Founded in 1978, Dale Sorensen Real Estate (DSRE) has experienced incredible growth and expansion since 2010 and continues to be on the cutting edge of building a stellar brand through a combination of savvy marketing, a superior Internet presence and a team of close-knit, well-educated sales associates.
The company is Vero’s and Indian River County’s most successful real estate brokerage in terms of sales by a wide margin. That success spans the market from small mainland homes to the highest-priced ocean- and riverfront properties.
“Since June of 2010, DSRE has sold more than $1.2 billion of barrier island sales, and since 2012 our agents were involved in over 37 percent of all island transactions,” said Dale Sorensen Jr., managing partner of the company that was founded by his parents, Dale Sorensen Sr. and Matilde Sorensen. “That figure is the most impressive to me, especially when there are 182-plus real estate companies in Indian River County.” On the island, DSRE led in 2015 in market share, dollar volume and number of transactions (nearly twice as many as the nearest competitor).
“We average over $10 million per week under contract year round. In season, this number is more like $15 to $20 million per week,” said Sorensen. “But consider this – In Indian River County we closed on $443,000,000 in real estate, which is an average of $36.7 million per month for IRC alone. Divide that by four weeks and you get $9 million per week in closings.”
Sorensen’s success now extends to Brevard County – in a very big way. In 2014 the company established an office in a cool mid-century modern building in Indialantic, across the SR-194 causeway from Melbourne, and now dominates the market for homes selling between $500,000 and $1 million. Countywide, the company pulled in $174 million in sales in Melbourne/Brevard in 2015, its first full calendar year of operation up there.
That figure, combined with the $443 million in sales in IRC, equals $617 million total and $51.4 million in closings per month. “These numbers are quite amazing to me,” Sorensen said. “Consider that in 2009 we closed on $121 million in total sales, equating to $10 million a month. Now we are at $51 million per month, which averages to over $1.8 million a day in closings for 365 days a year.”
“These numbers and figures are a great selling point for our agents to present to their clients. It can really help them get listings,” said Sorensen.
The company has shown an ability to do well in a poor real estate market as well as in a good one. Indeed, one of the most remarkable aspects of Sorensen’s growth and success is how much of the expansion came in during the worst years of the real estate recession. When the housing market was on life support here and nationwide, the company was growing sales by as much as $100 million a year.
“I am truly still amazed at what our team of agents, staff and leadership combined with our marketing and branding have accomplished, not just locally but regionally,” said Sorensen.
Sorensen prefers to attract agents rather than recruit them. He lets the brand and successes of the company grab the attention of agents looking for a winning brokerage. “You build a better company and a better base this way,” he says. “I get inquiries every week from agents who would like to join the company.”
At present, DSRE has more than 100 active agents in Indian River County along with 35 employees. “We normally fluctuate between having one quarter to one third of the top 100 realtors in Indian River County,” said Sorensen. The company has grown to include seven offices (including two in Brevard County) and a newly opened DSRE kiosk on Ocean Drive next to the Islander Inn across the street from the Driftwood Resort.
DSRE agents’ success is due in part to an innovative and dynamic program of training and education, including seminars featuring Tony Robbins and other top motivational trainers, and a mentoring program that has proven invaluable. “We want to give our agents as many tools as possible to help them achieve their goals and be happy and content here,” said Sorensen.
The mentoring program was developed under the guidance of Stacey Morabito, who brings vast management and real estate experience to the enterprise, having owned a firm with more than 200 agents in South Florida. The two-year course takes new agents through a program that includes working with more established, top-producing agents as well as weekly meetings with the broker and other marketing classes.
“The whole process is designed to help new agents get acclimated and transitioned into sales with DSRE,” said Sorensen. “The first several months are very structured and designed to help agents learn every aspect of the business – open houses, marketing, buyers, sellers, service listings and Internet leads. It’s a very comprehensive program.”
Another new development at DSRE is the kiosk the company designed and built on Ocean Drive on the island. “The kiosk has already seen several hundred visitors and the interactive touch screens have captured more than 30 leads in the short time that it’s been operational,” Sorensen said. “We still have some tweaking to do in terms of how we want to build out this new platform, but clearly it is something that is working for us.”
Kim Taylor, a real estate agent for 15 years and a DSRE agent since 2006, agrees that the addition of the kiosk opens another avenue to generate business. “There is so much activity on Ocean Drive and the kiosk is a wonderful way to interact with people and talk to them in a very non-threatening way about real estate. People stop by and sometimes they just want to know where a great restaurant is or where to find things to do for their kids,” said Taylor.
The kiosk has touch screens people can use to check out what real estate is available in town. It also houses literature on DSRE, other visitor information on Vero Beach, copies of Vero Beach 32963 and Vero Beach Magazine, free snacks and friendly interaction from DSRE agents.
“I just love working for this company,” said Taylor. “The training and time they spend with the agents is immeasurable. I enjoy doing floor time and getting leads there, I really love working with buyers and I love that DSRE is family owned. I think that’s part of the reason they are so successful. They want all of the agents and employees to be happy and successful and they go out of their way like no other real estate company would to make that happen.
“Just recently they brought in two amazing and well-known motivational speakers – Tony Robbins and Anna Liotta. They not only lectured about improving and growing our business, but they talked about how to personally live a much better life in general. That’s how much DSRE cares about all of us. All of the extra things they do for us makes us want to be better people and creates an incredible team of agents,” Taylor said.
Bill Baysura is another agent who has been with DSRE since 2006 and who has doubled his business since just last year. “I believe the growth and success of DSRE is a direct result of Dale Jr.’s vision, cutting edge technology and the implementation of all the extra training and education. He truly cares about our futures and continued success,” said Baysura. “He is always available for any questions or concerns we have. I could call him any time and he gets back to me immediately with answers. We have all grown at DSRE because of Dale and his foresight for the company.”
The future of DSRE remains a bright one staffed with a formidable team of agents and employees. “Trends are still moving in the right direction. I don’t foresee any bubble or crash for 2016,” said Sorensen. “Reduced inventory and rising prices. It’s a good market that we are in right now.”
