Entrepreneur, Horsewoman, Altruistic
by: Anne Stratton
equine properties for much of her professional life. She grew up around horses, she explains; it was a natural evolution. “My father was a real estate developer who raised race horses. I found that as I was going to all the horse shows and meeting people, they wanted to buy horse farms. So, I decided that it would be much more fun to sell horse farms!”
Marilyn Hoffman and NNL Ultimate Bey.
Even the most cursory glance at realtor Marilyn Hoffman’s career inspires images of “Dynasty” and “Dallas,” not to mention “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” Her Dallas-based firm, Hoffman International Properties, handles high-end real estate all over the world, and whether buying or selling—she routinely does both for her clients—she has an enviable record. She has earned the Superstar Award for setting the world record in sales, and at the International Gold Awards in London, Hoffman International Properties was honored as Best International Broker and Best Marketing Broker. Over the years, she has sold the largest homes in Alabama, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and Fort Worth (where she sold the record-breaker to the new owner of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team). Among her high profile clients have been golfer Lee Trevino, cosmetics entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash, baseball MVP Dale Murphy, world champion wrestler Bill Watts, pro football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, the CEO of Exxon, and the Duke of Saxony. So how does this relate to Arabians, and to horses in general? While many of her sales are residential, Hoffman has been a specialist in
Early on, her expertise with equine properties was apparent. She was the agent of choice for the Red Bluff, Calif., ranch of John Wheeler, president of the International Arabian Horse Association in the late 1970s, and for Dr. Eugene E. LaCroix’s Brenham, Texas, operation. And in those early days, she also sold Sundown Ranch to breeders Jerry Cott and his wife, Lynn. Since then, she has marketed ranches all over the west and farms in eastern states, servicing a number of breeds and disciplines. In recent years, she sold the 2,000-acre Double Diamond Ranch, which included 20 homes, for Ted Blanch. “If you don’t understand horses, you’re never going to know how to sell a horse farm,” she says. “You’re not going to know what the people really want.” For customers new to the horse business, she finds herself educating them as to why one facility would be appropriate, but not another, although the second one might have a lovely barn and miles of fencing. The reverse is true when selling to veteran owners; a good example, she offers, Marilyn Hoffman at the $35,000,000 Texas mansion
This $58,000,000 California Coastal estate has 80 acres and over 35,000 sq. ft. of museum quality construction.
she marketed for a Saudi Prince.