To some, he’s the “King of Clancy Lane,” a prestigious neighborhood with luxurious contemporary, Spanish, and Mediterranean homes in Rancho Mirage. But if you ask Dave Kibbey himself, an overtly humble real estate agent with more than 20 years of experience, he’ll likely tell you everything he’s not.

“I’m not really a country club guy or the Palm Desert guy or the Rancho Mirage guy or the Ironwood guy or the Bighorn guy,” he admits. “I really have focused in on the desert as a whole.”

The Coachella Valley native’s interest in real estate took off when he began buying rental properties and flipped homes after selling his termite and pest control company, then dabbling in retirement. “I became really passionate about real estate and architecture,” he says. “I decided about three years later that I wanted to start representing clients.”

And that’s where his passion for the industry lies.

“It’s not about the money anymore,” he says. “I’ve done well for myself, but I would say 10 years ago, I realized that my focus — in order to be the best I can be in this industry — is to help people. Anybody who has worked with me will tell you the same. I can show somebody 30 homes, and if they want to see five more, then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Kibbey may not consider himself the “King of Clancy Lane” (though he tends to specialize in high-end sales and has listed quite a few homes there), but he’s 100 percent honest, 100 percent of the time. “That means,” he says, “I walk away if I need to.”