A private note for San Diego agents

The company
you deserve.

A private conversation between the boutique San Diego has trusted for over 110 years and the global network your listings now require. Locally owned and operated, and the exclusive San Diego member of Forbes Global Properties.

Every inquiry reviewed by leadership. Always confidential.

Founded 19145 officesLocally owned Exclusive San Diego member, Forbes Global Properties
CHAPTER ONE
A message from our owner

The only brokerage in San Diego where the owner has walked the halls since 1977.

Andy Nelson walked into this company in 1977, became president in 1981, and has owned it since 1995. His sons build their business here as producing agents today. He personally interviews every associate who joins.

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A Message From Our Owner

Andy Nelson · President and Owner

Willis Allen is proudly locally owned and operated, and has been since 1914. Every decision is made right here in San Diego, by people who know this market street by street. Andy opens the series in his own words.

Chapter one · Opening message
No pressure. No pitch.

Heard something worth a conversation?

Leave your details at any point. Jane Granados or Tasha Manzano will reach out within one business day, and it stays entirely between us.

Confidential · Reviewed only by Willis Allen leadership

CHAPTER TWO
Since 1914. Thriving in 2026.

What over 110 years in San Diego actually buys you.

When you walk into a listing appointment, you bring your track record, and you bring your company's. Willis Allen has spent over 110 years earning trust in San Diego. Generations of families in La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, Point Loma and Encinitas have bought and sold with us, and their children and grandchildren still do.

Our agents stand a little taller for it. Your next listing pitch begins with a story only this firm can tell.

Legacy alone is not enough, and we have never pretended it is.
  • The largest and most respected independent real estate firm in San Diego County
  • Five offices across San Diego County, all locally run
  • Not a franchise. Every decision made here, on the day it needs making
  • Collection Magazine, quarterly, properties averaging $6.5M
1914Founded in La JollaAndy Nelson: president since 1981, owner since 1995
5Offices in San Diego CountyLa Jolla · Del Mar · Rancho Santa Fe · Point Loma · Encinitas
7Best in breed platformsNo technology fee to agents through WAREhouse
30yrsCareers built hereAgents stay 20 and 30 years, many through retirement
CHAPTER THREE
Meet the leadership

Owners who know your name and your listings.

Andy has been here since 1977. Jane Granados has been the constant for 36 years. With Drew and Tim in the business, the leadership team runs four deep. When you call, leadership answers.

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Standing Out Amongst the Rest

Jane Granados · COO and Managing Broker

Thirty six years alongside Andy, running operations, and still one of the most accessible executives in San Diego real estate. Jane explains what that global reach means for your business, and why it is only half the story.

45 sec
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The Next Hundred Years

Drew and Tim Nelson · The Nelson Brothers Team

The owner's sons are producing agents here, working the same market you do. They could have hung their licenses at any brand in the industry. They explain why they build here, and what a legacy name still opens in San Diego.

Chapter three · Leadership
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Our Dedication to You

Mike Marmion and Tasha Manzano

Mike has helped thousands of San Diego agents launch and grow. Tasha has 37 years in the industry and leads our North County office. Between them they have seen every brokerage model this market offers. Both chose Willis Allen, and both answer their own phones.

1 min
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Protected and Prepared

Kate MacIver · Director of Risk Management and Education

In an industry that rewrites its rules every year, this seat at the table protects yours. Weekly contract workshops, ongoing education, LeadingRE Institute courses, and a broker team you can reach in the middle of a negotiation.

Chapter three · Leadership
When I had the opportunity to meet the team at Willis Allen, I felt, where have they been all my life. I felt like I found a unicorn amongst horses. Tasha Manzano · Branch Manager, North County
Talk to leadership directly

You can be on the phone with Jane this week.

No six layers, no regional office, no queue. One conversation, on your timeline.

Confidential · Reviewed only by Willis Allen leadership

CHAPTER FOUR
White glove service

Most agents pay out of pocket for design help. Ours walk down the hall.

Every listing you take needs a campaign: the CMA, the print, the digital ads, the social content, the launch. At Willis Allen all of it is built for you, in house, by professionals, with no outsourcing.

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A Marketing Team of Your Own

Teresa Rafalik · Senior Marketing Manager

Teresa leads the in house creative team at the heart of our white glove model: one on one marketing consultations, personal branding, property strategy, social media audits, and print and digital ad support. Luxury branded, held to the Forbes Global Properties standard.

Chapter four · White glove service
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The People Behind Your Business

Laurel Coito and Bobby Houser

Laurel runs finance and operations. Bobby leads marketing strategy. Together they are the answer to the question every agent asks about a move: who actually handles the back end, and will anything slip? Onboarding, commissions, compliance and campaigns, explained by the people who do it.

Chapter four · White glove service
01

In house marketing team

Teresa Rafalik and her creative team sit down with you one on one. Personal branding, property strategy, social media audits, print and digital ad support. Hands on, every time.

02

WAREhouse technology hub

Seven integrated best in breed platforms, from CRM to presentation to transaction management, with no technology fee to agents.

03

Five phase listing campaign

Pre listing media, coming soon, launch, ongoing campaigns and global syndication through Forbes Global Properties and Luxury Portfolio International. Every listing, every time.

04

Collection Magazine and training

Collection Magazine showcases $1M plus properties averaging $6.5M, in print and digital, quarterly. Alongside it: marketing training, sales coaching and LeadingRE Institute courses.

Your time back

What would you do with the hours you spend on marketing?

Find out what your business looks like with a team behind it. One conversation, completely confidential.

Confidential · Reviewed only by Willis Allen leadership

CHAPTER FIVE
Exclusive San Diego member

Where your listings go when you join Willis Allen.

There is exactly one brokerage in San Diego County whose listings carry the Forbes Global Properties name. Your sellers' homes are presented through Forbes Global Properties, on a platform that reaches a Forbes audience of over 167 million a month, locally, nationally and around the globe.

Forbes Global Properties

Founding member, and the exclusive San Diego member. An invitation only network of luxury brokerages in more than 650 locations worldwide, carried on the Forbes Global Properties editorial platform.

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World

500 firms across 70 countries, with 129,000 sales associates. The home of the world's market leading independent residential brokerages.

Luxury Portfolio International

The luxury arm of LeadingRE. Approximately 50,000 of the world's most distinguished properties each year, with more homes priced above $1M than any other luxury network.

Three networks. One roster. No other San Diego brokerage offers the combination, and every Willis Allen listing carries all three marks.

CHAPTER SIX
Agent stories

Hear it from the people who moved their business here.

Real consultants and advisors, in their own words. No scripts.

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From $11M to $26M

Raini Gordy · Realtor, Willis Allen Real Estate

Twenty years in the business. She interviewed brokerages with three requirements: stability, support and growth. Her production went from $11 million in 2022 to $26 million in 2024, and the year was not finished.

1 min
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The Tools Behind the Business

Meghan Santos · Realtor, Willis Allen Real Estate

Luxury branded CMAs that hold up at any price point, a CRM wired into company email marketing, newsletters and media stacks built for your social channels. And the people who run it sit down the hall.

1 min 13 sec
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Support and Training That Keeps You Ahead

Melissa Catanzaro · Realtor, Willis Allen Real Estate

When buyer representation rules changed across California, her buyer presentation was built, branded and waiting at the click of a button. Mentorship, weekly workshops, contract workshops and cutting edge software behind it.

1 min 10 sec
I was able to grow my business from 11 million in 2022 all the way up to 26 million in 2024. And we have not ended the year yet. Raini Gordy · Realtor, Willis Allen Real Estate
Your numbers, honestly

See what your book would look like here.

Bring your production and your sphere. We will show you the real math, and you owe us nothing either way.

Confidential · Reviewed only by Willis Allen leadership

CHAPTER SEVEN
A company that shows up

Community is not a slogan here. It is on the calendar.

Thankful Thursday puts the whole company, staff and consultants and advisors together, behind the causes San Diego cares about: a morning packing produce at Feeding San Diego, backpack drives, Father Joe's Villages, and sometimes just paella and a long table at the office.

That same spirit runs inside the walls. Willis Allen is a Ninja Selling company, and agents from all five offices train together, share ideas and celebrate each other's wins. Colleagues here, not competitors.

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Ninja Selling at Willis Allen

Relationships over cold calls

Training agents to build business through relationships, with sessions that bring all five offices together.

38 seconds
CHAPTER EIGHT
The full story in five minutes

Everyone you have met, in one film.

The legacy, the leadership, the white glove service and the power of the Forbes Global Properties network. Five minutes, start to finish. If you watch one thing on this page, watch this.

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The Willis Allen Story

The full film

Our owner, our COO, our Director of Agent Development, our branch leadership, and the consultants and advisors who moved their businesses here and grew them.

5 min 40 sec
CHAPTER NINE
Your first 30 days

The move you keep putting off takes 30 days.

The question we hear most is simple: what happens to my business during the transition? Here is the answer, from the person who has run every one of them.

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Your First 30 Days

Jane Granados · COO and Managing Broker

Jane walks through exactly what happens after you say yes, day by day.

Chapter nine · The transition
Day one

Handled, not hoped for

Your license transfer and MLS are handled. Your active listings are rebranded by our creative team, with the Forbes Global Properties mark on every one.

Week one

Live on the platform

Your WAREhouse platform is live. CRM, CMA tools and email marketing, and you have met the people who run them.

Day thirty

Fully operational

A stronger brand than the one you left. Your clients saw an upgrade, not a disruption.

Nothing moves until you say so

Ask the transition questions before you decide anything.

Most agents book this call simply to understand what a move would actually involve. That is a perfectly good reason.

Confidential · Reviewed only by Willis Allen leadership

CHAPTER TEN
A personal invitation

We opened with Andy. It is only right he gets the last word.

He personally interviews every associate who joins this company. That is what selective standards look like at a firm that measures itself in generations, not quarters.

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A Personal Invitation

Andy Nelson · President and Owner

Andy's closing message to every agent who has followed this series.

Closing message · 4 minutes 46 seconds
What a conversation looks like

Three steps. Quiet, personal, and on your terms.

Consultants with twenty and thirty years in the business have taken this meeting simply to get clarity on what their business could look like here.

01 · The first call · Confidential

Discovery call

You reach out to Jane Granados or Tasha Manzano. You talk about your business, what is working and what is missing, and together you decide whether it makes sense to keep talking. Nothing goes further than that call.

02 · With Andy and Jane

Cultural fit

Andy personally interviews every associate who joins this company. He is not looking at your production, he already has that. He wants to know who you are. And you get to see exactly how he and Jane run this company before you decide anything.

03 · Onboarding · Fully supported

Transition plan

Onboarding here is a multi department effort. Paperwork, commissions and compliance with Laurel. Systems, MLS and the back end handled before you arrive. Then one on one with a marketing specialist. Day one your listings are rebranded. By day thirty you are fully operational.

Confidential inquiry

Start a conversation.

Every note goes straight to Willis Allen leadership and nowhere else. You will hear back within one business day.

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We are Willis Allen Real Estate.
The company you deserve.

Willis Allen Real Estate | Forbes Global Properties

Willis Allen Real Estate is an exclusive member of Forbes Global Properties. Forbes® is a registered trademark used under license.