AdvantageRealtyFL.com

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 hav...

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...