25 Years and Lots of Flowers

The 2013 Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley Annual Plant Sale was a great success! All 1,400 hanging baskets were sold at the Bettendorf location, which was at Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors, 1228 Middle Road, Bettendorf. Over 2,600 flats of annuals were sold over the course of 9 days. 

All proceeds from this event benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters to support one-to-one mentoring programs in our communities. This is the second year that Ruhl&Ruhl hosted a plant sale location. “It’s always a fun event,” said Caroline Ruhl, President of Ruhl&Ruhl Realtors. “We love that we can host this incredible organization and help raise funds for such an important cause.”

 “We had much more traffic and outstanding efforts by everyone,” said Kayla Kiesey, Director of Events and Community Partnerships for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of Big Brothers serving eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Over that time, the organization has helped over 30,000 children achieve academic and social success through the support of a caring adult mentor. Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country.

A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS has grown to more than 301 sales associates, 58 employees and twelve offices, selling nearly 5,000 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwest Wisconsin. The company has residential sales offices in Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Iowa City, Maquoketa, Muscatine and Washington, Iowa; and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, the company offers services in relocation, property management, real estate investments, new home sales, land development, farm sales, senior services, home vendor services, insurance services through the Nelson Brothers Agency and mortgage services through Shelter Mortgage. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com.

The History of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS – 151 Years of Service

It all started in a little German grocery store in west Davenport, from which insurance and real estate also were sold. Five generations and thousands of homes later, Caroline Ruhl leads Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS today. Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS has grown to more than 300 sales associates in 12 offices, serving 29 counties, yet our commitment to providing service with quality, value and integrity remains firmly rooted.

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS traces its origins back to 1862 when an ambitious entrepreneur established a sole proprietorship. As the business grew and prospered, it became a partnership, changing hands a number of times over the next thirty or so years. In 1899, the then successful insurance agency came under the control of John G. Ruhl. One year after assuming control, John added real estate brokerage to the firm's growing list of services. John Ruhl was joined by his sons, Edward Ruhl in1919 and C. Arthur Ruhl in 1920. Although the boys were encouraged to work in all areas of the business, Edward gravitated to real estate and Arthur to insurance.

In 1949 John G. Ruhl, the oldest son of C. Arthur Ruhl, joined the firm and was followed a year later by his brother Charles A. Ruhl. The firm had by then four full time real estate salesmen and was flourishing in both the real estate and insurance areas. The boys were told to learn both sides of the business and did, although it was soon obvious that John preferred insurance and Chuck favored real estate. The untimely death of Edward Ruhl in 1956 created an unfortunate necessity for Chuck and John to pursue their specialty on a permanent basis.

In January of 1982, a major reorganization took place and the real estate and insurance companies separated. A fourth generation of the Ruhl family was added to the firm with the association in 1976 of Charles A. Ruhl, Jr., in 1980 of Caroline Ruhl, and in 1991 of John G. Ruhl.

In 1997, another reorganization took effect. Caroline Ruhl took sole ownership of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, the residential company, and Chuck Ruhl, Jr. opened a new company, NAI Ruhl&Ruhl Commercial Company, and was joined by his brother John Ruhl. In 2001, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS acquired the McCarthy Bush real estate company, whose parent company is one of the largest residential developers in the region. As a result of this merger, the McCarthy Bush principals became acquired small minority interest in Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS.

In 2012, Chris Beason, Caroline’s son, became the 5th generation of family leaders. Today, Chris is an owner, along with Caroline Ruhl and a family trust. There is no overlapping ownership between Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS and NAI Ruhl&Ruhl Commercial Company.

Today, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, the residential company, has 300 sales associates, 58 employees and 12 residential offices serving eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwest Wisconsin, along with its corporate office in Davenport, Iowa. The residential sales offices are located in Bettendorf, Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, Muscatine, and Washington, Iowa and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, the company offers services in relocation, property management, real estate investments, new home sales, land development, farm and land sales, senior services, home vendor services, insurance services through the Nelson Brothers Agency and mortgage services through Shelter Mortgage.

Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS seven core values - integrity; caring and challenging; commitment to client satisfaction; embracing change and continuous learning; loyalty; extraordinary quality; and community involvement – serve as the glue that holds company together.  These shared values provide all sales associates and staff a common bond and focus that will carry the company forward…for at least another 150 years.  

For more information please visit RuhlHomes.com or to download our app, visit MobileRuhl.