Behind every partnership is a story — and ours involves Bogotá, Boston, a market crash, and a woman named Karla who brought us together without even knowing it.

 

Carlos: I found real estate almost by accident. My original plan was Wall Street—but after 9/11, finance jobs were scarce. What never wavered was my determination to build a prosperous life, partially inspired by a challenging upbringing. 

 

I'm originally from Bogotá and my parents brought me to New York when I was two. My dad—a martial artist who had built his own studio—was murdered when I was young. My mom moved us to Connecticut for better schools, raising us with limited English and barely enough to get by. 

 

By the time I graduated high school, I was determined to succeed. I took out loans to study Business Management at Florida International University, and academic exchanges took me to Quebec, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. I became trilingual and fell completely in love with immersing myself in different cultures. Traveling became part of my education. 

 

After college, I worked as a business-to-business loan specialist for Wells Fargo before shifting into mortgage products. That’s when I met Ellen—thanks to my sister, Karla. 

 

 A force of nature in her own right, Karla worked at a telecom conglomerate, as a direct report to the CEO. She pulled our family into the telecom world, getting almost everyone a job at the company. When Karla died in a car accident, the loss was immeasurable, but her legacy lived on—starting with the fact that Ellen eventually filled the position That’s how we met. 

 

Ellen and I became partners in life and in business. I got my real estate license during Miami's construction boom while Ellen became a mortgage broker. However, the market crash of 2008 tested our business and our relationship. Business dried up and we both had to pivot: Ellen focused on negotiating short sales and processing mortgages while I focused on building key relationships with attorneys who connected me with sellers. We learned to negotiate short sales, navigate distress sales, and legally complex transactions inside and out. 

 

Those attorney relationships and legally complex deals became the foundation of what we do today. Ellen and I have become the go-to agents in Miami for clients navigating divorce, inheritance and the legally complex real estate decisions that high net worth individuals face. And somewhere along the way, inspired by Karla, I went back to school and earned a Master's Degree in Management from Harvard University — including a certification in real estate investment and finance. It's part of my commitment to continue to grow as a real estate professional and continue to strive to elevate myself for my clients.

 

Ellen: It was Carlos who inspired me to go into real estate. But the road that led me to him was anything but straight.

 

I grew up in Boston and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. However, when my mother suffered a stroke during my post-grad years, I dropped out to help her rehab. That experience changed me. I encouraged my parents to sell their Boston home and followed my instincts to move to Florida to be closer to them, knowing they would always need someone nearby to assist them.

 

 When I moved to Florida, I left my job working for a law firm, my intended field, and landed a job with a family friend, which morphed into forensic auditing to better identify inventory and financial loss. That job grew into something much bigger — a long career managing assets for companies and wealthy individuals. That line of work eventually led me to Carlos.

 

When we met, he was already interested in real estate, and as the years went by, I found myself moving in the same direction. In 2007, I left my job managing real estate holdings for a wealthy family office and instead became a mortgage broker, working alongside Carlos. When the market crashed in 2008, we weathered it together — both of us knee-deep during the hardest years the real estate industry had seen in decades. 

 

What came out the other side was something neither of us could have built alone: a partnership that brings a rare combination of legal, financial, and real estate expertise to every client we serve. We are sharp problem solvers, and there is no obstacle we cannot overcome on our clients’ behalf. 

 

We take our work seriously — and we treat it that way. Before anything else, we take the time to fully understand our clients' goals and their reasons behind them. From there, we reverse-engineer the transaction, working backwards to ensure every step protects our clients and moves them closer to their goals.

 

We've built a referral-based business on a simple foundation: attention to detail and a deep understanding of both the financial and legal sides of real estate. Our clients benefit from having two experienced agents representing them — two sets of eyes on every document, catching mistakes before they become costly.

 

Carlos brings strategic thinking and an extensive network of attorneys, high net worth individuals, and industry connections. Ellen brings market expertise and a talent for preparing clients to be in the strongest possible position to buy or sell. Together, we move quickly, are always available to speak with our clients, and hold everyone involved—including attorneys—accountable to deadlines.

 

Sincerely,

Carlos Gutierrez  

Ellen Berkman