Inside Ben Kinney's flourishing real estate empire

Rain dripping from cedar trees comforts a child huddled in a 300-square-foot remote cabin outside Arlington, Washington, deep in the Pacific Northwest.

He’s on a broken couch, which serves as a bed that he shares with his single-parent father, who sleeps on the opposite end. And he might be as surprised by his real estate, entrepreneurial future as he is mesmerized by the languorous patter that lulls him to sleep many nights.

Ben Kinney’s childhood home.

Ben Kinney, 37, grew up in that one-room shack (sans electricity) with his dad from age 3 through middle school. Last week, he was in London opening his first international real estate brokerage office as his burgeoning real estate empire gets bigger.

Kinney’s story shows real estate brokers and agents that riding a rocket built of simplicity, integrity and smarts can shoot them to stratospheric heights, especially if it’s powered by relationships.

Kinney cites Proverbs 27:17 as one of his guiding lights: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Ben Kinney

That spirit endears him to colleagues.

“He’s humble, giving, always does the right thing, always thinks big picture,” fellow Keller Williams Realty super agent Sue Adler wrote in a Facebook comment about Kinney. “What I hate about Ben: He always grabs the check for the whole table when no one is looking. That makes me crazy, but that is Ben.”

For anyone doubting Kinney’s folk-hero status: He saves baby deer.

Helping a baby deer. Watch the mother deer in the field. Turn the volume up. #betterranch #reunited #worstsoundever pic.twitter.com/pHUuyxabQM

— Ben Kinney (@benkinney) July 19, 2015

Kinney’s story also provides a glimpse of the industry’s future from someone leaning into its cutting edge.

Real estate empire

Kinney’s increasingly becoming a face for the fast-growing and massive brand he calls home, Keller Williams Realty, but he’s also a company in and of himself.

Headquartered in Bellingham, Washington, Ben Kinney Companies has four wings: brokerage, sales (through an agent team he leads), technology and coaching. All but 20 percent of the firm is focused on real estate.

Ben Kinney Companies

He wasn’t looking to get into the brokerage business; he bought his first firm by happenstance.

Kinney’s smartphone homescreen.

During the housing crash, a nearby Keller Williams franchisee needed leadership and money. Kinney decided to step in.

“If you’re going to own one brokerage, you might as well own 10 or 20, because it’s the same work,” Kinney said. He compared the broker-owner experience at Keller Williams to getting an MBA; he’s learned to manage financials and balance overhead with a detailed, proven model.

Behind it all, however, is a focus on people.

“Once I committed to making my life about the who instead of the what, I realized that my only job is to recruit and retain talent,” Kinney said.

Why did he jump at the chance to own a London brokerage?

First, he had the opportunity to partner with a colleague he admires, Philadelphia Keller Williams broker-owner Matt Fetick. They co-own the 30-agent firm.

Second, “the market needs disruption,” Kinney said, citing several examples:

• Listing agents don’t typically publish property addresses because exclusive listing agreements are rare.
• Buyers typically have no representation.
• Technology is not used for leverage or marketing.
• Listings are not marketed effectively.

Diving into the tech ocean

Running a real estate firm and building technology are separate oceans. Why did Kinney dive into the latter?

“Tech is going to disrupt real estate,” Kinney said. “I wanted to start investing in software so that when the world changes, I have all the tools in place to take advantage of it.”

“Most successful people in the world are a little bit paranoid,” he added. “Knowing that somebody on Wall Street, an entrepreneur or corporation is trying to change the business makes me nervous.”

Kinney’s software companies

Source: Ben Kinney

Kinney has big plans for the real estate community and blogging platform he acquired from Zillow Group in June, ActiveRain.

“Tech is going to disrupt real estate,” Kinney said.

He wants to incorporate the network into his emerging localism.com endeavor to help agents and others become the experts down to street, neighborhood and ZIP code levels. He mentioned the blog networks Curbed and The Huffington Post as inspiration.

The man, the myth, the legend

Like many agents before him, Keller Williams co-founder Gary Keller’s iconic book, “The Millionaire Real Estate Agent,” propelled Kinney into real estate.

Eleven years ago, Kinney was working as a cable guy. He bought a duplex and his agent gave him the book as a closing gift.

Soon after, a massive round of layoffs hit his cable company.

He was spared, but the thought hit him: “How can I plan my life if someone has control over whether I have a job?”

Kinney’s current home.

He’s driving the bus now.

Kinney lives in a Bellingham home he bought two years ago for $400,000 in foreclosure.

“My goal is to buy a new home every two years and never sell any of them,” Kinney said. “I don’t get emotionally attached to real estate. It is an investment for my future.”

Kinney’s golden retriever.

“I used to be ashamed about how I grew up,” Kinney said. But then he realized: “For every one that has had a bad situation, there are tons that have had worse.”

He’s left that hardscrabble upbringing far behind — propelled, in part, by his real estate coach.

“Having a coach drives me to get results far past my potential,” Kinney said.

Three years ago, he developed a list of seven goals with his coach and mentor, Gary Keller, to stay on track. (Keller coaches Keller Williams’ top agents.)

“Making my goals public is another form of accountability,” Kinney said. “Tell everyone what you’re gonna do and let your words match your actions.”

True to form, he’s still not working alone. Keller actively mentors and coaches him. He also has another coach from Maps Coaching, Glen Neely.

Kinney’s business heroes? Steve Jobs and Gary Keller.

Kinney’s pro tips

“Most successful people in the world are a little bit paranoid,” Kinney said.

Email Paul Hagey.