For three generations, the Balistreri family
and their business, Balistreri Real Estate, have built an integral part of the
foundation of what is now a thriving Lighthouse Point community.
It started with a ‘rap on the window’. It was
1946. Joseph S. Balistreri, Sr. had just returned from service in World War II
to his parents’ Wisconsin home. He earned a business degree from Marquette
University while working part-time at his father’s grocery store – Sendik’s –
with four older brothers. “At the store, I met a beautiful blonde girl, Rita,”
the late Joseph Balistreri once recalled. “One year later, we were married.” But
not before having to overcome the challenges of a Polish woman marrying an
Italian man – something unheard of at the time. Reluctantly, the families agreed
to the marriage. A few weeks after the honeymoon while walking along the business
section of the Milwaukee suburb Shorewood,
Joseph Sr. heard a ‘rap’ on the window of a real estate office. “An old college
buddy waved me to come in,” he once wrote. “He sat me down and convinced me to
sell real estate with him.”
A year later, Joseph Sr. started his own
company selling homes in the Milwaukee area, which thrived for 12 years until
moving to Lighthouse Point with his wife and six children where his brother
Frank lived. Moving day happened to be Nov. 22, 1963, the day President John F.
Kennedy was shot. The family reached Florida in time to celebrate their first
Florida Thanksgiving at the home of Frank and Annie’s – which became a long-time
tradition.
Joseph Sr. took a job selling real estate
with a Pompano Beach firm. In 1964, he and Rita bought a waterfront lot in Lighthouse
Point constructed by ‘luxury custom home builder’ Merle Smith. Just as the home was being finished, Hurricane
Cleo hit. It was symbolic of the many challenges family members would meet and
successfully mitigate. Joseph Sr. soon joined an old friend at a
larger real estate company in Fort Lauderdale.

Not much later, he rented a 20x20 square-foot
storefront and hung up his shingle: Joseph S. Balistreri, Inc. “It was my privilege and good fortune to get
to know and work many of the areas in Broward and Palm Beach counties,” Joseph
Sr. had recalled, adding “we experienced some gratifying expansion.” One of the
driving factors in the company’s growing success was due to Rita. “Mom played a
huge role in the company, from answering the phone to running the entire
day-to-day administration for many years,” Jim Balistreri points out. “She
would keep the ‘bibles’ up to date: the Balistreri listings as well as all the Multiple
Listing Service inventory ‘cut sheets’.” As there were no computers at the
time, it meant Rita would have to keep track of new 8.5 x 5.5 loose MLS sheets as
they arrived each week, keeping them up-to-date and in a box so the company’s
agents would know what inventory was available for sale.
Meanwhile, the Balistreri family happily
settled into Lighthouse Point community life, including the pleasures derived
from living on the water. “Chip Barger and I would use our boats to transport ‘building
materials’ from waterfront homes under construction to build our multi-level
tree waterfront forts on vacant lots,” Jim
recalls. One of those forts made the newspapers and was subsequently torn
down by Lighthouse Point Public Works. “Joe, Jim and I grew up cruising the canals
of Lighthouse Point and the Intracoastal in our Whaler,” adds Carol Balistreri. All of the second-generation Balistreri children attended
Norcrest Elementary School, which one of Joe’s grandchildren now attends. All of
the second-generation Balistreri children attended Pompano Beach High School as
well as Jim’s third-generation boys, Dominic and Clayton.
Three
generations attended Lighthouse Point summer recreation camp. “My sister Anne
was a summer counselor who worked with John Trudel, former Parks and Recreation
Director, who was also a summer counselor at the time,” notes Carol. The family attended Mass in a Lighthouse Point factory
building near the LHP marina used by St. Paul’s Catholic Church until it built
its own building, which Joseph Sr. and many others helped support. In time, Joseph Sr. would be joined in business by son Joe
upon his honorable discharge from the U.S. Army, where he worked on helicopters.
He became a top seller in the company and now serves as president. His
daughters Laura, Kathleen
and Christine – married to Lighthouse Point Commissioner Kyle Van Buskirk – now
work for the company. “Laura and Christine are the top salespeople in this
company,” notes Joe. “They are hard workers and sell millions of dollars of
real estate to very happy customers, which is more important than how much they
sell.” Joe also runs his own DJ company. He enjoys rehabilitating houses. He’s
designed each of Balistreri Real Estate’s offices. Eldest daughter Kathryn, having graduated from Florida
State University, also joined the team and would later be acknowledged as the
youngest Broker in Florida. Today, she lives on Lake Toxaway, North Carolina,
and sells beautiful homes through her own firm, Balistreri Realty. Son Jim, a graduate
engineer from Auburn University, came to the business after working for a large
Atlanta construction firm. Soon after, Jim became the President of the Greater
Fort Lauderdale Realtors®. He now serves as CEO of Balistreri Real Estate.
Carol, a Florida State University graduate, began her real estate career in the
early 1980s. She began selling real estate at Haggerty Realty in Boca Raton for
three years, then sold for Balistreri Realty for nearly two years before
relocating to Durham, North Carolina where she sold real estate for 12 years. Carol relocated
back to South Florida from North Carolina in 2000. The family opened an office
in Delray
Beach, which her brothers wanted her to manage.
When
the market crashed, we consolidated the company and closed that office. Eight
years ago, I started managing the Lighthouse Point office and after living in Delray
Beach for 13 years, I moved to Lighthouse Point, where I have resided for just
over a year,” she says. It’s truly a blessing and rewarding to carry
on the family business Mom and Dad began 51 years ago,” notes Carol. “I would call
Dad almost every day as he had an interest in what was going on in the industry
after he retired. He shared his wisdom
from years of experience, which was a treat for me!” While not directly involved in the business, two other Balistreri
siblings have put their stamp on the company’s success, supporting it through
referrals of people moving locally or around the country.
Margaret,
who has a real estate license and is affiliated with Balistreri Real Estate’s
referral company, lives in Lighthouse Point and with her husband is active in
the community. Anne lives in Atlanta with her husband and they have three
sons. Anne and her husband are Florida State University graduates.
When Joseph Sr. wasn’t doing real estate
deals, he was extensively involved in civic life, helping to start the town’s
library and sponsoring a T-ball team and girls’ soccer. Balistreri Realty also
is a generous sponsor of Florida Atlantic University’s football team, including
funding a $12,500 athletic scholarship each year. After his retirement and before his passing in 2006,
Joseph turned the company over to Jim and Joe, who continue to expand the
business throughout South Florida and around the globe as member-brokers of
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World with offices in London, Chicago and
Singapore.
“God blessed us with children who are
conscientious, energetic and dedicated to serving people respectfully and,
above all, performing with honesty,” Joseph Sr. would say. “We consider my
family and ourselves fortunate and thankful to God. And it all started with ‘a
rap on the window’.”Joe remembers his father always saying: “Have integrity and do the right thing. It may hurt,
but you’ve got to do what’s right for the customer. Work hard, be honest and do
what’s right.” Joe points out Balistreri Real Estate’s
emphasis is on running a business – a business that happens to sell real
estate. Agents who are motivated will find a successful career there, he says.
The company invests significant time and funds in creating agents who are
“educated, motivated and professional,” he adds. “We manage the people. We
offer them opportunities. We show them the way the business should be run in a
professional way.”
In addition to ongoing
training, the company offers its agents national training and international
contacts. “We’re part of the largest relocation network in the world,” says Joe
of the company’s affiliation with Leading Real
Estate Companies of the World. “Jim and I don’t list, we don’t sell. We float that business to our agents so they can
do it because the customer would be better serviced with a full-time agent than
with the Broker of the company.” Jim remembers his father always saying, “Keep your hands out of other people’s pockets’. “In other
words, keep the client’s interest first,” Jim adds. “He also reminded us to
‘never break the public’s trust’. This is the bedrock of integrity Dad put in
place on which we have continued to build a great company. Our most important asset is our people – our
agents and our clients.”