Elizabeth "Eli" Ristine of Pan Florida Realty recently was honored three-fold by the Women’s Council of Realtors (WCR).

Elizabeth "Eli" Ristine

The WCR awarded Ristine their Rising Star Award, a real honor particularly because she has been with the organization for only two years. Ristine also recently was voted president-elect for the South Miami-Dade County Chapter. And finally, Ristine was assigned to be the co-chair of the WCR Credentials Committee for the entire state of Florida.

The WCR was established in 1938 to help women Realtors gain a fair and equitable share of the marketplace.

"The WCR is such a tremendous network to have on hand. It has been a tremendous asset and I am glad to be a part of it," she said.

Ristine likes to say she was "born into the business" of real estate. Her mother started Pan Florida 28 years ago, and during that time they have developed a tremendous reputation as relocation specialists. Ristine’s mother-in-law works for ReMax in Kendall. And Ristine even learned the other side of the realty business before getting her real estate license 10 years ago by working six years for a property management company in North Bay Village.

Having this wealth of experience and outstanding network at her disposal has allowed Ristine to create a unique sort of firm. "We can take you, the client, through the entire process," she said. "In fact that’s one of our goals — for the client to be as involved or uninvolved as they’d like in the relocation process. Although we aren’t discriminatory or steering, I do feel responsible for those moving down here and try and put them in the best place for their needs, whether it’s to be close to school or work or whatever. We can refer you to good English and Spanish speaking attorneys, help you find reasonable, reputable mortgage companies, and we’ll even help you find the right financial service group. My husband is a handyman, and can make most alterations you might need, but we also can help you to find good plumbers or electricians should you need help with that sort of thing."

It is that sort of personal one-on-one relationship with its customers that has allowed Pan Florida to develop a great reputation for client loyalty.

"We’ll concentrate on three or four customers instead of 15, because we want our customers to be repeat customers. We even manage some properties for out of town investors, an unusual thing for a firm like ourselves, but it shows the trust people have in us," she said.

Ristine primarily services the roughly triangular area between Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and South Beach, while her mother specializes in areas west of the Palmetto Expressway such as Kendall, Westchester and Doral. They will sometimes take other listings, but the WCR is frequently useful in situations like those.

Ristine explained, "If I feel like I’m not going to be able to competently service a property, I’ll refer it to someone. Traffic is getting so congested down here that agents need to give out of area referrals to save time, and I’ve found that you get at least as many referrals back, in area, as you give out."

Another way that Ristine has avoided the congestion is through the Internet, which she has used to boost business. Pan Florida’s Web site can be found at <www.miamihomesales.com>.

Ristine’s traditional area of expertise has been rentals, particularly on Miami Beach. She estimates that she does around 10 rentals a month, both short-term and long-term. Her short-term leases go from $750 to $2,000 a month, while her long-terms range from $500 a month to $3,000 a month.