Bellingham’s Muljat Group Realtors is now under new ownership
The Muljat Group, one of Whatcom County’s real estate agencies, has new owners after being a family-run business since its founding in 1988.
Kena Brashear and Peter Ahn announced on Facebook Thursday. Dec. 8, that the two now co-own The Muljat Group as of Dec. 1. The business partners purchased the company from Troy Muljat, who purchased the company from his father and the company’s founder, Frank Muljat, in 2017.
“It was the right time for some new life, new ideas, new leadership and new ownership,” said Troy Muljat in a telephone interview with The Bellingham Herald.
Brashear has worked at The Muljat Company since she was hired almost 20 years ago. Ahn has also been with the company for about seven years.
“It was just a natural fit for both me and Peter,” Brashear said in a telephone interview with The Herald. “The Muljat Group is family. It’s always been family.”
Brashear has run residential sales with The Muljat Group since Troy Muljat purchased the company and she’ll continue to focus on those operations. Troy Muljat will remain with the company, but he will fully focus on commercial real estate and sales.
“I’m not retiring. I’m just focusing on my highest priority items,” Muljat said.
No major changes are expected for the company under new leadership, according to both Brashear and Muljat. Though there will likely be some brand refreshing.
“We plan to do everything as it was set up by Frank and Troy,” Brashear said.
The Muljat Group has approximately 100 brokers in six offices in Whatcom and Skagit counties. The company represented buyers or sellers in nearly 900 transactions totaling approximately $500 million in 2021.
With Brashear and Ahn taking over the company, The Muljat Group is now a minority-owned and partially woman-owned business. Ahn is also a veteran, serving 20 years in the Air Force — six years in active duty and 14 with the reserves.
A study out in March of 2022 found that only about 6% of businesses in the Bellingham metropolitan area were minority-owned, holding the lowest rate of minority business ownership among metro areas in Washington state and one of the lowest rates in the nation.
This story was originally published December 13, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
