Leisel and Kelly Caldwell grew up in Randolph County and have been selling real estate for more than 30 years. Leisel has also enjoyed sharing the business she created in 1987 with her daughter. “Kelly has been a welcome addition to the company,” she said. “She keeps things youthful and light with her different take on things.” The mother-daughter duo specializes in promoting real estate in Randolph and Clay counties through their website and other avenues as well as creating special marketing strategies for their customers and clients.
In February of 2008, the Caldwell's expanded their promotional efforts by launching Lake Wedowee Life magazine. “We have been promoting this area because of Advantage Realty for years,” Kelly said. “But, journalism is my first love, and we felt it only made sense to bring the stories of the Lake Wedowee area to the masses.” The bi-monthly publication gains new readers every issue, and its focus is to promote not only life on Lake Wedowee but also the people in the area that make this part of the world so unique.
Leisel first became a licensed real estate agent in 1978 (four years before Lake Wedowee was impounded) and has seen this lake grow from a plan on paper into what it is today. Leisel is the experience of Advantage Realty as well as the Web guru. With 85 percent of all buyers starting their real estate search online, Leisel makes sure their websites are the most informative and consumer friendly in the area as well as maintaining top search engine placement.
When not selling real estate, Leisel enjoys riding jet skies, playing games and of course spending time with her two grandsons, Luke and Jax. She and her husband Lavoy are the parents of three daughters who keep them on their toes and most of the time laughing. Leisel and Lavoy live in Roanoke, but their home away from home is at Sunset Point on the lake. And, while she was the agent for most of her neighbors, they have now become close friends, as well.
The other side of Kelly...
While real estate may not have been Kelly’s first career choice, she is certainly having fun with it now. She is the principal photographer for Advantage Realty and takes great pride in showcasing a properties best features. Her eye catching photos and vivid descriptions make Advantage Realty’s virtual tours the best in the area.
She’s also the driving force behind Lake Wedowee Life, the area’s first magazine dedicated to life on Lake Wedowee. “Basically I am the face of Lake Wedowee Life, I have lived here most of my life and the magazine helps me discover new things about this area every day,” she said. “That also carries over into real estate because I am very inventive when it comes to marketing properties or working with buyers based on my extensive knowledge of the lake and surrounding areas.”
When she’s not working, Kelly still enjoys the lake she grew up on. Thanks to her father and her past life as a sports editor, it’s not uncommon to find Kelly watching college football in the fall especially the Troy Trojans and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Kelly is also an animal lover and is owned by Isabella the dog and Mikey the cat. She also has a love of reading especially suspense-filled “vampire” books.