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Profile: Mallina Wilson

Agent Displays Passion for Creating International Business

Mallina Wilson

By Kevin Brass

Mallina Wilson is one of those people who seem charged by some form of alternative energy.

Describing her efforts to build an international business, the Bellingham, Wa.-based Realtor reels off a long list of activities and events—a dinner with Asian diplomats, a tour with Japanese conference delegates, meetings with overseas agents. Her conversation is peppered with references to a Honduras listing, marketing a local ranch in Dubai, Skype calls with a client in Latvia and new LinkedIn connections.

“People and travel is my passion,” she says. “Real estate is just the vehicle.”

Wilson, an associate with RE/MAX Whatcom County, earned her Certified International Property designation a year ago and quickly realized she had no idea what to do next.

“There is no lesson plan,” she said. “Once you receive your designation you have to be creative.”

With less than 20 CIPS in the area, she decided to seek out mentors for direction. First onboard was Richard Mendenhall, a Missouri-broker and former president of the National Association of Realtors, who she approached at an event at the Chinese embassy.

Next to sign up was Harold Bagwell, an Arkansas agent who Wilson contacted after she read about him in a magazine. Bagwell was featured for selling an Arkansas horse ranch to a Korean investor.

“A little town in Arkansas, right? I wanted to know how he did that,” she said.

Wilson hosted international specialists during the NAR convention

Once energized, she began attending every meeting and event that might offer some sort of international connection. A former travel agent who traveled the world a youngster with her ‘hippie Mom,” she joined the Associated Realty of the Americas (AREA), FIABCI (the International Real Estate Association) and the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), and started steadily networking at industry events. During the National Association of Realtors conference she hosts a party for international attendees.

But she also makes a point to get off the beaten path, seeking out any events with international business. She even attended an international roofers’ convention to mine for clients.

Perhaps not surprisingly, she is a social media enthusiast, blocking out an hour a day to focus on her online connections. Her current favorites are LinkedIn and Facebook, where she interacts with more than 1,000 “friends” from around the world, posting updates about her life with her husband and two daughters, as well as her business.

“Facebook is a great place to allow people to get to know you on a level that would be more face to face, if you had the opportunity,” she said.

On LinkedIn, she is a member of 50 property-oriented groups, the maximum allowed. Rather than simply lurking, she regularly posts information and responds to questions.

“You can belong to groups and get absolutely no activity if you don’t participate,” she said. “LinkedIn is where I meet developers.”

In the past year she has built up relationships with developments throughout Central America, although she tends to avoid projects that she believes are still at “2005 prices,” which will be too expensive to realistically market.

Her best success, so far, has been connecting with Washington residents looking to buy or sell international property. For example, she helped a Washington couple buy a house in Mexico and the Honduras property, a house on the Caribbean coast priced at $315,000, is owned by a family in Washington.

With that in mind, after originally casting a wide net, she is now focusing on Mexico and Central America, the markets she believes are most appealing to Washington residents. She has connected with an agent in Costa Rica and developers in Mexico who have agreed to produce educational seminars in her area.      

She’s also established her own company, the International Real Estate Investment, Inc. And established her own internationally focused Web site, www.internationalrealestateagents.info, which she uses to reach out to other international agents and CIPS.

Her network of contacts has already developed into an asset, more than simply a marketing tool. Developers and agents are now coming to her to help spread the word on projects.

“I market to the U.S., but a lot has to do with introducing [a listing] to people around the world who have qualified buyers,” she said. “I can shoot it out to people around the world in two seconds flat.”

Nevertheless, she knows no amount of social media quality time will replace the value of actual human contact. Her ultimate goal is to always meet people in person, to discover their real interests.

“In the Asian community, you need to establish a face to face relationship over time,” she said. “In France you need to know that a business may have been in the family for 100 years. If you just hand them a business card they are going to just rip it up.”

Wilson’s stated goal is to develop a team of five international specialists by 2012, freeing her up for more face-to-face time around the world.

“It’s my passion, so I’ll stick with it,” she said.

Mallina Wilson can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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