The Real Estate Weenie

After reading that Jeff Turner was named one of this years top 100 most influential people in real estate I looked up influential and real estate and found the picture of Jeff that I have posted here.  There is no doubt that Jeff is influencial but what does it really mean?

I have been under Jeff’s influence for years and recently deleted my Klout account because of it.  I now know that Jeff encouraged his followers to delete their Klout accounts because he ran out of  kool-aid.

I am learning that in the near future prospective employers will use the Klout score to determine who they should hire and it is only a matter of time before home sellers use it to decide who they should list with.   If that were not bad enough Klout scores will also be used to determine credit worthiness in the same way the we use credit scores today.  Without a Klout score I have no future and at some point it may even become impossible to get a drivers license or a passport.

The whole Klout score thing is just one example of Jeff’s influence.   It is likely that his influence is partly reponsible for the crash of the housing market which puts him firmly in the top five most influencial people in real estate.

You may have seen this photo on news web sites.  The dang thing has gotten over 27,500 views and I am not making that up.   Jeff took it in early 2008 before the tsunami of foreclosures hit the country.  There are some experts that believe this photograph influenced banks to start foreclosure proceedings on borrowers who were behind on their mortgage payments because they liked the picture so much.

Jeff owns some real estate but his involvement with it does not go beyond living in it and paying property taxes.   Jeff openly admits that he is not an expert on the subject of real estate which is part of the reason why he is so influential.   A couple of days ago when I asked him about his interest in real estate he told me that he likes the people.  Jeff’s interest in people goes beyond real estate and into the realm of engagement and even listening, at least when he isn’t talking.

We at the weenie would like to congratulate Jeff for being so influential but we would like to remind all the people who go out there and actually sell real estate that being influenced by Jeff does not guarantee success especially for those of us who have deleted our Klout accounts.