Steve Williams is vice president of sales and marketing for McGarvey Residential Communities.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I handle the overall marketing plan and oversee the sales for the three communities in St. Augustine Beach, which are Sea Colony, Anastasia Dunes and now Sea Grove. We are kind of winding down in Sea Colony and Anastasia Dunes. There were 138 home sites in Anastasia Dunes with six left and 225 home sites in Sea Colony with 15 left for individual purchase.”
HOW ABOUT SEA GROVE?
“Sea Grove will have a total of 285 single family homes. It will be a little bit easier than our first two endeavors down there because the bulk of Sea Grove is going to be sold to two builders, Mercedes Homes and Jim Watson Homes. In the past, Jay McGarvey has done these communities more on a retail basis, where he retails the lots to individuals and to upper-end builders. In this particular venture he has decided to go back and do something he tried early on in his career, which is to commit a part of the community to one or two builders and see how they do with it. It also has a multifamily component of 40 condominiums and a five-acre commercial parcel right on the entry to the community. We will get to do commercial sales there too. It will give St. Augustine Beach its own downtown component, which is something they’ve never had.”
BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE
Williams is a real estate broker and a licensed building contractor.
INVOLVEMENT IN SMC
Williams has been a member of the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council since 1993 and is now the secretary/treasurer. He’s in line to be the chairman.
DO YOU WANT TO BE CHAIR OF SMC?
“Yes. I think it will be an exciting opportunity and a big challenge.”
SMC?
“It’s become a very influential group here in Jacksonville as far as the sales field is concerned. I think it has become that because people have gotten some sort of benefit from it, whether it’s from the education, the meetings, networking or from whatever it is that they are looking to gain from it. They are getting something back that is far more profitable than what their membership dues are. That’s the reason it has grown so well.”
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Home inspectors, home appraisers, insurance agents, title companies or attorneys. Anybody who wants to gain some aspect of their profession that they feel they are missing. They can find a niche there and gain from it. That’s the part that people have finally caught on to and it’s kind of created its own momentum and synergy now. It’s kind of snowballing. We have to keep that going.”
BEFORE BUILDING?
“I went to Florida Institute of Technology to finish my studies to be an oceanographer. I got with my placement officer who said he could get me a really great position on a ship with two months on and one month off for $10,000 a year. I told him that wasn’t a lot of money and that I had a greater visions of that for my career.”
SO WHAT DID HE DO?
“That’s when I called my father up here in Jacksonville Beach where I grew up. He had a real estate brokerage, Martin G. Williams Real Estate, here since the 1950’s. I came back, tried it and never left. I stayed there for 9 or 10 years.”
SITE SALES?
“My first opportunity in site sales in new home construction came from Dan Crisp and Bruce Lingerfelt. They had a company called Crisp Lingerfelt which built single-family homes at the beach. I really loved it. From there I just got different opportunities and experiences from Seda and ended up at Atlantic Builders as vice president of sales there. I really learned the production side of home building there. I made a lot of new contacts and new friends there. I joined McGarvey Residential Communities two years ago.”
WHAT IS REWARDING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
“The interaction with other people not only in my field, but in other fields. It is a people business and if you are a people person than that is the part that is rewarding about it.”
WHAT HAS HELPED YOU MOST TO GET YOU WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
“The support of my family, the people that I have worked with and fellow site agents. Collectively we have all gained something from it which has helped us to go to a higher spot.”
LESSONS LEARNED?
“Never think or speak ill-willed of anyone else no matter what happens. You never burn a bridge. That is probably the greatest thing I have learned.”
COLLEGE
He has a bachelor’s degree in biology, with a concentration in oceanographic technology, from High Point College.
RESIDES
South Jacksonville Beach.
CHURCH
“My wife and son are Jewish and I am an Episcopalian, but I go to Congregation Ahavath Chesed-Reform Temple with them on San Jose Boulevard.”
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, NEFBA and SMC.
FAMILY
He has been married to Rosalind for 14 years. They have one son, David, 12.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO WHEN NOT WORKING?
Surf and play golf.
FAVORITES
A movie he saw recently and would recommend is “Master and Commander.” But his favorite movie of all time is “Hoosiers.” A book he read recently and would recommend was “Seabiscuit” by Laura Hillenbrand. When relaxing at home, he enjoys tuning into the History Channel. A place he visited recently and would like to go again was the Mayan Ruins. When dining out, he prefers Outback Steakhouse.
- by Michele Newbern Gillis