Daryl Gilbert has been a site agent for D.R. Horton for seven years. Currently, he is selling homes in the Sebastian Cove community in St. Augustine and you’d expect this for his career path: Daryl’s father, Max, was general manager of Soforenko Homes for 21 years. “That’s where I got a lot of my work ethic.”
HIS HISTORY?
Gilbert got his real estate license in 1980 and worked in general real estate at several companies in Palatka. In 1983 he went to work for Soforenko Homes as a site agent. In 1989, he got out of the real estate business and became a mortgage broker at Gilbert Krestal Mortgage for a few years. He then went to work at Copeland Builders as a site agent for about a year. In the early 1990’s he got into home improvements and opened his own company, Coastal Exteriors. In the late 1990’s he started www.realtyrebates.com, an Internet-based referral company. He joined D.R. Horton in 2001.
WHY GO INTO REAL ESTATE?
“At eight years old I was cutting 2x4s helping build homes. At 15, I was sitting in my father’s model homes. I’ve been in sales since I can remember. I used to go door-to-door selling pecans that I picked to the neighbors. It was just a natural profession for me to get into.”
TOP PRODUCER?
Gilbert was recognized as a top producer several months in a row at the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council breakfast. He has sold as many as 14 homes in one month and has been recognized at least eight times in the last year. “My dad told me this a long time ago: ‘The more you see, the more you tell, the more you sell.’ There is no secret to sales. The more you get out there and spread the word, the more sales will result.” Gilbert said he just finds out about his customers and tried to give them individualized service.
ENTREPRENEURAL SPIRIT?
Gilbert has owned a few of his own companies and worked for many that were locally owned. “That is what I like about D.R. Horton. When they put you out into a neighborhood, it’s up to you to make it work. You have the support of the company behind you, but basically it’s your business to run. You have to treat it like that to be successful.”
HIS COMMUNITY?
Sebastian Cove is single-family and multi-family community located near SR 16 and the St. Augustine outlet malls. There will be 223 large homesites and nine condominium buildings with 16 units and 18 condominium buildings with 12 units with garages. Prices start in the $180,000’s for single-family and $114,000’s for the condominiums.
“We are very excited about it. The seven years that I’ve been with the company, I’ve mostly worked with first-time homebuyers. So, I like breaking down the sales procedure for the new buyers.”
DOES YOUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE HELP?
“When I was very young, I would go with my dad to visit mortgage companies. If they needed a verification of employment, he would grab it off their desk and run it out to get it done. It’s a ‘get it done’ work ethic that I have inherited. My experience in lending started with processing and I worked my way up to loan officer, so I am able to help loan officers find alternatives to help their clients. They know how to punch the numbers in to get a loan approved, but some of them don’t know everything that goes on behind the scenes as far as processing and underwriting. I know the whole process and I like to assist throughout the entire process. It inherits a sense of trust with the client.”
ADVICE FOR A NEW AGENT?
“Get out there, do it and be enthusiastic.”
BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED FROM A CO-WORKER?
“The customer doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. It’s corny, I know. I’m very down to earth.”
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council.
- by Michele Newbern Gillis