The 100% Commission Real Estate Brokerage in Lealman.

The Lealman market right now (mid-2026)

Lealman is an unincorporated census-designated place of about 21,189 residents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020) tucked between St. Petersburg and Pinellas Park, roughly bounded by 38th and 62nd Avenues North and split by I-275 and 34th Street North. The reliable read on its market comes from county single-family data: as of June 2026 the Pinellas single-family median was $480,000, up 5.5% year over year, homes went to contract in a median 39 days (up from 29 a year earlier), and single-family supply sat at 3.8 months — still a seller's market, but a softening one (Florida Realtors/Stellar MLS via STAR, June 2026). Statewide the single-family median was $432,000, up 4.9% (Florida Realtors, July 2026), so Pinellas continues to price above the Florida average.

Lealman itself sits well below that county line. Redfin put the Lealman median sale price near $282,000 in May 2026, down about 9% year over year (Redfin, May 2026) — one of the lowest medians anywhere in Pinellas. That gap is the whole story of the neighborhood: mid-century block homes, small lots, and a heavy renter-to-owner conversion mix keep prices roughly 40% under the county median, which is exactly what draws first-time buyers and investors priced out of St. Petersburg proper. Momentum Realty's August scorecard flags the broader county as still modestly overvalued against local incomes (Momentum Realty/Stellar MLS, August 2026), which pushes value-seeking demand into affordable corridors like this one.

Affordable, St. Pete-adjacent, and redeveloping (the Lealman CRA)

Lealman's core appeal is price and location: it is minutes from downtown St. Petersburg and the Gateway employment district without St. Pete's tax and price base. That makes it a magnet for first-time buyers, workforce households, and small investors — the buyer pool that a flat-fee model serves best, because deals close at $250,000–$350,000 where every dollar of commission matters. The rental-to-ownership pipeline is active, and BRRRR-style investors work the older block homes near 49th Street and 28th Street North.

Redevelopment is the second tailwind. The Lealman Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) — the first CRA in unincorporated Pinellas, established in 2015 and covering roughly 2,500 acres — programmed about $15 million in tax-increment funds for FY 2025–2026, including more than $8.5 million for infrastructure in the Joe's Creek Industrial Park area and about $1 million for sidewalks and streetscape work (Bay News 9, September 2025). The county's CRA continues to fund drainage fixes, the Lealman Exchange community hub, and mixed-use land-use changes intended to add commercial uses and incentivize housing (Pinellas County, 2026). For an agent, that means a neighborhood where public investment is visibly ahead of price — the classic setup where early, knowledgeable representation pays off.

Flood zones, insurance, and the commute

Lealman is largely inland, but it is not dry. Joe's Creek runs through the area and its industrial park has documented drainage problems, and the 2024 storms proved the point: Hurricanes Helene and Milton flooded thousands of Pinellas homes, "including many that had never flooded before." Insurance is now a central deal variable everywhere in the county — NFIP premiums for some Pinellas policies are set to climb sharply (reported increases of well over 100% at full risk rate, phased in under the annual 18% cap) (NFIP via GovTech, 2026). The offset for Lealman specifically is that unincorporated Pinellas carries strong Community Rating System discounts — reported at 25% inside the mapped flood hazard area and 10% outside it (Latent Insurance, 2026) — so buyers who understand the mapping can find real savings. Agents who can read a flood zone, an elevation certificate, and a CRS discount close deals here that others walk away from.

Commute and access are a genuine selling point. I-275 cuts straight through Lealman with interchanges at 22nd and 54th Avenues North, putting downtown St. Petersburg and the Howard Frankland toward Tampa within easy reach; US-19 and 34th Street North (SR 55) handle north-south local traffic toward Clearwater and the Gateway job centers. That connectivity, plus gentrification pressure spilling north out of St. Petersburg, is the reason a sub-$300,000 median in Lealman is unlikely to stay that cheap — and why buyers are moving now.

What the $499 flat fee means for a Lealman agent

Commission math bites hardest at Lealman's price point. Take a typical Lealman sale near the $282,000 local median (Redfin, May 2026): a 3% side grosses about $8,460. A 25% split brokerage takes roughly $2,115 of that; a 20% split, about $1,690 — before monthly desk and tech fees. At Gromadzki, that same closing costs a flat $499, so about $1,600–$2,000 more stays with the agent on every deal — a huge share when the check is small to begin with.

Scale it up and the gap compounds. A Lealman agent closing 12 sides a year — a realistic volume in an affordable, high-turnover market — at that local median grosses roughly $101,000 in commission. A 25% split hands the brokerage about $25,000; Gromadzki's flat fee totals $5,988, leaving roughly $19,000 more per year in the agent's pocket (Redfin, May 2026; STAR, June 2026). Lealman agents belong to the Suncoast Tampa Association of REALTORS® (STAR) — formed in 2025 from the Pinellas REALTOR® Organization and the Greater Tampa association — and list through Stellar MLS, so one membership covers Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and across the bay into Tampa on the same license. Keeping your full commission is what turns a volume-based affordable market into a genuinely profitable one.