. Easier said than done?? Not really, I have a system that I developed and I share that with all my Associates. In this business image is everything, paint yourself a good one! Have a great week everyone! Talk with you next week when the topic will

Good Monday Morning! As most of my Realtor friends know I love Mondays. As a Broker I spend most of my day (Monday) evaluating my Realtor's weekend activity. Weekends are usually the busy times for us working with buyers and sellers alike. Being a successful Realtor depends on building relationships. This is an ongoing process that requires dedication. Getting out there and meeting people is the key. Becoming involved in your community is a great way to acquire new clients. The more you socialize the better. A lot of Realtors spend their time hanging out with other Realtors which I think is counter productive. It's great to have friends in the industry but you have to keep in mind they are also your competition. There are many ways to put yourself out there. If you aren't working with clients over the weekend find a popular community event in your area and mingle. Striking up a friendly conversation with people around you and eventually bringing up the fact that you are

First of all let it be said:   WE SELL REAL ESTATE!  That's all we do. We don't sell education or make money off of desk, transaction or membership fees. We don't offer property management to distract from the Sales side. We use a 3rd party provider for those services.  We promote our individual Realtors direct. All our advertising (including our signs) don't even include the office phone number. We do promote our Web and Social Media sites however there is no reference to an office phone on those mediums. The only phone #'s are for our Associates only! WE WANT YOUR PHONE TO RING! We don't filter the leads through the office and when we do get them we rotate them evenly across the board (next in line) showing no favoritism. I am a non-competing Broker and receive leads often from past clients in Lakeland where I sold Real Estate for 14 years and any of those are sent to my Associates there. Here in St. Pete Beach where I have lived for 3 years I have made man

Good Monday Morning! As you know I have been in this business a long time (17+ years). During that time span I have seen Realtors come and have seen them go. The truth is this is a very tough career to make a decent living in and most don't make it. Everyone comes into this career thinking they are going to make tons of $$$'s and yes that's possible but it is allusive. I myself made fantastic $$$'s after I got the hang of it, probably 2 years in. The 1st couple of years I only made $20,000. It was a good thing my wife had a job or I wouldn't have made it. After 4 years in I was making over $100,000 and all was good. Getting to that point wasn't easy and required a lot of hard work. It's not easy but it is doable. Let me help you get there faster!  Today my job as Broker is to mentor others and share the skills I have learned and developed with anyone that wants to be successful. Are you that person?   I want to talk to you if you have at least 1 year ex

I am excited in the interest I am receiving in regards to expanding AdvantageRealtyFL.com to cover our 22 County MLS area! Our goal is to blanket Central Florida with small Boutique groups of highly experienced Real Estate professionals. I still need Broker Associates for 19 Counties and Associates for all 22. In most areas our Associates won't exceed 10 members. What this accomplishes is better lead distribution and equates to more $$$'s for the Associates. We direct leads right to the Associates and not filtering them through the office. NO FEES & HIGHER COMMISSIONS! CONTACT BROKER RICHARD CASTRET 863-640-3127 OR EMAIL: AdvantageRealtyFL.com    

I hope everyone is enjoying this very important Holiday. Let's all pay tribute to all of us that work hard every day to take care of their families as well as themselves. Some of us will be taking the day off and some will be working in their job as they do every day so that we all can enjoy the Holiday. To them I pay a special tribute. 

I am often asked "How can I be successful in Real Estate?". As in most things dedication and hard work are important, however proper direction and focus are even more valuable. I have seen many people fail in this business due to misdirection. If you aren't careful you will find yourself working for free or making very little. Many new Associates get trapped in a team environment where they are robbed of their hard earned Commissions and pay fees for the privilege of having their license with that firm. That isn't all that bad for the 1st year if you are receiving quality training but if you stay much longer than that you are hurting your earning potential. I have hired several Associates from those types of firms and they can't believe how much more they earn working with us. What I enjoy most about being a Broker is being able to assist and mentor my Associates and being there for them when an if they need advise. I do really love my job! To all my Realt

I have been in Florida Real Estate for 17+ years. I have seen the highs and lows of the business and have also experienced the many changes. With that being said I am excited to announce my new project. I am in the process of dissolving my old Corporation and retiring Advantage Realty Florida. Our new entity will have a similar name (AdvantageRealtyFL.com) but will be an entirely new concept. The days of the fancy office, walk in clients and floor time just doesn't work anymore. I will be establishing a single corporate office somewhere in the State (location TBA). Our focus will be on internet marketing not on fancy brick & mortar offices. We will be pouring any profits into advertising and marketing not on office rents or purchases. We also will be paying our Associates higher rates of Commissions. We will also be offering partnership/ownership options to qualified experienced Realtors & or Broker Associates that want to be an integral part of the decision making process

  ATTENTION REALTORS! WE ARE INVITING YOU TO JOIN US! Are you tired of paying fees, receiving low Commissions and being lost in the shuffle? If so you owe it to yourself to look into becoming a part of the Advantage Team! NO FEES! HIGHER COMMISSIONS AND GREAT SUPPORT! We make selling Real Estate fun & most importantly profitable. Want to learn more????   Reach out to me (Broker Richard Castret) via text 863-640-3127 or email AdvantageRealtyFL@outlook.com for a confidential conversation on what we have to offer.

We are definitely in a Sellers market. By definition that means prices are up, availability is limited and properties are selling within days! Great for the Sellers but disappointing for anyone that is looking to buy. One of the hardest things for a Realtor to do is to educate the buyers on what this market means to them. A buyer has to be ready to jump on a property if they find something they like. Procrastination is not going to work. Hanging back, low balling and delaying your decision is just going to result in deep disappointment in most cases. If the property is priced right and has no real problems it is going to get gobbled up. We have had some we listed that sold the very next day after we listed them. Unfortunately being a buyer in today's market is not for the faint hearted. A key to being a buyer in today's market it to work with a qualified Real Estate professional that can properly evaluate the subject property to see if it is properly priced. Also please note

We are starting out the Spring selling season strong! I most definitely could use more experienced Associates in both of our established markets (Lakeland / Polk County & St. Pete Beach / Pinellas County). Since we don't charge our Associates any fees we only hire enough personnel to handle the traffic in each geographical area. Although I am recruiting in 22 Counties in Central Florida I am focusing right now on filling out the ranks in those 2 established markets. NO FEES & HIGHER COMMISSIONS coupled with one on one Broker support makes Advantage Realty Florida worth the look. We sell Real Estate, making our $$$'s from Sales not off the backs of our Associates. Please feel free to contact me: Broker Richard Castret by email: AdvantageRealtyFL@outlook.com  and I can send you information on what we offer to our Associates!!   

I started my career in 2001 in Lakeland Florida. I moved to Florida from NW Ohio not knowing anyone in the area. I was in the Automotive business for 28 years up North and was looking for a change. The challenge for me was building up a "circle of influence" in a totally new area. My children were of school age and one of the tools for me was becoming involved in the community. Coaching my kids through Baseball, Softball and Soccer I was able to meet a lot of new friends and subsequently clients. I totally enjoyed either helping people find a new home or helping them sell theirs. Being a Realtor was a great career and a lot of fun. Things have changed a great deal over the years. Our industry has became a combination of pyramid schemes and gimmicks designed to confuse the public and causing Realtor's to lose focus on the task at hand, selling Real Estate. As a Broker I refuse to become part of the game. Advantage Realty Florida is focused on one thing, SELLING REAL EST

I will be heading to Lakeland today to meet with local Realtors and attend the Realtors after hours being held at Millers Ale House this evening. Lakeland will always be special to me because that is where I started my Real Estate career in 2001, as well and raised my family there.  I had moved to Lakeland from Findlay Ohio. My oldest daughter had enrolled in Florida State University and my wife's parents lived in Naples. To be honest it was more of my wife's idea not mine to move to Florida. Looking back I can honestly say there are no regrets. I could have moved anywhere in Florida but I picked Lakeland after researching several different locals in the State. Schools were very important to me in my search as well as Community feel. I lived there for 15 years, loved it! The Real Estate business has had it's ups and downs over the last 17 years and our Lakeland market has done well. Currently I only have 3 Associates working there and need to add several more to handle

The Real Estate Business is booming! We are listing a property and if it's priced well we are getting multiple offers within a couple of days. Almost reminds me of 2005. It's a great time to be a Realtor! Advantage Realty Florida is in expansion mode and needs experienced Associates through out the 22 Counties we cover. We are a NO FEES & HIGH COMMISSIONS Brokerage that offers great support. Contact me (Broker Richard Castret) email: AdvantageRealtyFL@outlook.com to request your information packet as to what we offer as a Brokerage. Don't continue giving away your hard earned Commissions on petty fees!   

After being in the Real Estate business for 17 years I have seen many "gimmicks" come and go. When the Real Estate market is good you'll find many different outsiders try and worm their way in to the business. They use their deep pocket capital to detract from hard working Realtors that have been taking care of clients through the good and bad. They spend big $$$'s advertising in the media selling their new gimmick. It started many years ago with "For Sale By Owner" and today it is "Offer Pad" and others. Most are here today and gone tomorrow. Most of us hard working professionals lack the resources to counter their advertising. We spend a lot of time in educating our clients as to the pitfalls of going in those directions but unfortunately it is part of what we do. To the client: Do your homework and if it seems to good to be true, chances are it is! I have found nothing beats good old customer service. As a Realtor a couple common sense tips

A GREAT YEAR FOR REAL ESTATE Our new Blog Site!   Watch for our weekly updates! We will be sharing our 17 years experience with other professionals in the Real Estate business A NO FEES, HIGH COMMISSION BROKERAGE RECRUITING THROUGHOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA