Biography of Brendan Malanga
Brendan Malanga is a Maryland-based real estate professional and a member of The Nancy Hulsman Group at Coldwell Banker in Ellicott City, where he serves buyers and sellers across Howard, Baltimore, Carroll, and Anne Arundel counties. Known for a client-first approach that has earned
him one of the strongest repeat-client rates in his field, Brendan Malanga brings to real estate the same qualities that defined his earlier career as an award-winning educator: preparation, patience, and a genuine investment in the people he works with Whether guiding a first-time buyer, a seasoned investor, or a family looking to upsize or downsize, he pairs deep market knowledge with a teacher's gift for making complex decisions clear.
Brendan Malanga's path to real estate began far from the housing market. Born in New Jersey, he lived there until the age of twelve before spending nine years in Hickory, North Carolina He then moved to Boston to attend Northeastern University, a decision shaped in a roundabout way by his lifelong love of basketball and the Boston Celtics, and by Northeastern's strong history program He graduated summa cum laude in 2003 with a major in history and a minor in education, laying the foundation for a fifteen-year career in the classroom.
As a history teacher at TechBoston Academy, part of Boston Public Schools, Brendan Malanga taught eleventh- and twelfth-grade history at a school where 97% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch. His specialties included World War II, the Holocaust, human behavior, and post-Civil War African American history Beyond the classroom, he became known for an ambitious experiential-learning program: for ten years he planned, fundraised for, and led a two-week trip to Central and Eastern Europe for between fifteen and twenty-five honors students each year, teaching them firsthand about the Holocaust and the Second World War He raised more than $50,000 annually to make those trips possible, on top of his teaching responsibilities, and later organized a Washington, D.C. trip that ran for three years and co-planned a trip to Puerto Rico. In 2006, his work was recognized when he became the inaugural winner of the Margot Stern Strom Award from Facing History and Ourselves, honoring excellence in teaching.
In 2016, Brendan Malanga transitioned to real estate, and did so with remarkable speed. While most colleagues with similar backgrounds told him it would take at least three years to move into the profession full-time, he was able to leave teaching and focus solely on real estate within a single year. Building his business in the Boston area with William Raveis, he earned the firm's Chairman's Club Award in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and again in 2024, placing him among the top 9% of the company. He is also a two-time recipient of the Milton Neighbors' Choice Award, a community-voted honor recognizing the area's favorite local Realtor, and a multiple-time winner of Best of Zillow status. Of all these accomplishments, Brendan Malanga is proudest that his percentage of repeat clients ranks among the best in the field, a reflection of the trust he earns and keeps
Brendan Malanga's real estate expertise spans a wide range of needs and property types, including luxury properties, relocations, investment purchases, multi-family homes, and condominiums, as well as clients looking to upsize or downsize. That versatility, combined with his relocation experience and his own recent move, makes him a natural fit for the varied communities he now serves throughout Maryland.
His personal story is one of resilience as much as achievement. In 2005, Brendan Malanga married Casey Malanga, and together they adopted two children, James in 2012 and Gabriella, known as Gabby, in 2015 At one point he volunteered to donate a kidney as part of a chain donation on behalf of a former student, only to have the procedure cancelled less than a week beforehand when Casey was facing cancer and would need chemotherapy and his full attention. Casey passed away in 2022 Brendan Malanga carried his family forward through that loss, and in 2025 he remarried, wedding Toni Malanga, before relocating with his family to Ellicott City, Maryland, to begin a new chapter with Coldwell Banker and The Nancy Hulsman Group
Community involvement and philanthropy have been constants throughout Brendan Malanga's life He gives thousands of dollars to charity each year, focusing on cancer research, education, healthcare, and worldwide access to clean water. When his real estate career first took off, he donated 10% of every commission check to Chris Long's Waterboys organization, continuing until his wife's illness made it no longer possible. For years he was the top fundraising sponsor at his children's elementary school, supporting the Milton Foundation for Education gala and the school's annual fair fundraiser, as well as Glover Elementary School. He has given his time as generously as his money, coaching his son's soccer team for two years, coaching high school girls' basketball for three years and boys' basketball for two, and sponsoring multiple seasons of Milton recreational softball.
Away from work, Brendan Malanga's passions reflect the same energy he brings to his clients. Basketball is a lifelong love; he enjoys playing, coaching, and watching the game, and counts being in the Garden when Kevin Garnett helped bring Boston its seventeenth championship among his favorite memories, along with attending New York Giants playoff games. He has traveled extensively, first as a study-abroad student, then as a teacher, and later for pleasure, visiting nearly every state in the continental United States along with Canada, Mexico, and much of Europe, including England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, and Italy Above all, Brendan Malanga treasures time with his family, and it is that same care and attentiveness, honed over a lifetime of teaching, coaching, and serving others, that his clients across Maryland can count on