The office is located at 165 Arlington Rd.
HOW LONG OPEN?
The company has been in business since 1976 and they moved to their current location three years ago.
WHY THIS LOCATION?
“We thought it was very convenient,” said Charles Mann, one of the brokers. “It has easy access to downtown, the beaches, Mandarin and Southside. The Northside is growing and we are only a few minutes away from the Dames Point Bridge. It is just a very convenient location to get to the markets that we serve.”
THE BROKERS
Don Pellicer and Mann.
LONGEST
RUNNING TEAM?
“The interesting and unique thing about Donny and I is that we have been best friends since high school,” said Mann. “We’ve worked together for 26 years and are one of the oldest surviving partnerships in the real estate business.”
HOW DID YOU GET TOGETHER?
“We’ve known each other for years and years,” said Pellicer. “Charlie was already in the real estate business and we decided it would be a great place to work together and we’ve been together ever since.”
HOW DOES MANN
LIKE WORKING
WITH PELLICER AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?
“It gives us a bond,” said Mann. “Donny is the most honest person I’ve ever known in my entire life. Whenever I have a question, whether it’s right, wrong or indifferent, he’s kind of like my moral conscience. Sometimes I get a little overly aggressive and he slows me down and sometimes he gets overly aggressive and I slow him down. We are both aggressive by nature. Don’t get me wrong — we do fight, but no one fights with him but me.”
AND HOW DOES
PELLICER LIKE
WORKING WITH MANN?
“What I have always admired about Charlie is that there has never been a real estate question that he doesn’t have the answer to,” said Pellicer. “I’m sure there are plenty of things that he doesn’t know about the real estate business, but he is very knowledgeable in about all phases. We work real well in that respect. Over the years that we have been friends and business partners. Yeah, we’ve had our tough times just like any couple will do whether they are partners or married. But, by the same token, we’ve never forgotten that we are friends. That’s why I think other partnerships come and go and ours has stayed.”
WHAT DO
EACH OF YOU DO?
Pellicer handles the day-to-day activities of the office including handling the corporate relations, advertising and accounting. Mann interfaces with the sales people when, where and how they need him. “We share the responsibilities of the office,” said Mann.
WHO’S IN THE OFFICE?
Delores Tillisch is the property manager and Dot Peters is the secretary. Dave Pellicer, Mike Pellicer, Mary Jo Mann-Goethe, Brenda Thigpen, Alvin Evans, Joyce Chaffee, Arlene Bethel and Dahte Kerekes are the real estate agents.
OFFICE SPECIALITY?
The office handles residential, commercial, property management and real estate consulting.
REAL ESTATE
CONSULTING?
“Donny and I both do a lot of real estate consulting as far as zoning issues, land use issues, permitting, small scale land use changes, variances, administrative deviations and exceptions. These are all things that are brought before either the Planning and Development Department, City Council, Land Use and Zoning Committee or the Planning Commission. We have about 15 items in mill right now for various clients.”
WHAT MAKES YOUR OFFICE UNIQUE?
“I think we offer more services with our real estate consulting,” said Mann. “It has gotten to be such a technical area that most real estate offices send their clients over to us. A lot of law firms send their clients over to us. We do a lot of business out of this office.”
HOW DO YOUR
AGENTS MAKE THE OFFICE UNIQUE?
“Most of our people are experienced and older in the business. It’s a small office where our people are allowed to manage themselves. There is a freedom here, without the regimentation other offices have.”
HOW IS ARLINGTON AREA DOING?
“It’s like everything else, it’s appreciating,” said Pellicer. “We don’t confine ourselves to the Arlington area, although a lot of our business is done in Arlington. We see it going through changes just like every other part of Jacksonville. Values are increasing and properties are being cleaned up. The city’s Renaissance program and the fact Arlington has such a close proximity to the downtown area has helped to increase value.”
WHAT ARE THE
ADVANTAGES OR
DISADVANTAGES OF HAVING SUCH A
SMALL OFFICE?
“It gives us a tremendous amount of flexibility to stay in tune with the market to handle trends in the market,” said Mann. “It gives our sales people flexibility that they wouldn’t get in a large organization. Our people can come in and do their own thing. They can work around their own schedules, their desires to be with their family, to continue their education and college and to pursue the area of real estate that interests them.”
DIVERSIFIED
“We are small by design,” said Pellicer. “The fact that we are so diversified allows us to be small. If we were simply a residential office and all we are going to do is pump out sales and listings each month, then we would try to have 20 or 30 sales people. But, the fact that we are so diversified allows us to be small.”
FAMILY AFFAIR?
They have several members of their immediate and extended families working for them and more on the way.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis