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Veronica Figueroa and Martha Melendez have been ready for the proper second to affix forces.
Each ladies, who’ve turn into revered actual property leaders in Florida’s aggressive market, spent years admiring one another’s means to interrupt obstacles and turn into two extra shining examples of what Latina ladies can — and have lengthy contributed — to the business.
Veronica Figueroa | Credit score: Linked In
“I have a lot of admiration for Martha,” Figueroa stated whereas recounting their first encounter at an area Realtor board assembly. “I’ve known her as an industry leader, not only in Florida but in general. She’s written a powerful book, [The Aspiring Agent: From Overworked Rookie to Real Estate Rockstar]. We’ve always had these conversations of admiration and empowering each other.”
“I always looked at her as someone I would want to be in business with if I could,” she added. “We were happy with our own brokerages. I saw what she was doing, and I was like, ‘You know, she’s doing a good thing where she’s at.’ Our worlds at that time didn’t meet, and I’m not the type of person to try to recruit people unless I really feel that there is something that we could do together.”
The duo’s worlds lastly matched earlier this yr when Figueroa introduced her objective to develop The Fig Crew powered by eXp Realty to Florida’s Area and Treasure Coasts. Each areas have skilled main development in recent times as Elon Musk’s and Jeff Bezos’ respective astronautics firms, SpaceX and Blue Origin, place roots there.
Martha Melendez | Credit score: LinkedIn
“I put a notice out there that we’re expanding,” Figueroa stated. “I was not just looking for an agent to service our business and leads. My mentor, Ben [Kinney], taught me to find market leaders and co-team leaders. We weren’t just looking for anybody, so when Martha hit me up, I was like, ‘Girl, you are an answered prayer.’”
Figueroa’s submit was additionally an answered prayer for Melendez, who’d begun occupied with the following steps in her profession after six years of immense success because the vice chairman of expertise attraction for Engel & Völkers Melbourne Central.
“I still love Engel & Völkers. I respect the brokerage and the team there,” she stated. “But as a leader, you always want to scale up because when you’re stagnant, that’s when you get comfortable. There’s no growth.”
“I was comfortable, and I’m like, ‘Oh, do I need to make a change so I can grow?’” she added. “I literally was praying that if I needed to make a move, I needed to see red sirens, and how did Veronica start her post? With red sirens.”
Two days after seeing the submit, Melendez known as Figueroa and stated she needed to steer The Fig Crew’s enlargement efforts.
“I called her up and we hit the ground running,” she stated. “You know, it wasn’t a coincidence. It was definitely a God thing. I’m all writing the vision and making it happen. I’m just super excited to grow alongside Veronica.”
Melendez didn’t come to The Fig Crew alone. Former Engel & Völkers agent Steve Stark and Melendez’s daughter Alexandra Villa, a budding agent, additionally made the transfer.
“What’s cool is we get a double whammy. We have Martha and Steve, two market leaders,” Figueroa stated. “They’ve been there for 20-plus years. They know the market. They know what’s happening.”
“We wanted to enter a market with proven results, with people who already know the market,” she added. “We’re the muscle behind it when it comes to online lead gen marketing tools, systems, resources, creativity, and all that. We can bring our superpowers together, of course, powered by eXp, their influence and their leadership.”
Steve Stark | LinkedIn
Figueroa stated Melendez and Stark have already made notable strides throughout their first week with The Fig Crew. The duo takes satisfaction in serving every kind of patrons and sellers — from the luxurious purchaser in search of a multimillion-dollar seashore property to the on a regular basis vendor who needs to downsize as they head into their golden years.
“I love real estate, like I love real estate,” Melendez stated. “We get to serve our community. We get to love on our buyers and our sellers and give them the experience they deserve. We have so many elderly sellers in our county that so many people could lead them down the wrong path. But I treat everybody as if they were my mom, and if you read my previous feature in Inman, you know how much I love my mom.”
Stark stated “the sky is the limit” for the workforce as they deal with market challenges, comparable to weakening client sentiment and slower gross sales, head first.
“There’s a [Baron Nathan Rothschild] quote where he says, ‘The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own,’” he stated. “So terms of that, you’re doubling down on the market and the industry. People always need to buy and sell homes.”
Figueroa stated she’s enthusiastic about The Fig Crew’s future as they proceed to search for enlargement alternatives throughout the U.S. She stated the companies are constructed throughout downturns, as brokers and leaders are pressured to study new expertise and develop inventive options for patrons and sellers.
“We just closed a property last week that had creative financing where the seller is holding a portion of the note,” she stated. “We’re able to net the seller more money. They don’t have to be the landlord, but they’re getting a big portion of their equity back. They are also holding the note and being able to, what we call, rate arbitrage.”
“We’re always finding solutions just like we did in the short sale world, and we’re just figuring it out together,” she added. “I’m actually excited when this stuff like this happens. I get a little bit more motivated. I can be more leveraged. This is where we thrive.”
