Bucking trends in Lodi

Realtor Rose Marie Mendonca, 76-years-young, occasionally works 16-hour-days and has been at the same Eastside location for 25 years. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Bucking trends in Lodi

Rose Marie Mendonca, 76, still peddles houses

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Friday, September 7, 2007 6:36 AM PDT

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When she was a child, Rose Marie Mendonca enjoyed playing Monopoly, the classic board game that focuses on buying as much property as possible.

"As a kid, I learned that if you have a lot of property, you get rich," Mendonca said.

Playing Monopoly led to a lucrative career in real estate, which Mendonca has practiced in Lodi since 1976.

"She has done an outstanding job; she's a good person," said former Lodi mayor and longtime realtor Bo Kazatkian.

Mendonca is 76 years young and hasn't entertained a thought of retiring. She works 10 to 12 hours a day — sometimes as many as 16 hours.

"I always have people to call, things to check," she said. "I've always had a lot of listings."

A lot of listings means more time in the office.

"She can work circles around me," said Leah Mettler, a realtor who works in Mendonca's office.

"She's 76, doing her business," Mettler said. "She should be on a cruise, sending us postcards."

Never mind that she had open-heart surgery last fall. She still returned to the office six weeks later.

"I love what I do," she said. "I have a passion for real estate. I love my clients, 99 percent of them."

Despite the ongoing slump in the housing market, Mendonca has sold a few dozen pieces of property during the past year. She said she didn't want to discuss specific numbers because she doesn't want to cause hurt feelings among others in her profession.

Mendonca got into the field during a time when men ruled the real estate industry, and it was hard to succeed in Lodi if you didn't have German blood. Lodi was settled by many Germans moving to the community from North and South Dakota, and it was the source of much of the city's power base.

Early in her real estate career, a longtime Lodi realtor told Mendonca she wouldn't succeed in real estate because she was a woman, not German and had no experience.

Them was fightin' words for Mendonca, who rolled up her sleeves and became even more determined to become a success. A woman of Portuguese descent, Mendonca was first in sales among Lodi realtors in 1977, her first full year in the field.

Yet another way Mendonca bucks the trend: Instead of having her office in the west side of Lodi, Mendonca insists on keeping her small quarters in Lodi's Eastside.

"We've got the cheapest little office in town, but I don't care," Mendonca said. "This is the most visible. Those who come from Sacramento and Stockton come by here."

Mendonca's office is at the northwest corner of Cherokee Lane and Pine Street, a building that was a gas station and auto repair shop in the early decades of the 20th century.

One broker told Mendonca that her office was "the bane and embarrassment of Prudential," Mettler said. "We were a riff-raffy little boutique. That really infuriated me."

A career in real estate

Rose Marie Mendonca has been selling real estate in Lodi since 1976. Some highlights include:
1955: Moving to Lodi area from Hanford with her husband, Manuel.
1976: Receiving her real estate license after a career as a haybailer. First job is with Red Carpet Realty.
1977: Being largest seller of real estate in Lodi — her first full year in the field.
1978: Opening Rose Marie Realty.
1990: Becoming affiliated with Realty World.
1991: Becoming president of Lodi Association of Realtors.
1992: Named Realtor of the Year by the Lodi Association of Realtors.
1996: Selling her business on doctor's recommendation. She continues selling property, but she dropped her role as an agent, giving legal responsibility to new owner Darrell Isaacs. Isaacs later sold the business to Craig Lewis.
1997: Prudential California Realty buys Realty World.
Source: Rose Marie Mendonca, Leah Mettler.

The broker also said that no real estate office has walk-in business anymore, Mettler said. Yet one-third of Mendonca's business comes from walk-in traffic, Mettler said.

One of Mendonca's fortés is selling property to low-income residents on the Eastside.

"I have a lot of foreign buyers," Mendonca said. "I can sell a house to a Spanish-speaking person who can't speak English. The only thing I can't say (in Spanish) is numbers, but I write them down."

Mendonca's office is like a family, literally and figuratively. Her son, Rick Mendonca, has been a realtor almost as long as his mom. A daughter now living in Texas, Renee, worked in the office at one time. And while not related, Mettler feels like a daughter to Mendonca.

"I'm not a good boss," Mendonca said. "I can't fire anybody. I never did, even though I should have."

Mendonca wasn't a realtor for all her adult life. Born and raised in Hanford, she moved to the rural Galt area in 1955, when her husband of 54 years, Manuel Mendonca, got a job as a cattle ranch foreman. They bought a ranch with one cow, some chickens and some sheep at Liberty and Bruella roads in 1955 for $5,400.

The Mendoncas ran a haybailing business for 25 years before Rose Marie decided to try real estate. She worked for Red Carpet Realty in Lodi until she opened her own office in 1980, when Lodi had a population of about 20,000. It was called Rose Marie Realty.

So what does Mendonca do when she isn't peddling property?

"My social life always goes around food," she said. "I love to cook, and I'm always going somewhere with someone for lunch."

Mettler added, "When she's not here (at the office), it's because 20 people are at her house for dinner."

Another hobby Mendonca has is buying property. She pays property tax to seven counties in California and two more in Texas.

"If it's between food and a duplex, she'll get the duplex," Mettler said.

While her children were growing up, Mendonca was active at Oak View and Galt High schools. She was community leader for Oak View 4-H as well.

Mendonca's office consists of four other people, whom she calls her "team" rather than her "staff." They are her son, Rick, Mettler and the husband-and-wife team of Carol and Jay Elliott.

"All of us our very supportive of each other like a family," Mendonca said.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Weaver's wrote on Sep 8, 2007 8:10 PM:

" We have learned much from this great lady! We love you! Jack, Luke, Jess and Greg "

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