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Veronica Figueroa and Martha Melendez have been waiting for the perfect moment to join forces.
Both women, who’ve become respected real estate leaders in Florida’s competitive market, spent years admiring each other’s ability to break barriers and become two more shining examples of what Latina women can — and have long contributed — to the industry.
Veronica Figueroa | Credit: Linked In
“I have a lot of admiration for Martha,” Figueroa said while recounting their first encounter at a local Realtor board meeting. “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 finally matched earlier this year when Figueroa announced her goal to expand The Fig Team powered by eXp Realty to Florida’s Space and Treasure Coasts. Both areas have experienced major growth in recent years as Elon Musk’s and Jeff Bezos’ respective astronautics companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin, place roots there.
Martha Melendez | Credit: LinkedIn
“I put a notice out there that we’re expanding,” Figueroa said. “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 post was also an answered prayer for Melendez, who’d begun thinking about the next steps in her career after six years of immense success as the vice president of talent attraction for Engel & Völkers Melbourne Central.
“I still love Engel & Völkers. I respect the brokerage and the team there,” she said. “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 post, Melendez called Figueroa and said she wanted to lead The Fig Team’s expansion efforts.
“I called her up and we hit the ground running,” she said. “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 Team alone. Former Engel & Völkers agent Steve Stark and Melendez’s daughter Alexandra Villa, a budding agent, also made the move.
“What’s cool is we get a double whammy. We have Martha and Steve, two market leaders,” Figueroa said. “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 said Melendez and Stark have already made notable strides during their first week with The Fig Team. The duo takes pride in serving all kinds of buyers and sellers — from the luxury buyer looking for a multimillion-dollar beach estate to the everyday seller who wants to downsize as they head into their golden years.
“I love real estate, like I love real estate,” Melendez said. “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 said “the sky is the limit” for the team as they tackle market challenges, such as weakening consumer sentiment and slower 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 said. “So terms of that, you’re doubling down on the market and the industry. People always need to buy and sell homes.”
Figueroa said she’s excited about The Fig Team’s future as they continue to look for expansion opportunities across the U.S. She said the businesses are built during downturns, as agents and leaders are forced to learn new skills and develop creative solutions for buyers and sellers.
“We just closed a property last week that had creative financing where the seller is holding a portion of the note,” she said. “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.”
Email Marian McPherson