Diversity Profile: The RIO Group
Luis and Stefani Rae Rosario of the RIO Group are a husband-and-wife team with RE/MAX Cornerstone Realty. They launched their real estate careers in 2019 after relocating to Summerville, South Carolina from Pennsylvania and this bilingual Puerto Rican team has quickly become a force in the Charleston real estate market.
Luis is one of 6 boys in his family, and was born and raised in Puerto Rico and New York City. He attended Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Queens, NY and worked as an aircraft technician, repairing 747 commercial airliners. Then Luis was a Regional Director for Dunkin Donuts for 13 years. He also served as a youth minister and played the guitar at church. Stefani was born and raised in Manhattan, New York with her three sisters. Prior to becoming a Realtor®, she was a homemaker and stay at home mom to their children. The couple met during church service in the Bronx and have been married for 21 years.
The Rosarios attribute their shift into real estate to Michael and Belinda Fox, inspired them to take the leap into real estate when Luis wanted to move on from the corporate world. Luis had an impressive first year, closing 35 deals from March to December 2019 and his success encouraged Stefani to in June 2020. Their son works in an administrative role for their team, but they hope that he will move to a sales role in the future!
The RIO Group has recruited 11 people into real estate during their short time in the industry. When they bring new agents on board, they advise them to become a student of the craft—attend every education session possible, study the top producers and learn everything they can. They affectionately compared learning the craft to learning a new language. You must be immersed in it every day.
The Rosarios are bilingual, which has helped them support clients who do not speak English or English as their first language. To them, it is important that non-English speaking clients are treated fairly and given the same high level of service as anyone else. They are hopeful the recently released Spanish translated contracts from SCR will improve the level of service to ALL their clients.
The Rosarios joined the CTAR Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee in 2022. They were instrumental in the development of the DEI strategic plan for 2023-25 and have also served on the DEI Public Policy taskforce. Their passion for the community is best displayed in their volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and they are focusing on ways to help combat the housing crisis and actively seek out ways to support affordable housing efforts.
Luis credits their success to the knowledge he gained with more than a decade of corporate experience—treat everyone right, always give a smile, invest in your business, invest in your people and most importantly, to stay humble. Their motto is “If you care about the people, the money will come”.
