Bob Toback has been a sales manager with Toll Brothers for three years. He is currently selling Coastal Oaks, the first community to be built in The Town of Nocatee.
WHAT IS GOING ON IN COASTAL OAKS RIGHT NOW?
So far about 50 homes have sold. “Sales are very good. We slowed up during the holidays like everybody, but sales have picked up dramatically.”
There will be 891 homes total in Coastal Oaks. They should move into their model this month and the first residents are expected to move in by August of this year.
Toll Brothers is offering several different products in the community including Legacy, which is offered on 39 to 54-foot lots and starts at $404,975; Ambassador, 65-foot lots and starts at $450,000; Estate, 80-foot lots and starts in the low $600,000’s and Signature, 100-foot lots and starts in the high $600,000’s; and soon The Carriage Collection town homes, which will start in the low $300,000’s. It will be a fully manned and gated community with several amenities including a softball field, soccer/multipurpose field, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, playgrounds throughout the development, three swimming pools, clubhouse, state-of-the art fitness center and an activity director.
FIRST COMMUNITY IN NOCATEE?
“We feel very fortunate that we have had the first opportunity to sell in there. People have been waiting for Nocatee to open so being the first builder in there has given us a very good edge in the marketplace.”
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT SELLING THIS PRODUCT?
“That fact that Nocatee is a city within itself. They’ve done planning different than any other development in Jacksonville, where they are going to have their own shopping, commercial and housing, so people who actually live there can probably get a job there, shop there and basically stay in the development to do everything.”
HIS HISTORY?
Toback has been a site agent since 1970. He started his real estate career in Australia. He has served in Vietnam while in the Army and was on a R&R trip in Australia where he met his future wife on a blind date. After they married, he moved to Australia and sold real estate for almost 10 years. Then they came to Florida where he worked for homebuilders in Clearwater and Brooksville. He moved to Jacksonville in 1981 and worked for D.W. Hutson until 2003 when he went to work for Richard R. Dostie New Home Collection. When they were bought out by Toll Brothers, he stayed on and has sold in several of their communities including St. Johns Forest, Julington Creek Plantation and Plantation Estates West.
BEFORE REAL ESTATE?
He was a sergeant in the Army.
WHAT MADE HIM GO INTO REAL ESTATE?
“There was an advertisement in the paper that said ‘No experience necessary’. They paid a salary and a car allowance. I liked working with people, so I decided I would do that. I started in general real estate and then went into new home sales and just stayed in it for basically my entire career.”
WHY NEW HOME SALES?
“I like the satisfaction of selling someone a quality product that they are putting a family in. When they move in they are excited because they got what you promised them and you just get a lot of satisfaction seeing the look on their face when they move into their new home.”
COLLEGE
He has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and sales and management from the University of Western Australia.
HOW DOES YOUR MANY YEARS EXPERIENCE HELP YOU NOW?
Toback said his experience has helped him in handling people and selling a dream. “They are buying houses right now without being able to see what the finished product is going to be. They are not seeing the home or the recreation area that we are promising will be in there. I have the ability to build the trust so that they feel comfortable that all these things are going to be done and that Toll Brothers is going to build them the best house that they can possibly get in Nocatee.”
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT REAL ESTATE?
“I like meeting people. I like the fact that everyday I can meet someone different with a different way of life, have conversations, learn things from people and learn about different places that I didn’t know.”
BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED FROM A CO-WORKER?
“Listen to the buyer before you answer the question.”
ADVICE FOR A NEW SITE AGENT?
“Never answer a question unless you know the answer.”
AWARDS
He has earned a Laurel Award for over $10 million in sales volume for eight years in a row.
PET PEEVES?
“The amount of paperwork you have to do.”
LESSONS LEARNED?
“I’ve learned that I don’t know everything and that every day there is something that is going to teach me something to be able to do what I do better.”
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS?
Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council.
— by Michele Newbern Gillis