Ian & Samantha Cross | Bellingham Real Estate Team
Full Service Relocation Specialists | Whatcom County, WA
We’re not just your realtors. We’re your people here.
If you’re moving to Bellingham or anywhere in Whatcom County, whether you’re relocating from across the country, downsizing after the kids have moved out, or finally making the Pacific Northwest dream a reality, you’ve found the right team.
We’re Ian and Samantha Cross, a husband and wife real estate team born, raised, and deeply rooted in Bellingham, Washington. Between us we bring over 15 years of combined real estate experience, 170+ closed transactions, and a lifetime of knowing every neighborhood, hidden gem, trail, school district, and coffee shop worth knowing in Whatcom County.
We didn’t just grow up here. We’re raising our son here, our dogs think they own the place, and this community is woven into everything we do.
What We Do Differently: We Just Show Up
Our friends have told us, more than once, “your business model is terrible. You do too much.”
They’re probably right. And we wouldn’t change it.
We believe that every client deserves service built entirely around their individual needs. Not a checklist, not a formula. For some clients that means helping stage their home. For others it means showing up to help mow the lawn before photos, coordinating moving assistance, or just being the calm voice on the other end of the phone at 9pm when the nerves set in.
We go the extra mile because our clients matter. It’s that simple.
That means you’ll never get handed off to an assistant or left wondering what comes next. From the first conversation to closing day and beyond, you work directly with us. Your advocates, your strategists, and your boots on the ground in Whatcom County.
Relocation Specialists: We Know What a Big Move Feels Like
Relocating to a new city is one of the most exciting and overwhelming things you can do. We specialize in making it feel manageable.
We work with buyers and sellers relocating to and from Bellingham, WA and the greater Whatcom County area regularly. We understand the timeline pressures, the uncertainty of buying somewhere you don’t know yet, and how much it matters to get it right. We’ll help you understand the neighborhoods, the market, the lifestyle, and find not just a house but the right home in the right community for your next chapter.
Relocating for work? Retiring to the Pacific Northwest? Moving to be closer to family? We’ve helped clients in all of these situations and we’d love to help you too.
Meet Ian
Ian is the kind of guy who walks into a room and within five minutes has everyone laughing. He’s the dad who shows up to every game, knows every kid on the team by name, and will absolutely crack a joke with your children before he even finishes shaking your hand. Fair warning.
But underneath the humor is someone who genuinely shows up. For his family, for his clients, and for every step of what can be a pretty stressful process. Ian has a way of making people feel at ease when the stakes are high, which in real estate, they usually are.
Real estate was always part of Ian’s world. Growing up with his dad running a mortgage company, he saw firsthand how much the right guidance matters when people are making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives, and he always knew it was the path for him. Nearly a decade working at Haggen gave him something no classroom can teach: the art of genuine customer service and the ability to connect with people from all walks of life.
Born and raised here, Ian has helped buyers and sellers across Whatcom County navigate the process with confidence and straight talk. He’s your strategist, always thinking three steps ahead, always in your corner. And he’ll probably make you laugh at least once along the way. When he’s not working with clients you’ll find him biking, camping, cheering from the sidelines, or out exploring everything the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
Meet Samantha
Samantha grew up in Bellingham, across the street from Cornwall Park, and if you ask her what it’s like to be from here, she’ll tell you she’s just lucky. Lucky to have grown up in a small town where community is real, where it takes about five minutes of conversation to find out you have twelve people in common, and where she has always felt safe.
That warmth and genuine care for people is at the heart of how Samantha works with every client. She listens deeply, communicates clearly, and has a gift for understanding what people really need. Not just in a home, but in a community. She makes sure no one ever feels like they’re going through this alone. And if that means rolling up her sleeves and helping get a house ready for market, she’ll be the first one there.
When she’s not working you’ll find her with her nose in a book, out on a trail, pulling something out of the oven, or planning the next adventure. Every year for over a decade, she and Ian have made their annual pilgrimage to Bend, Oregon. If Bellingham is home, Bend is that cool older sibling you love visiting. A little bigger, a little sunnier, and always a good time. If you know, you know.
Community Matters to Us
This one isn’t optional for us. Bellingham gave us everything, and giving back to it isn’t something we have to think twice about.
Both Ian and Samantha volunteer at the Maple Falls Foothills Food Bank, serving the families in the foothills community who need it most. Ian also serves on the board of Skookum Kids, a local foster care agency doing incredible work for children and families in Whatcom County.
We believe that being part of a community means more than just living in it. It means showing up for it. In real estate and in life, that’s just who we are.
Bellingham, WA: A Place Worth Moving To
Bellingham and Whatcom County are tucked between the Cascade Mountains and the Salish Sea, two hours north of Seattle and a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. It’s a community with top-rated schools, world-class outdoor recreation, a thriving arts and food scene, a historic waterfront, and the kind of small-town warmth that’s genuinely hard to find anymore.
People visit Bellingham and have a funny habit of never quite leaving. Come see for yourself why.
We Don’t Want Every Client. Just the Right Ones.
We say this with complete respect and zero apology. Not every agent is the right fit for every person and honestly that’s okay. We’ve learned that the best experiences happen when there’s a real connection, shared expectations, and mutual trust. If that’s you, we will pour everything we have into your experience. We’d rather work with fewer people and do it really well than spread ourselves thin and do it halfway.
If you’ve read this far and something clicked, we’re probably your people.
Let’s Talk
If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in Bellingham, WA or anywhere in Whatcom County, or if you’re relocating and want a team that will show up for you like a local, we’d love to connect.
