About Malia

Malia took Vail and Beaver Creek luxury real estate by storm in 2014, quickly being recognized for her passion, intelligence, and candor. Her tech savvy approach launched her to the top of luxury real estate culminating in her being named the 2015 Outstanding Rookie by “Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate.” Six years later, Malia was the third producing real estate agent in the Vail Valley in 2019 (with approximately 70 million in sales) and continues to elevate, selling nearly $100 million in 2020 and $130 million in 2021. By sales volume, Malia is ranked as the #14 agent in all of Colorado in 2022, which is the #2 individual agent in the Vail Valley (Eagle County), and the #1 Sotheby’s International Realty Agent in the Vail Valley. One of her favorite accolades is her award from LuxuryRealEstate.com for achieving the highest sales price of all time for a residence in Edwards, Colorado. Malia is set to shatter her own record with a sale under contract that will greatly surpass the previous high water mark in Edwards. Malia is also a member of the Aspen area MLS and partners with local Aspen agents on high end development projects for the real estate fund that she co-manages.

A Vail Valley native, Malia brings a uniquely local experience to her clientele. After elementary through high school in the Vail Valley, Malia headed to the University of Colorado at Boulder where she earned a business marketing degree. She went on to the University of Denver College of Law and graduated at the top of her law school class - 6th out of 254 students. Although she retains her law license in Colorado, Malia shifted from active law practice to real estate when she and her husband took over her family’s property management company in 2004. Malia and her husband sold the property management company in 2014 which enabled her to focus full-time on a real estate sales career and for her husband to fully commit to general contracting and real estate development.

Malia cultivates each of her listings by analyzing each property through the buyer’s lens as it relates to location, design, quality of construction and materials, and how those translate to value. She leverages the latest advances in marketing and visual media to tell a story about the experience and lifestyle. Malia casts a wide net in her marketing approach, merging a huge digital footprint with targeted print media to maximize exposure to buyers locally throughout Colorado, nationally, and internationally. Malia notes that there is a much larger international presence in the area than statistics show due to entity ownership protecting the privacy and assets of the underlying end user. Malia connects her properties to the right buyers at the right time with the right story being told.

She not only has great instincts, but she is uniquely capable of analyzing data related to the market which helps provide her clients with easy-to-digest information to make intelligent decisions quickly. Malia asks the right questions to provide clarity, saving her clients time and money.

Malia works with various developers, and they can expect an unusually detailed and interactive approach to the analysis and presentation of data to instill confidence in direction. Malia is often highly personally involved in developments through collaboration on design, construction, and ultimately the successful sale, to ensure funds expended are directed to their highest and best use as they relate to return on the investment. This skill set lends well to helping all buyers and sellers maximize their outcomes.
*Data based upon sales volume, REAL Trends’ America’s Best Real Estate Agents 2022
Focus Areas: all of Vail (East Vail, West Vail, Sandstone, Vail Golf Course, Vail Village, Lionshead, Cascade Area), all of Edwards (Arrowhead, Lake Creek, Singletree, Homestead, Cordillera Ranch, Cordillera Divide, Timber Springs, Red Canyon Estates, Cordillera Valley Club, Cordillera Summit) all of Avon (Wildridge and Mountain Star, Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch, Wolcott).

Client Testimonials

"I did my homework when choosing Malia as our listing agent. We foreclosed on an investment property … Read More that was the source of structural issues among other problems with the property. It was a very high-end piece of property so I needed someone with the right reputation and that could help us get the property ready for sale without overdoing it. I also needed someone that would have a good reputation for development/redevelopment and that could handle helping the nightmare left behind by the previous owner. Understand that the house ended up with over a 500k in estimated structural repairs so this was not a minor situation. I’m also a real estate agent myself - but in the Denver Metro area - so I am very skeptical in general as most agents down here are very unimpressive professionals. Given that I saw that Malia represents many very expensive homes, an initial concern was whether she would care enough about my 3 million dollar deal to garner the attention it was going to require to have the best outcome. Would she have her assistants take care of me or would she roll up her sleeves as needed? The first good sign was when I called the number listed on Sotheby’s page, she answered immediately. We talked for probably 30 minutes right then and there. She also went to see the property just a few hours later…as in the same day. Talk about getting right on it. The adage “if you want a task done right, give a busy person the job” was true with Malia. She gets things done and will not leave you no matter how challenging the circumstance. She is an absolute workhorse. Her team is also wonderful so when they help in areas that make sense you are grateful to have them. Malia put in no less than a heroic effort on our behalf. If you are reading reviews and wondering if your property is right for Malia or not, I would tell you to ask her. She is very direct and honest. If she is not right or cannot take you on, she will connect you to the best that she knows and her standards are extremely high. I am looking forward to taking Malia out for a celebratory dinner to thank her for removing this challenge from my plate. I will refer anyone I know to her in the Vail Valley regardless of property location or price point as I know she can be trusted to treat them the way that they deserve. I will also contact her if I don’t know the best agent for any property I need to buy or sell in any location as I know she will find me the best for my situation and that they will care more about me due to her involvement. When I recently found out that Malia was in the top 100 real estate agents in the world for Sotheby’s International Realty, I wasn’t surprised at all. In a world that service often falls below expectations, Malia was an absolute star." Read Less

"Malia’s professional website and national reputation sold our home. We were most impressed with her … Read More Read Less

"This was our first experience selling a property in Vail, Colorado and everyone we had contact with … Read More Read Less

"In purchasing our home in Cordillera, Malia not only functioned as a superb real estate professional … Read More Read Less

"We discovered Malia on Zillow. She was everything that the other reviewers had promised and more. … Read More Read Less

"She is great! She has the best disposition and attitude. She knows everything. She really tries to m … Read More Read Less

"I am so happy to have sold my home in less than 45 days start to finish! Malia facilitated a prema … Read More Read Less

"Malia was nothing less than a Godsend at a time I really needed her. I had to sell my property for … Read More reasons I don't want to get into. Long story short, I left Colorado before the house was properly prepared to go to market. When I met with Malia, she came in and gave me candid advice which was a bit tough to hear because I didn’t have the time or money to do what she was recommending. She was persistent yet polite in her efforts to convince me that the preparation would be an enormous benefit to me. As I listened to her, she actually changed my beliefs as to how to sell a home in this valley. Ultimately, I realized Malia knows the market here and she knows what it takes to get a property sold. While I was reluctant to spend the money that Malia told me to spend to make this transaction happen, the amount I invested was far worth it in the end. I'm forever grateful that she was persistent in her advice. Malia is very authentic and unlike so many realtors I've dealt with in the past, I knew I was actually aligned with someone exceptionally skilled in this field. Malia persuaded me to let her hire a stager and she personally saw this staging process through from start to finish. This was something I'd never done before and it actually made a huge difference! The overall feel of the home was undeniably transformed for the better. After the home was prepared, Malia and her team were marketing mavens, bringing tons of showings. At each one, either Malia or one of her two personal assistants were always present. In one instance, Malia negotiated masterfully with a buyer that initially came in with a true low ball offer. Contrary to my own thought process, Malia was positive about the offer and coaxed me to respond strategically, without getting me discouraged or upset. Yes, she actually changed my thinking as she explained her philosophy. If you're fortunate enough to become her client, please be open minded to Malia's advice as it's only to your benefit! In sum, we eventually got that terrible starting offer to a full price contract with that buyer! And all this came after having a full price offer pending, which didn't materialize. Over the course of the seven months that we worked together, what I found most amazing about Malia is that she always strived to have a backup offer waiting in the wings. Amazing! Malia knew things were challenging for me to handle from afar and so she and her team met tons of vendors and obtained various bids for the inspection process; this included overseeing various repair work deemed needed in order to keep the buyer committed. I am forever grateful that she was here to help me at a very challenging time in my life. I cannot imagine anyone doing more to have sold my home. It's not hard to believe that Malia has sold over 100 million dollars in real estate this year but even being a small fish in her big pond, she was relentless in getting my home (a two million dollar listing) sold! I can't thank you enough Malia, Alex and Ilse! - Steven 2020 sale in Cordillera" Read Less