Opening a new real estate sales office in a foreign land could be a frightening scenario. But brokerage executive Nurit Coombe doesn't scare easy.

Coombe, who runs The Agency's office in the Washington, D.C., area with fellow Managing Partner Alex Martinez, has faced challenging tasks before. During high school, she left the security of her family home. At 18 she became a member of the Israeli Defense Forces and after her active duty, she worked for Rafael, Israel's government-owned defense technology company, and often made presentations to a roomful of U.S. military officers at the Pentagon.

She even advised late best-selling author Tom Clancy, whose novels often focus on the military and war, on one of his best-sellers.

That Clancy's team sought out her advice is a testament to the missile systems expertise she gained while serving in and working for the Israel Defense Forces, Coombs said. Her experience in the military also armed her with skills she uses at The Agency, a Beverly Hills, California-based real estate brokerage that represents a portfolio of properties in gateway cities, large markets and destinations. The brokerage also advises developers on where and how to build luxury condominium projects.

Her experiences have left her confident that she and her partners can be successful when they open a new office of The Agency in the Dominican Republic next month.

"I always say, ‘Bring it on,’ because I like it," Coombe said in an interview.

Coombe said she leverages her military experience as she works to sell condos and residential homes. During that time, she said, she realized the importance of stepping back and figuring out exactly what needed to be done to reach her goal after quickly analyzing the situation.

Life in the military also enabled her to get a read on people "from the hello," she said, and how to strike a deal. That's critical when working on real estate transactions, Coombe said.

"It's how you ask the question and knowing how much room you have to negotiate in addition to knowing how to interpret what's said," Coombe said. "I learned that working in defense."

As she prepares to help open The Agency's Dominican Republic office she's working closely with Peter Torkan, the founder and managing partner of The Agency's Toronto office, and Juan Diaz Rivera, leader of The Agency's office in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She also has been collaborating with local developer Edward De Valle, who Coombe said plans to join The Agency as managing partner of The Agency Dominican Republic.

Coombe said her team "already has lots of listings" in the Dominican Republic. The country, she said, has a stable economy and appeals to buyers in the United States, especially in Miami and on the West Coast, and Canada.

Before the pandemic, the Dominican Republic's real estate market got a boost from U.S. tourists, some of whom purchased homes. The country also has attracted attention as a place for stars such as Mark Wahlberg, Vin Diesel and Jennifer Lopez to make movies.

The timing might not seem ideal to launch a new real estate company with high inflation and increased interest rates for buyers around the globe, including in the States where buyers who can apply for mortgages through U.S. banks with a presence in the Dominican Republic. But Coombe said she'll lean on what she learned during her time in the military and the defense industry to make sure she's properly prepared.

"In the military, there’s so much you learn in life and about the world and threats when you’re so young. You grow up quickly," she said, adding that two years of military service was mandatory for her in Israel. "For a young girl, that defined a lot of my personality, about being responsible and trustworthy."

She ended up spending three years of active duty and nearly 11 years working as a civilian in Israeli defense. She learned enough about missile defense systems that Clancy's team contacted her for information on their operation while the author and John Gresham wrote his book “Fighter Wing."

Coombe said she did not get to meet Clancy but did receive an acknowledgment in the book that came out in 1995, validating her military expertise.

"I left the house when I was young and finished high school basically on my own," Coombe said in an interview. "Then the military really hugged me and lifted me up and showed me the roads for life. My life started in the military."

In 2001, Coombe figured it was time to leave the defense world, partly because she wanted to stay in the United States. She said she would have had to return to Israel to continue her career in defense.

She found her next career when she saw an open house in her North Bethesda neighborhood just outside of Washington. When she toured the home she realized her monthly rent was higher than the mortgage on the residence.

"I bought two condos, one for myself and one for a rental. And I said, 'OK, I like real estate,' I so I went and got my license," Coombe said. "I figured I’d get my license as an investor, but when I took the course, I loved it."

She started her real estate career at ReMax and in 2014 became owner of the ReMax Elite Services group. Coombe built her business over the next six years, and it was eventually ranked the No. 1 ReMax team in the central Atlantic region. But when it was time to renew her affiliation, Coombe decided to look elsewhere, including California, she said, because brokerages there tended to be at the forefront when it comes to adopting technology and marketing.

She met Mauricio Umansky, founder and CEO of The Agency, and determined that being a managing partner of its Washington office would be the right fit. "That was the best decision I've made," she said.