Awards and recognition

Every recognition on this page was graded by someone outside our office, and they grade different things. For each, we list the issuer, year, what it measures and a link to its source, so you can check them yourself.

If you're checking on Darin and the team before you hire an agent, start here. When you're ready, book a consultation or request a home valuation at no cost.

Darin Triolo, Five Star Real Estate Agent for 19 consecutive years

Five Star Professional has named Darin Triolo a Five Star Real Estate Agent in the San Diego market every year from 2009 through 2027. That's 19 years in a row. The first came in 2009, during the US housing crash. Five Star evaluates individual licensed agents, and this award is in Darin's name. He is featured among San Diego's 2027 Five Star Real Estate Agents on Five Star Professional.

"Any agent can call themselves the best in San Diego. We don't get to grade this one. Our clients do, on ten questions, and they've scored us high enough to make the list nineteen years straight, starting in the 2009 crash. I'll take their report card over our own marketing every time."

Darin Triolo, founder of Triolo Realty Group

The Five Star award is not indicative of the real estate agent's future performance. The inclusion of a real estate agent on the Five Star Real Estate Agent list should not be construed as an endorsement of the real estate agent by Five Star Professional.

How Five Star picks winners

A third party sends surveys to recent home buyers and sellers, and clients can also submit evaluations online. Each client rates the agent on ten criteria: customer service, integrity, market knowledge, communication, negotiation, closing preparation, post-sale service, finding the right home, marketing of the home and overall satisfaction. Five Star also asks whether the client would recommend the agent to a friend and uses the answer as a cross-check.

Mortgage, insurance and real estate professionals rate candidates too. Self-nominations aren't accepted, and a Blue Ribbon Panel of industry peers can remove candidates it doesn't consider worthy.

To win, an agent must meet five criteria:

1. A qualifying evaluation score
2. An active real estate salesperson license
3. At least five years working as a licensed salesperson
4. A favorable review of regulatory and complaint history
5. Minimum production over one year and three years, measured by transactions, dollar value or both

Five Star caps the list at no more than 7% of agents in each research area.

Do agents pay for the Five Star award?

Five Star says agents pay nothing to be researched or named. Agents can pay to add profile information to a print special section, or for tools to publicize the award, and Five Star says those purchases don't affect who makes the list. Critics of Five Star's separate award for wealth managers have called its fee model pay-to-play.

Five Star publishes its current research methodology (PDF), accessed November 2026. Read the 2027 announcement or our guide to what the Five Star award means.

What Triolo listings sold for, per REAL Trends Verified data

REAL Trends Verified ranks agents and teams on brokerage-reported transaction data that is verified before ranking. Per REAL Trends Verified data from 2010 through 2024, Triolo listings sold for an average of 102% of original list price. The regional broker average in the same data was 96.5%. That 5.5-point gap is where the team's “Unlock The Door To 5% More” line comes from.

The 2025 REAL Trends team profile for Triolo Realty Group shows 31 sides and $48.15M in sales volume. The same profile lists the team's 2024 REAL Trends Verified awards: Top Team by Volume, and City Ranked Team in San Diego by volume and by sides.

These figures describe past sales. They don't predict what your home will sell for, and no agent can promise a sale price.

BusinessRate Top 3 Real Estate Agencies in Carmel Valley, 2025

BusinessRate named Triolo Realty Group one of the Top 3 Real Estate Agencies in Carmel Valley for 2025. "Agencies" is the word in BusinessRate's award title; Triolo Realty Group is a team at Keller Williams Realty.

BusinessRate ranks businesses using only Google review data from the same category and area. Scores run from 0 to 300. All-time reviews make up 60% of the score and reviews from the last 90 days make up 33%. Review quality makes up the remaining 7%.

Read our post on the 2025 ranking. A published summary explains BusinessRate's scoring.

Keller Williams team ranking

Triolo Realty Group reports that it ranks #1 in Southern California among Keller Williams Realty teams across Orange County and San Diego County. This is an internal brokerage ranking, and we don't have a public source to link for it.

What each recognition measures

Recognition	Issued by	Awarded to	What it measures	Years
Five Star Real Estate Agent	Five Star Professional	Darin Triolo	Client and peer evaluations, plus license, complaint history, tenure and production checks	2009 to 2027
REAL Trends Verified	REAL Trends	Triolo Realty Group	Verified sales data, including sale price against original list price	2010 to 2024 data
Top 3 Real Estate Agencies in Carmel Valley	BusinessRate	Triolo Realty Group	Google reviews only	2025

BusinessRate uses Google reviews only. Five Star adds peer evaluations and license, complaint, tenure and production checks to client ratings. Only REAL Trends compares sale price with original list price.

Talk with us before you choose an agent

If the record above holds up for you, tell us about your home. Book a consultation or request a home valuation at no cost, or call 619-207-4005.

Darin Triolo, REALTOR®, California real estate salesperson, CA DRE #01376927. Triolo Realty Group, Keller Williams Realty, CA DRE #01524589.