T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY The staff of Des Moines-based real estate and accounting firm Inmobiliaria Inc., along with representatives from the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber Ambassadors, celebrated the opening of their Marshalltown location at 112 E. Linn St. with a ribbon cutting on Tuesday afternoon.

The staff of Inmobiliaria Inc., a Des Moines-based real estate and accounting firm with bilingual staff focused on providing a one-stop shop for financial services, celebrated the opening of their Marshalltown office during a ribbon cutting and open house event with the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday afternoon.

Located at 112 E. Linn St. in the same building as the Peglow, O’Hare and See Law Office, Inmobiliaria is led by CEO Monica Reyes, who was a student at Franklin Elementary when her family first came to Iowa from California before eventually moving to Waterloo and New Hampton (and studying at the University of Northern Iowa) as she got older.

“I feel like Marshalltown was monumental for me and my career and my life path, I think, in general. (It) gave me a lot of the tools that I needed to start forming myself as an individual, and for me to be able to come back to the community that helped kickstart my education and just myself in general, it’s a privilege to come back and just to share everything that we’ve been doing in the Des Moines area and give that back to other areas in the state of Iowa,” she said.

Although real estate is the company’s bread and butter — the Spanish word Inmobiliaria literally translates to “real estate” — Reyes also strives to help budding entrepreneurs get their businesses registered with the necessary permits and licenses, ensure compliance with rules and regulations and properly file and pay their taxes.

“At the core of what we do strive to do for the community is to build generational wealth through real estate, and so our goal is that for all of these businesses and individuals that come to us for any of our services, that they’re also investing and multiplying their wealth through real estate and other financial products, but especially with real estate — whether it’s on the residential side, on the commercial side, building, buying, rentals, anything,” she said. “It’s just to break that cycle of poverty for people and help them build that generational wealth.”

Both Reyes and her husband Fernando Aveiga are licensed REALTORS ®, and Inmobiliaria has a team of about 10 agents currently on staff. Accountant Leydi Castillo and tax preparer Karina Mendoza, who plans to work seasonally during tax season, are both from Marshalltown.

“It’s definitely exciting helping our own community thrive, trying to get their dreams to come to life, so it’s very exciting to do that and be there every step of the way,” Castillo said.

With a bilingual staff in a city where at least a third of the population speaks Spanish, Mendoza and Reyes also see Inmobiliaria as a key resource for people who may not otherwise know where to start.

“We have the passion and we have the work ethic. Sometimes it’s all about (the fact that) you don’t know what you don’t know, and so we have certain barriers — language, other things,” Reyes said. “And when they can come into an office like ours, receive everything in their own language and be able to navigate all of these different systems, whether it’s the IRS, the Iowa Department of Revenue, Iowa Workforce Development, those can be very intimidating even if you’re fully grown in Iowa, right? And so having to go through that with not the right technology, not the right language, it can be overwhelming. So we’re there as business partners, basically, with our clients and with our families that we serve.”

Inmobiliaria Inc. will be open in Marshalltown on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the business can be reached at (641) 781-7417. The plan is to be open on weekends during tax season. Currently, Castillo will be the only full-time employee working exclusively from the office here, but Mendoza will be on hand during tax season. Reyes also intends to be in Marshalltown every Friday and invites prospective clients to stop by, visit and have coffee with her.

“We’re excited to be here in the Marshalltown area, and we’re excited to also serve the community of Marshalltown. Whether you are Spanish speaking or not, we have the tools and the resources to help people make those dreams become a reality,” she said.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255

or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.