Pleasanton, CA — June 27, 2o22 — NextHome is pleased to announce the opening of NextHome Experts Realty in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The brokerage joins the growing NextHome franchise that currently has 589 active office locations across the country.
The brokerage will provide expert service to clients throughout Edmond, Moore, Midwest City, Choctaw, Nicoma Park, Del City, Mustang, Piedmont, Tuttle, Newcastle, and the remainder of the Oklahoma City Metro Area.
NextHome Experts Realty is owned by Ruthie Gallardo-Owens and Maribel Orquiz. Both women offer exceptional bi-lingual service to the Hispanic community. As immigrants from Mexico who came to the United States as teenagers, both Ruthie and Maribel are dialed-in to the specific needs of the region’s Hispanic homebuyers.
Ruthie has been a real estate professional since 2016 and Maribel joined Ruthie at Keller Williams Elite in Oklahoma City in 2019. While there, the pair led the highly-successful Oklahoma Real Estate Experts team. Going into 2020, the team of five produced above 10 million in a market where average home prices hovered around $180,000. Although their sales numbers were remarkable, Ruthie and Maribel’s best achievements were the lives they changed.
“We really do believe in putting humans over houses,” Maribel said. “We want every transaction to turn out positively for our clients, so we always put their needs before any selling margin or commission.”
Ruthie and Maribel’s dedication to their clients grew their business beyond any of their projections.
“Goals that we anticipated would take us five years ended up only taking one,” Ruthie said. “Although working with these big real estate brands served us well in the stage we were in, we quickly outgrew the brokerage structures we were under. It was time to expand and move on.”
In 2022, Ruthie and Maribel knew it was the right time to open their own franchise.
Prior to real estate, Ruthie obtained a Master’s Degree in Education while Maribel’s professional background was in information technology. These backgrounds meant the pair was going to look very critically at the educational and technology offerings of any potential franchise.
“I’m a data nerd, so in order to make my research through, I looked carefully at other franchises and how the brand I was familiar with stacked up,” Ruthie said. “That’s when I discovered NextHome. NextHome aligned better with our values, our personalities, and where we want to be in the next 10 years – more than any of the other large franchises.”
Ruthie and Maribel were also impressed with NextHome’s corporate culture, technology, and marketing.
“I love that with NextHome, you feel as if you are part of a community,” Ruthie said. “It isn’t stuffy or self-important. This franchise is grounded in the very real and human process of home buying.”
“Obviously the values were a good fit for us, but functionality was also really important,” Maribel added. “We wanted to offer our agents the highest level of technology possible to do this job and grow their businesses. NextHome’s industry-leading technology that we could offer our agents was really attractive. Combined with the culture piece we knew NextHome had a winning strategy.”
Today, NextHome Experts Realty is offering clients education-centered real estate experiences, tailored to their individual needs.
“We stand out in our market by offering a true focus on education for our clients,” Ruthie said. “We start with our agents receiving world-class education and support. Then, we know that the client has the absolute best information possible so that they can make the most informed decision for themselves.”
Ruthie and Maribel are dedicated supporters of the area’s military community. Ruthie’s father-in-law is a retired Naval Chief.
“We love to donate our time and energy to military organizations,” Ruthie said. “Those are dear to our heart and at the top of our priority list.”
Ruthie and her husband Danny have two children: Danny (11) and Izzy (5). She is also one of several loving parent figures for her youngest sister Dulce (17) who will be graduating high school this year. Ruthie is also the loving owner of three fur babies: She-Ra, Chico, and Khalo.
Maribel is the daughter of an Army veteran and her oldest son currently serves in the Navy. She is married to her high school sweetheart, James, and they are the parents of four children: James Jr. (24), Sydney (19), Naomi (17), and Jace (7).
Please join us in congratulating Ruthie and Maribel on the opening of NextHome Experts Realty in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma!
Interested in being a part of the NextHome Real Estate Franchise? Contact VP of Sales Charis Moreno at Charis@NextHome.com.
Each office is an independently owned and operated business.