Turnberry International Realty, perhaps South Florida’s most respected boutique agency with offices in Boca and Aventura, opened a third office to serve the Pinecrest-Coral Gables-South Miami area.

George Perez, president of Turnberry International Realty, said that the location was far and away the most natural area for his company to expand to.

"People are discovering how great it is to have land — property with big yards and houses set well apart from one another —which is precisely what Pinecrest, Coral Gables and South Miami have to offer," he said.

And when it comes to trends in the South Florida real estate market, there might be none better to listen to than Turnberry, which started 21 years ago as the on-site agency for the Turnberry Isle Yacht and Racket Club. Once those developments sold out, they began taking on outside listings.

"We had assembled a terrific group of Realtors to sell homes at Turnberry, and it made much more sense to expand instead of disbanding," Perez said.

Yet despite this expansion, they decided not to change the name.

"If you talk to those who are familiar with real estate down here, they will tell you without hesitation the tremendous amount of clout and respect that is attached to the Turnberry name. Corcoran, perhaps the most respected international real estate broker, has chosen us as their exclusive South Florida agent. Among those looking for second homes here in South Florida, primarily Northeasterners and South Americans, Turnberry International is clearly recognized as the one to turn to," Perez said.

Given their reputation, you’d think that Turnberry would only deal in the big-ticket items, but Perez says that isn’t the case. "We want all our clients, whether buying or selling, to get the personal attention they deserve. We handle listings from $60,000 to more than $1 million. We’ll gladly help with finding a seasonal or yearly rental or even help you to rent your apartment or home. Our reputation isn’t built on just handling expensive listings; it’s built on treating everyone like they’re a millionaire," Perez said.

Another thing that makes Turnberry unique is the use of free-standing kiosks. They have one at the Aventura Mall, one at the Town Center in Boca, and another will open soon at Dadeland. Because South Florida is so spread out, the number of walk-in customers that any Realtor gets is somewhat limited compared to such cities as Boston or New York. The kiosks allow the brokerage to reach out to large concentrations of customers unreachable by any other Realtors.

Turnberry is a member of both Chamber South and the Aventura Marketing Council, and sponsors an annual Big Brother/Big Sisters Golf Tournament. Perez is on the board at Aventura Hospital.

"It is impossible to serve a community professionally without taking a personal interest in its continued well-being," Perez said.

While Turnberry has listings all over the tri-county area, perhaps their area of specialty is that of Aventura south to Pinecrest. Turnberry has the most listings of any broker on Fisher Island, thanks to its outstanding Fisher Island agents, Don Pingaro and Robert Vole. Doris Lapadula, who handles anything and everything across Miami-Dade and Broward, has been a key part of the success of the South Miami office as well. Beth Maurer, the South Miami office manager, has been a key part of the exceptionally smooth opening.

The number for Turnberry’s area office, located at 1501 Venera Ave., Suite 207, Coral Gables, is 305-663-6550.