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D’Amico Realty celebrates 60 years of family, community
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Trophy after trophy for Morra, the Italian hand game, sit at the edge of a desk in Tom D’Amico’s office.
Next to them sits picture after picture of family, friends and some famous faces.
The pictures tell a story about the D’Amico family and how the family reached its 60th anniversary in real estate.
The trophies and the pictures also tell what’s at the center of this Market Street business: family and community.
“We have been very fortunate,” Tom said. “We’ve always been busy.”
With a map of Youngstown in front of him, Tom, a South Side native, tells the story of how D’Amico Agency Inc. Realtors began. It all started in the city with his late brother, Bill.
Bill, the second-oldest in a family of six boys, was just 20 when he got into real estate. He first worked with Hugh McCall Realty as an agent before he became a broker.
“He loved it,” Tom said.
In 1955, Bill became a broker at 22 and started his company shortly after. The first D’Amico office was on the corner of Southern and Midlothian boulevards.
“He was excellent,” Tom said. “He became the first Federal Housing Administration broker in the area.”
A downturn in the 1960s hurt the area housing market, but Bill and his office bounced back.
“He worked hard,” Tom said. “The harder you work, the luckier you are.”
Bill also had all of his brothers – Pete, Robert, Michael, Tom and the late Fred D’Amico – there to provide support and help in the business. And he seemed to live to help families find that home of their dreams.
“I like to tell people: ‘We sell happiness,’” Tom said.
Bill wasn’t just a local businessman. He was also a community man who wanted to see Youngstown thrive.
“He was a very important member of the community,” Tom said.
Tom came on board when Bill moved to a new office on Midlothian Boulevard.
He sold his first house and fell in love instantly with the business. That year, 1971, he sold 50 or more houses.
“You always remember your first sale,” Tom said.
Tom also remembers the down times. The late 1970s came with a punch. Interest rates were sky high at 18 percent and even higher. Tom, who was president of the area board of Realtors at the time, worked with local banks to get them to offer a 12 percent rate.
“We were able to hang on through all of those years,” Tom said.
Tom also worked to bring new investors to the area, but he hit some road blocks.
“There was a cloud over the city at the time, and that was organized crime,” Tom said.
Tom went on to run for mayor of Youngstown in 1983, but lost.
“These two guys cared so much about our community,” Bob D’Amico said of his brothers, Tom and Bill. “They always wanted to make a difference.”
The company went on to become a part of Century 21 for a few years. A picture of the office back then shows agents showing off their mustard-yellow jackets.
The office is a lot smaller now, but Tom, who took over the company in 1990 after Bill’s death, says it is as busy as ever with commercial and residential brokerages. The D’Amico staff also offers appraisals and property management. Since Youngstown properties are marketed all over the world, the investors need someone to manage their properties here.
While there have been changes through the years in the real-estate business, the D’Amicos stay positive with the business.
And it is still all centered around family.
Helen D’Amico, Bob’s wife, is in charge of rentals; Sheree D’Amico Nemenz, Tom’s daughter, is a real-estate broker and certified general appraiser; and Peggy D’Amico, Tom’s wife, does the bookkeeping, accounting and payroll.
Tammi Bartolone, a certified residential appraiser and realtor, has worked in the office for 13 years. She was hired for temporary help but was kept on staff and made a part of the family.
If it weren’t for Bill’s desire to get into real estate, Tom would have never jumped on board. Looking back at some of Bill’s memories in a scrapbook, Tom says his brother taught him to stay enthusiastic about the job.
Tom remains enthusiastic about the job and the area. Interest rates are down and prices are down. But Tom sees room for improvement with investors.
“I think in Youngstown, we have so much great potential here,” Tom said.