Castillo & McDaniel Apprentice Finalists 5 and 6
Aliso Viejo, Calif. August 24th, 2005 – (Part 3 of 5) The fifth and sixth Real Estate Apprentice™ finalists are proud Texans Roland Castillo and Roxann McDaniel. Both Castillo and McDaniel will receive $5,000 worth of real estate education products, education, books and services from the Foundation, courtesy of the various leading companies that sponsor the only national grant competition program helping new agents become more successful.
These two finalists respectively took their real estate licensing courses at Austin Institute of Real Estate, Austin, TX and Champions School of Real Estate, Houston, TX, both accredited RealtyU® schools. Grants are sponsored by First American Residential Group, Hobbs Herder Advertising & Design, iSucceed Online Real Estate Mentoring, Success Strategies Institute, McLean International, Thomson Learning, Calculated Industries, The Real Estate CyberSpace Society, Broker Agent News, RIS Media and RealtyU®.
 Via a personal phone interview Roland Castillo was asked by Dr. Martin Oliver, Deputy Executive Director of the Apprentice Foundation, what he thought of the Apprentice program and becoming a Finalist. “The Real Estate Apprentice Grant program is awesome,” said Castillo. “I really think that the Apprentice Grant is a great idea, especially from an educational standpoint. New agents can expand their mind, increase their resources and personal skills…it becomes an incredibly valuable tool for a new agent,” he added.
Roland, who has a Bachelor of Biblical Literature degree, and who completed his course work toward a Masters of Arts degree in counseling, worked as a youth pastor and meeting planner for 15 years. It was while he was working for Keller Williams Corporate that he discovered many secrets about how to run a successful real estate practice. Roland started as a full time agent in the beginning of 2005 and didn’t have any sales during the first three months. Wise planning, good systems, hard work, and faith in God paid off, and by August Roland had 14 listings, sold 9 houses and has 2 pending offers.
Linda Bartlett, Roland’s Team Leader at Keller Williams Realty, Northwest said: “When I first interviewed Roland, I saw a special quality. There was drive, a clear understanding, and absolute purpose.” According to Bartlett, Roland is extremely focused and will do whatever it takes to get the job done. “Roland listens, follows through, and is always prepared with his goal sheets and business plan filled out. He is also available to help other agents, whether it is technology issues or whatever – he truly portrays true leadership abilities yet has the heart of a servant,” she added.
 Native Houstonian, Roxann McDaniel worked as an Account Executive for 15 years selling television commercial airtime for CNN, ESPN, USA and TNT. She built a reputation on reliability and strong work ethics, which resulted in high customer sales and client retention. Roxann also won awards, which ultimately led to being recruited by another company to lead their sales force. “Sales management was a very rewarding position as I was able to use the skills I had learned in my own sales career to nurture a group of wonderful individuals. We succeeded in bringing the company’s sales above and beyond a profitable position in the market, enabling them to sell the division” said McDaniel. “I was offered a position with the new company but declined as it would have meant relocating” she added.
“There is a tremendous learning curve in real estate. I have the drive and stamina, but what I need is help, and the Real Estate Apprentice Grant is doing that. The grant tools and services will not be wasted on me,” Roxann said. “I am extremely dedicated to making this work,” she added. Bill Neill, Broker/Manager Prudential Gary Greene Realtors® in Texas said: “Although Roxann is new to the business, I have observed that she is a very dedicated and absorbs almost everything that we give her. Based on her interview and a high score on her personality test we early on thought she was going to be a very strong agent.”
Castillo and McDaniel are the fifth and sixth of 10 Grant Finalists that are being announced this week. Another two are being announced on Thursday and Friday, and on Wednesday August 31st the Grand Prize Grant Winner will be revealed. Finalists each receive a grant worth $5,000, and the overall winner will receive $75,000 of real estate products and services.
According to Dr. Oliver, Season III of the Real Estate Apprentice competition opened July 1st, 2005 and will run through December 31st, 2005. Real estate students who have taken or will be taking their new agent pre-licensing class during the Season III time-frame or 90 days prior, or those who were newly licensed for the first time as an agent during that same time frame can enter the grant program by simply applying online at www.RealEstateApprentice.com. Companies interested in becoming Sponsors should contact Dr. Oliver at Dr.Oliver@ReApprentice.com or by phone at 949-349-9394 ext 107.
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More about the Real Estate Apprentice™ Foundation
The Real Estate Apprentice™ Foundation is a non-profit venture and was formed in 2004 to assist new licensed agents entering the real estate industry, to overcome their fears and obstacles and to facilitate them to become top producing sales people by providing quality guidance, education, products and services and to help guide them on a successful fast track to profitability. 20 bi-annual grants, totaling $250,000 is awarded with no strings attached. Grants are sponsored by various leading real estate companies, service providers and industry leaders. Visit www.RealEstateApprentice.com for more information.
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