by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Tim Delp has a boyish face and friendly demeanor despite his looming 6-foot-8 frame, which he says has helped him in business.
Delp is the assistant vice president and branch manger for HomeBanc Mortgage — one of the largest retail mortgage originators in the Southeast — and he often uses his height to trigger memories in his business.
“As a loan officer, there were times when I would call on a listing agent and I’d say I’m with HomeBanc. I’d ask, ‘Do you remember me? We met at the open house. I’m the really tall guy.’ Then they would say ‘Oh, yeah, I remember.’ I definitely think it (my height) has been a positive thing as far as getting people to remember me,” he said.
Delp has been with HomeBanc for eight-and-half-years. Before moving to Jacksonville nearly two years ago, Delp was in St. Petersburg. He graduated from Eckerd College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and Spanish and went to work for HomeBanc a year after graduation.
“I knew I wanted to do something in the finance world whether it was as a financial advisor, stock broker or banking related where I was helping customers understand their finances,” he said. “I interviewed with HomeBanc on-campus and went into their training program to go into operations. I was in operations for the first two-and-a-half years and then a loan officer for the next four-and-a-half years.”
Delp said as a loan officer, being in operations first really helped him learn to structure his loans better and in a more complete fashion. The operations side taught him what aggravates customers and causes problems on the back end.
“Now as a manager, I can illustrate those same things to my new loan officers when they may not understand the frustrations that are happening in operations,” said Delp. “I can try to explain both sides and it helps me work better with the operations side as well. They can’t tell me I’ve never sat in their shoes because I have and I know what they are going through.”
Some of the best professional advice Delp has received was to find something he loved to do. He was told to grow roots at work and become a part of something that helped people.
“There is definitely a sense of gratitude providing for the community by helping people get into their homes, whether it is a move-up buyer or a first-time homebuyer,” he said.
Delp is a member of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and the Northeast Florida Builders Association. He’s involved with the Jacksonville Jaycees and is also interning on the board for Volunteer Jacksonville.