Jim Jacob was born in Tampa, Florida on August 2, 1956, and was raised in the Tampa area, attending Gorrie, Wilson and Plant public schools. Mr. Jacob received a BS degree in Business Administration from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina in 1978. After graduation from college, Mr. Jacob served on active duty as an armor officer in the United States Army. Upon leaving the Army in 1983, Mr. Jacob supervised new home construction and lot development for General Homes in Tampa. In 1985, Mr. Jacob obtained his general contractor’s license and real estate salesman’s license while he was head of the Land Division of Resource Capital Corporation.

In 1986 Mr. Jacob joined the firm of Preston & Farley, Inc., Realtors, where he specialized in property management, commercial investment brokerage and land brokerage. Mr. Jacob is an associate member of the Urban Land Institute, is a member of the local and state Realtor organizations and holds the CCIM designation from the Realtor’s National Marketing Institute of the National Association of Realtors. An Eagle Scout, Mr. Jacob supports the Boy Scouts of America, is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, is Board President of ACTS, former President of Florida Commercial Brokers Network and is active in a variety of other civic, social and professional organizations.

In 1979, Kathy began her advertising and marketing career at Louis Benito Advertising working with a variety of clients including McDonald’s Restaurants, General Telephone Company, the Tampa Port Authority and Paramount Pictures. In late 1983, Kathy accepted a position with Wendy’s International Restaurants as their Regional Marketing Manager for the Southeastern United States and Caribbean where she handled both company and franchise markets.

In 1987, Kathy joined Creative Directions, a real estate advertising firm, to pursue her interest in real estate marketing. While with Creative Directions, the agency was purchased by Benito Advertising, and Kathy was Senior Account Executive handling the Jack Nicklaus golf course communities throughout the United States, Talquin Development Scarborough-Sembler Developments, Ibis Golf & Country Club in West Palm Beach, The Oaks in Sarasota County, and many smaller projects. In March, 1991, Kathy left Benito Real Estate to join Jacob Real Estate Services where she is responsible for marketing planning and tracking of all of our client’s for sale and for lease opportunities.

Deana Cannella is a Tampa native, raised in the South Tampa area. She is a Licensed Realtor® with over 8 years of experience, specializing in Commercial Sales and Leasing and Residential Sales. She is an active member of the Greater Tampa Realtors® and the National Association of Realtors®.

Deana has represented clients in the sale and purchase of Commercial Real Estate as well as tenants and owners in leasing transactions. In addition to working with office, medical and retail clients, she has represented a variety of investment clients ranging from sales and purchases of small multi-family properties to large residential acquisitions.

As a longtime resident of South Tampa, Deana has comprehensive knowledge of its rapidly growing real estate market and its surrounding areas. She prides herself in maintaining meaningful relationships with clients and strives to provide a unique experience and excellent service.

Joe Jacob joined the company in July of 2015 and is a Florida licensed real estate associate. Joe works in our proprerty management division taking care of the day to day management of over 38 properties including maintenance calls, resolving tenant issues, preparing monthly management reports to owners, leasing units and general administration needs. Joe also handles commercial leasing on the commercial side of the company and residential sales. He graducated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science degree and a minor in Computer Technology and Applications. Joe currently lives in South Tampa.