Why I’m Honored to Be Joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Jacklin Real Estate

I want to share some news.

As of June 1, 2026, I’ve joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Jacklin Real Estate in Coeur d’Alene.

I don’t write announcement posts often. I don’t think most people care about an agent’s affiliation in the abstract. But this one matters — not because it changes me, but because it changes what I can deliver to my clients. And if you’re considering working with me, or you’ve been following the work I’ve published here over the past several months, I owe you the why.

So let me tell you what this move means, what these names actually stand for, and why I feel genuinely privileged to put their names alongside mine.

If you’re new to my work and arrived here trying to understand North Idaho relocation, the complete relocation guide for out-of-state buyers is the better starting point — this article is about the brokerage that now sits behind that work.

The three layers that make this rare

Most real estate brokerages are one thing. This one is three things stacked.

Layer 1: The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand

The Berkshire Hathaway name is one of the most carefully protected brands in the world. Warren Buffett famously said, “Our favorite holding period is forever”— and that philosophy isn’t a marketing line. It’s the operating principle of every business that’s allowed to use his name.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is one of the few organizations entrusted to use the Berkshire Hathaway name in residential real estate — a global network with more than 50,000 real estate professionals across roughly 1,500 offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, and India ( Business Wire).

For my clients, that translates into things that actually matter:

• An active global relocation and referral network. When someone in San Diego, Bellevue, or Boston decides they want to look at North Idaho, the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network is one of the most likely places they’ll be referred from. That referral now lands on my desk.
• The Luxury Collection program for premier listings — the highest-tier marketing platform in the network, with international syndication and Prestige Magazine placement.
• The FOREVER Cloud technology suite — lead generation, marketing automation, professional video and content production support, all backed by Berkshire’s resources.
• A definitive mark of trust. When a buyer flying in from another state sees the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices name on the sign, they instantly understand the standard. That trust shortens every conversation.

That’s the global layer. But that’s not why I chose this brokerage. It’s just the floor.

Layer 2: The Jacklin family legacy in North Idaho

This is the layer that made the decision for me.

The Jacklin family didn’t show up in North Idaho yesterday. They’ve been building this community for generations — not just selling homes in it, but literally building the economic, cultural, and civic foundation of the place I now call home.

A few of the proof points most newcomers to North Idaho don’t know:

Jacklin Seed Company. The family’s seed business grew into one of the largest grass seed producers in the world, based right here in the Spokane Valley/Post Falls region. The Jacklin family was a foundational agricultural force in this region long before “relocation” was a word people used about North Idaho. The historical records are archived at the Washington State Archives. This is a family whose name appears in the industrial history of the region, not just its real estate.

The Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center, Post Falls. This one stops me every time I think about it. In 1998, Susan Jacklin saw that one of Post Falls’ oldest historic churches — built in 1890 — was scheduled for demolition. The plan was to tear it down and turn the lot into a parking lot.

Susan personally rallied the community to save it. She formed Community Building Partners Inc., purchased the church, and led a 10-year restoration funded by more than $1 million in donations. In 2005, the restored building reopened as the Jacklin Arts & Cultural Center — listed on the National Register of Historic Places, now home to community arts programming for Post Falls and the surrounding region.

That building stands today because a member of the Jacklin family refused to let a piece of this community’s history be turned into a parking lot.

That tells you who these people are.

Jacklin Northwest’s expansion into residential development. In January 2026, the family business rebranded and entered residential development — continuing the multi-generational pattern of investing in the long-term growth of this region rather than extracting from it.

When buyers ask me about “local connections” in North Idaho — who do you actually know— the answer is now: I’m part of the brokerage owned by the family whose name is on the arts center, on archived agricultural records, and on residential development projects shaping the next decade of this region. You can’t fake that. You can’t manufacture it. It takes a hundred years.

Layer 3: Wade and Nicole Jacklin, principals

The brokerage itself is owned and operated by Wade and Nicole Jacklin, who together bring more than three decades of North Idaho brokerage leadership to the firm. They were the ones who brought the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand to Coeur d’Alene in September 2021 — they personally vetted whether the brand standards met their family standards, not the other way around.

Wade and Nicole run the brokerage. They don’t compete against their agents for deals. That structural difference matters — it means the principals’ full attention is on building the firm, mentoring agents, and supporting transactions, rather than chasing their own commissions. The infrastructure, the systems, the brokerage support, the institutional knowledge — all of it is in service of the agents and, by extension, the clients.

For me, that’s the kind of foundation I want under my work.

What this means for my clients (especially relocation buyers)

I’ve published a lot over the past year about North Idaho — city comparisons, property taxes, cost of living, healthcare, bridge financing, senior buying considerations, the honest answer on relocation, and more. The data work and the local research have been the foundation of how I serve clients. This move adds something I couldn’t deliver on my own. Here’s what I mean.

The “local fold” matters more than most outside buyers realize

Every high-amenity secondary market — Bend, Bozeman, Park City, Sun Valley, Sandpoint, Coeur d’Alene — has a layer of long-established local players who have been in that community for generations. They have the relationships. They have the influence. They have the institutional memory. They know the contractors who do clean work and the ones to avoid. They know the inspectors who don’t miss things. They know the mortgage professionals who can structure a loan for a buyer with a complicated situation that a national lender would automatically decline. They know which lots actually drain well and which ones flood in the spring, even when the disclosure doesn’t say so.

You can either be inside that fold, or you can be working from outside it. And if you’re a relocation buyer from another state, your agent’s position in that fold matters as much as their license.

Being part of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Jacklin Real Estate puts me inside that fold in a way that’s not replicable. The Jacklin family didn’t acquire those connections — they built them, over generations, through actually contributing to this community. My clients now have access to that network as a direct result.

That’s the thing I couldn’t have built on my own, no matter how many articles I wrote or how many transactions I closed. It takes lineage. The Jacklins have it. Now my clients benefit from it.

What this looks like in practice

Some examples of what “inside the fold” actually delivers:

• Contractor and trade referrals. A specific roofer who’s been doing North Idaho roofs for 25 years. A handyman who actually shows up. A foundation specialist who knows what unstable soils look like in this region.
• Local mortgage relationships. Lenders who understand North Idaho-specific scenarios — well/septic properties, rural land deals, buyers transitioning from out-of-state income to local self-employment, retirees structuring purchases through retirement accounts (the bridge financing piece I wrote explains the financing strategies; the people who execute them well are who I now have access to).
• Inspectors who specialize. Home inspectors who actually understand North Idaho construction quirks — older homes with knob-and-tube wiring, well water systems, septic in winter, log home moisture issues.
• Insider intel. Which neighborhoods are quietly desirable. Which streets get the worst winter wind. Which HOAs have functional boards and which are dysfunctional. Where the new development is actually going and where the rumors are wrong.
• Listings you won’t see online. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ network surfaces relocation referrals and quiet listings that don’t always hit the public market in the same way. For relocation buyers competing in a tight market, that’s an edge.

None of that is in a brochure. All of it is real.

The honest part

I want to be clear about something. Joining a brokerage with the Berkshire Hathaway and Jacklin names doesn’t make me a different agent. I’m still going to tell you the truth about the market. I’m still going to write the articles I’ve been writing — including the ones where I tell you that North Idaho isn’t the cheapest place to live in the state, or that bridge loans are expensive, or that contingent offers won’t work in Hayden right now.

What changes is the platform behind the work. The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network amplifies my reach for relocation referrals and luxury listings. The Jacklin family lineage gives my clients access to the local fold that took 100 years to build. Wade and Nicole Jacklin’s leadership and infrastructure mean my time and attention are focused on my clients, not on building basic brokerage support from scratch. That’s the upgrade. The work and the voice are still mine.

What hasn’t changed

• I’m still Shirin Abplanalp, Idaho REALTOR®, License #SP-1371861
• I still hold the SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) designation
• I still serve Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Rathdrum, Sandpoint, and the surrounding North Idaho communities
• I still believe the best real estate decisions come from honest data and genuine local knowledge, not from sales pitches
• All of my published articles, research, and the realestatewithshirin.com site continue exactly as before

If you’re already working with me, nothing changes for you logistically — I’m still the same agent, the same phone number, the same email, the same commitment to your transaction. Just with a substantially stronger platform behind us.

Frequently asked questions

Let’s talk.

Whether you’re a current client, a prospective relocation buyer, or someone who’s been quietly following my articles for a while, I’d love to talk. The work I do hasn’t changed. The platform behind it just got substantially stronger.

Schedule a call with Shirin →

I feel honored to be joining a firm with this kind of community legacy. And I feel privileged to bring that legacy to my clients.

Shirin Abplanalp is a licensed Idaho REALTOR® (IREC License #SP-1371861) and SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist) with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Jacklin Real Estate, serving Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Rathdrum, and Sandpoint. Brokerage office: 1927 W. Riverstone Drive, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814.