Located in the heart of town, The Keyes Company’s Miami Lakes office can’t be missed.
The real estate brokerage shares an entrance with the Miami Lakes Hotel on Main and is a neighbor to the Vie de France Bakery & Cafe.
The firm, at 6850 Main St., is a regular advertiser in The Miami Laker.
It’s not only where the business lists properties for sale but is also a place it celebrates the success of its staff.
Two recent ads featured top agents Elizabeth Rodriguez, who did over $61 million in sales in 2022, and the team of Angel Alvarez and Marigel Johnson, with more than $21 million in sales.
Alex Ruiz is district sales manager and broker-associate for the location and will mark his 21st year with the company on April 1.
His daughter Sandra Ruiz is the office administrator.
“I have 100 associates,” Alex Ruiz said. “We’re very successful, year after year.”
The office ranks 12th of the 59 Keyes offices in Florida and his top sellers are Rodriguez and the Alvarez and Johnson team, Ruiz said.
The office is a one-stop shop for home buyers. It provides real estate, mortgage, title, insurance and property management services.
“Originally I started advertising in 1989 when I had my own company here in Miami Lakes,” Alex Ruiz said.
Ruiz said he bought out original owner Andy Younts and took over the firm that is on Main Street today.
He kept the Welcome Center name. After selling the business to Keyes in 1998, he continued to advertise in the local newspaper.
Successful home sales are not the only result Ruiz wants from his ads.
He also wants Keyes to be a household name, and to demonstrate that he’s active in the community.
“Being in the newspaper is more branding than anything else, and participating in a community paper,” Ruiz said.
He said having his ads appear in The Miami Laker is the easiest way to reach homeowners across town.
“Thousands of people get the paper, [and it] gets delivered to every household,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz lives in Miami Lakes, reads the newspaper himself and finds it’s a great way learn about new business openings and events.
“I think it’s a very inexpensive way of advertising, especially [to an audience] that likes to read the community paper to find out what’s going on in town,” Ruiz said.
In the photo is of The Keyes Company, Miami Lakes Branch on Jan. 10 outside its Main Street office. Front row, from left, Tania Milton; LaWanda Hardemon; Melisa Aponte; Idalmis Hernandez; Xenia Rojas; Natalia Diaz and Faith Johnson. Middle row: Les Dorn; Luisa Mackay; Eilyn Camero; Xiomara Castillo; Rosa Nell Hammer; Alex Ruiz, Maria Hadra; Nora Leon; Elizabeth Riesgo; Silvia Suarez; Denise Reyes; Ceray Lorenzo and Sandra Ruiz. Back row: Alvaro Jarquin; Nashava Kent; Yenisey Cabrera; James Fleury; Priscilla Conseugra; Juan Ayala; Adrian Ardila; Maria Alvarez; Eloy Vega; Daniel Gandul; Orestes Canales; Ashley Seraydar; Eizabeth Riesgo; Marigel Johnson and Angel Alvarez.
Photo by Linda Trischitta.