About My 22 Years As A Florida Realtor

I am originally from a small town in Ohio. I have also lived in Wisconsin. I attended Ohio State University, and Wheaton College. Along the way and with my real estate career, I have attended classes for digital graphic arts and even web design (that one didn’t take). But I do have a unique combination of abilities, including photography and graphics, that give me a leg up when it comes to marketing your property.

I became licensed as a real estate salesperson in the State of Florida in early 1997 and have continuously maintained my license and my continuing education.

Local real estate office owners get a list of newly licensed agents, and they recruit new agents from the list. In 1997, in the red brick building in Stuart on US1 and at Frazier Creek (now Duffy’s Boats), there was an ERA East Coast Properties real estate office. They recruited me.

I went to visit the office, and there was an empty desk at a window that looked out upon Frazier Creek and some boats. I said “Can I have that desk?” The reply was “Yes.”  And so I became a Realtor with the Realtor’s Association of Martin County.

Starting out, I did deals mainly in Stuart and Jensen Beach. At this time the Roosevelt Bridge was being built. Every day near 4 or 5 pm, I would take a break and go outside the office, and the traffic on US1 would be backed up, waiting to cross the only automobile bridge, the draw bridge. I said to myself and others, When the Roosevelt Bridge is complete, Port St Lucie is going to explode. And explode it did.

After about a year I moved my license to a RE/MAX office on Port St Lucie Blvd in Port St Lucie. I became a member of the St Lucie County Realtor’s Association. I was at RE/MAX for 11 years. During this time I helped many many people to buy or to sell real estate, not only in Saint Lucie County, but in Palm Beach County, Martin County, and Indian River County. Much of my work involved my marketing skills.

I intend to keep bragging to the bare minimum, but just this one thing please: I became known for having more of a feel for market direction than most, and I was very keen at knowing the right potential value. I developed strong relationships with investors that trusted my wisdom. With one such person, I’m proud to share that we did 23 deals together. Most were flips, where I would see something that I knew was undervalued, the client would buy it, we would flip it for a profit. I maintained a client-signed blank contract so as to expedite our offer.

In the same vein, but as a better use of my market positioning skills, multiple investors who had contracted to have new homes built, hired me to list and sell their new construction flips.

In approx 2007 the real estate market hit the wall and in 2009 the RE/MAX office did not renew its lease, and I put my license with Daniel Taddeo Real Estate. Dan is a well known and very well liked real estate instructor. Sadly, Dan is now passed away.

In 2011, the Treasure Coast real estate market was still a quagmire, and working in real estate was frustrating. The market was nothing but short-sales and foreclosures. Foreclosures are ok, but there were more short-sales. The banks would drag their feet and a deal would take months and months to complete, if it ever did close.

So I took a break for a couple years. I maintained my license, but was not a member of a Realtor board. This is why, when I say I have been a Realtor for 22+ years (it is a conservative count, in early 2023), it is a lesser number than the continuous years that I’ve been licensed.

I put my license with Dan, again, but after a time, I put my license as a Realtor with WaterStone Realty LLC. I have known the owner of WaterStone since 1997. WaterStone is a boutique real estate group with very high standards, located in Port St Lucie, and where I’m very happy to work under this name. I am self-employed and independent, and if you hire me, I alone am completely responsible for the success of your project.

This all leads to an advertisement for a future post! For the time when you are going to list your property, I want to share some thoughts on the pros and cons of hiring a ‘franchise’ agent, or alternatively someone who may have grown beyond that, and the effects that it would have, if any. Stay tuned!

Back to about me, I want to share that I am licensed in two states.  I obtained my Wisconsin real estate license in early 2015 and have kept up my WI continuing education and license. As a teenager I worked at Wheaton College’s summer camp in northern Wisconsin, later lived in Wisconsin, and I love the northern woods and the lakes.

Last summer (2022) for a break I helped on an ecological project (NEON, operated by Battelle, a defense contractor) for 2 months in the woods in WI and the UP of Michigan.