Community Highlights: Meet Michelle Vega of Michelle Vega Realty

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Vega.  

Hi Michelle, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I got licensed 8 years ago to sell homes. Previous to that, I was working in sales for different companies, but I had a hard time climbing up the corporate ladder because I was so young at 19-20 years ago… and nobody wanted to give me the opportunity to move up. Even though I had stellar numbers and sales… (Best in the whole company) I felt constantly discriminated against because of my age and because I was a female. It gave me the extra push I needed to become an entrepreneur. I knew that by being self-employed, I was no longer going to have that ceiling there… and I was gonna go as far as I wanted to. Starting in Real Estate was hard too… I originally joined a firm where they didn’t really believe in diversity or the ability to do real estate with a more modern approach. Being a city girl from Jersey and being Latina… and outspoken… and bubbly… I knew I wanted to brand myself very differently than the average realtor. All my colleagues expected me to be the suit and tie professional realtor, but I knew my out-of-the-box ideas… and social media marketing was going to work one day with persistence. 

Today I manage over 15 agents. 

Own over 50 houses. 

Actively rent, flip, airbnb, and construct properties… and just closed on my first two commercial buildings in downtown Durham. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I grew up on myspace, aim, and all types of social media. 

My colleagues coming up in the real estate world did not believe in my style of doing real estate. They used to tell me I wasn’t going to go far posting funny dancing videos online… 

I DO NOT do open houses. I do not wear a suit. I wear my uniqueness every day I wake up and sell lol. 

When I started investing, all my colleagues used to tell me what a waste of time it was going to be… and I shouldn’t involved myself with tenants… or anything. That it was going to be detrimental to my business. They told me to focus solely on selling. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I pride myself in being able to offer my team now a safe unique, and creative environment to sell real estate. 

I allow them to be themselves… not the traditional suit-and-tie realtor… 

And I still don’t believe in open houses. 

I believe in IG stories… cool videos… and reels… and the power of social media to attract clients. 

I also teach them how to invest from day 1 and instill the idea that making commissions is cool, but investing is the long-term game they need to stay focused on. Most of my agents are buying investments very early in the game… 

I teach them how to flip, hold rentals, do Airbnb, and construct 

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The ability to always keep it real with my clients and my agents… 

Always express the ups and downsides of real estate 

Being able to do real estate more authentically 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/michelle_renee_vega?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michellereneevega?mibextid=ZbWKwL