Top 20 Real Estate Influencers in the US

Social media has become an important part of our lives, we all know that. Specifically in our tech-savvy age, platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have become integral in conveying thoughts that could sway your followers and even promote your grand lifestyle as real estate influencers.

With that, social media marketing has been hugely influential in the way businesses increase their brand awareness. People will follow you for free and that itself could already be a potential client or buyer, which is why real estate companies and more specifically personals have grown to become giants within the industry.

The Growth of Real Estate Influencers On Social Media

Here we look at the top 20 real estate influencers in the US that have amassed millions of followers through several platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and even TikTok.

1. Grant Cardone – 13.4M Social Media Followers

Real estate mogul, philanthropist, and international speaker are a few of the many titles that the best-selling author Grant Cardone wields.

Although Grant stated “I am not an influencer, I’m a businessman!”, his combined 13.4m following says otherwise.

Facebook houses the majority of his fanbase. Here, both real estate newbies and veterans alike have access to his property advice, motivational talks, and real estate success stories.

2. Ryan Serhant – 4.1M Social Media Followers

In his first year of real estate ventures, Ryan saw little to no success. The following year, however, kick-started Ryan’s climb to the top, after closing an $8.5m deal. He also directed and produced the two-time Emmy nominated “Million Dollar Listing New York”.

He writes for Forbes, attracting like-minded real estate agents, and has his own podcast called “big money energy” on apple, attracting real estate casuals and wannabe investors. He has even collaborated with Barbara Corcoran on his podcast.

3. Graham Stephan – 3.8M Social Media Followers

Graham’s online popularity has exploded over the past few years. What caused this social media growth? YouTube.

He became a millionaire at 26 and worked with clients like Orlando Bloom and his YouTube viewers watch his videos to learn how to get started in the real estate world.

He went viral when he met Ben Mallah, the “250 million dollar man” and showed what it took to become a successful real estate agent.

With his Forbes exposure, you can see why a significant portion of his followers come from YouTube and other online media.

4. Barbara Corcoran – 3.5M Social Media Followers

Barbara is best known for her time on ABC’s Shark Tank. She is a renowned businesswoman, speaker, consultant, investor, author, and television personality.

Barbara’s main following is on LinkedIn. She uses Instagram for family and lifestyle updates rather than the business side of things. She uses Facebook as a tool to advertise her books.

5. Fredrik Eklund – 2.09M Social Media Followers

150k on Twitter | 1.4M on Instagram | 537k on Facebook | 11k on YouTube | 1.3k on LinkedIn

Eklund is a high-profile realtor and author that deals exclusively in Florida, California, New York, and Texas. His success compelled him to appear in “Million Dollar Listing in New York”, where his following really boomed, especially with the reality TV fans.

Fredrik sold his book called “The Sell” on his Facebook page before utilizing traditional advertising. He managed a commission of $666,000 entirely from his Facebook posts alone.

One reason he is so popular is that he treats social media like an autobiography of his life rather than a promotional platform.

6. Kristoffer Andrew Krohn – 1.7M Social Media Followers

Kristoffer Krohn is an American Realtor, Businessman, author, and motivational speaker. He is a founder of REIC and The Strongbrook Group. Although he studied Psychology at Brigham Young University, his attention also looked towards real estate investment strategies which he believes he has a natural talent for.

This led him to become an author for ‘The Straight Path to Real Estate Wealth and The Conscious Creator, which was released in 2010 and 2013. Kris Krohn labels himself as a “financial freedom fighter” and is set on helping people gaining financial independence; this same rhetoric is found throughout his multiple talks.

7. Cody Sperber – 1.3M Social Media Followers

Also known as the “clever investor”, the former U.S Navy veteran turned real estate investor has garnered quite the following since his company ‘Clever Investor’ became the top company to work for in Arizona in 2017.

Cody is a big proponent of creating compelling content that serves your audience and networking with the right people, aligning that content across platforms, and building your own omnipresence.

8. Josh Altman – 1.02M Social Media Followers

87k on Twitter | 596k on Instagram | 226k on Facebook | 110k on YouTube | 6.6k on LinkedIn

His impressive following can be explained by two tv show appearances: ‘Million Dollar Listing LA’ and ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’.

In 2020, Josh sold a career-high of $585m in residential sales which resulted in him featuring in national media outlets like Forbes and Wall Street Journal, exposing him to more followers interested in real estate.

The best-selling author’s fanbase is mainly young, thanks to reality TV appearances, and they mainly reside on Instagram where he keeps his posts varied, about personal and business matters.

9. Carlos Reyes – 1.01M Social Media Followers

753k on Instagram | 10k on Facebook | 4.4k on YouTube | 1.9k on LinkedIn | 247k on TikTok

Carlos Reyes is a serial entrepreneur and owner of 25 businesses. He is the symbol of the American dream after growing up poor with a single mom.

His motto is “God.Family.Hustle” and his motivational posts attract people from all interests, not just real estate.

His most popular platform, Instagram is where his fans can see highlights of his motivational talks and get inspired.

10. Tom Ferry – 1.01M Social Media Followers

53k on Twitter | 188k on Instagram | 296k on Facebook | 441k on YouTube | 47k on LinkedIn

Tom Ferry is a strategy coach and uses social media more like Graham Stephan. He focuses on YouTube, where his weekly podcast ‘The Tom Ferry Podcast Experience gets hundreds of thousands of views.

People love him. He offers an insight into real estate through the form of long-form intimate conversations with real estate professionals and their stories.

His 450k followers are encouraged to follow his other media platforms at the very start and throughout his podcast, a great networking move.

11. Chad Carroll – 539k Social Media Followers

6.1k on Twitter | 505k on Instagram | 14k on Facebook | 1.7k on YouTube | 12k on LinkedIn

Chad is a “power broker” that has risen to the top 1% of agents nationally since 2011. He is a frequent contributor in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Daily News, and The Real Deal.

His appearance on ‘Million Dollar Listing Miami’ made him more famous than other real estate gurus. His Instagram following is the most impressive and he uses creativity and diligence to show off his newest listings and family life.

12. Stefan Aarnio – 404k Social Media Followers

Stefan is considered one of the most influential real estate investors who became a part of the Freedom Way Joint Ventures. The entrepreneur is also a businessman and writer where he authored numerous books such as Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth.

Sadly, Stefan died of cancer on May 6, 2020. However, his following is still growing through numerous platforms and till now providing advice on real estate through his books and videos.

13. Andy Dane Carter – 365k Social Media Followers

Andy is a professional problem solver and helps all kinds of people achieve better leadership, from yoga teachers to big-time CEOs.

Andy posts super high-quality videos to his Instagram which houses most of his followers. Instagram is where you can find his recent business dealings and he likes to show off property listings that stand out, it’s not all business, he keeps it personal too.

14. Tony Giordano – 346k Social Media Followers

61k on Twitter | 213k on Instagram | 26k on Facebook | 14k on LinkedIn | 31k on TikTok

He’s a thought leader with an addictive passion to help others grow their business. Tony Giordano is a best-selling author who has been featured live on Forbes, CNBC, ABC, FOX, and CBS. His reach is impressive.

Believe it or not, his book “The Social Agent: The New Era Of Social Networking” teaches businesses how to build a brand on social media.

15. Ricky Carruth – 333k Social Media Followers

1.9k on Twitter | 207k on Instagram | 30k on Facebook | 74k on YouTube | 19k on LinkedIn

Ricky was recognized by Re/Max as their no.1 realtor in Alabama for multiple years in a row. He values relationships over transactions, which he contributes his success to.

Ricky became bankrupt in 2005 and worked on an oil rig, where he read 100s of books about self-improvement. By 2008 he was back in the real estate game and was selling over 100 houses a year by 2014.

Focusing on relationships has resulted in Ricky appearing on many podcasts across all social media platforms, especially Instagram.

16. Sean Terry – 305k Social Media Followers

The former US marine bought his first apartment complex at the age of 22. Sean currently buys and sells roughly 15-25 properties a month in the Phoenix Metro area and owns 420 multifamily units across the US.

Like most realtors, Sean’s greatest following is on Instagram. He makes sure that he gets exposure through his YouTube channel where he talks about real estate and by collaborating with realtor YouTubers like “Real Estate Disruptors”

17. Jake Leicht – 244k Social Media Followers

122 on Twitter | 233k on Instagram | 8.4k on Facebook | 1.1k on YouTube | 1.6k on LinkedIn

Jake turns distressed properties into beautiful homes, the process is called ‘flipping’. He has extensive knowledge of sales and marketing too.

He is most active on Instagram where he shows off before and afters of rundown properties turning into stunning new homes.

18. Tracy Tutor – 241k Social Media Followers

7k on Twitter | 167k on Instagram | 63k on Facebook | 3.7k on LinkedIn | 694 on TikTok

It is undeniable that Tracy Tutor is on this list, she might not be as high up but her fame and skills are well known across Los Angeles. Becoming the first female realtor on Million Dollar Listing, Tracy has had clients such as Channing Tatum and Edward Norton.

She focuses on high end properties across LA and last year sold a grand home that was built in 1926. The house was previously owned by John Barrymore, a great actor of that time and who is also Drew Barrymore’s grandfather.

19. Raphael Vargas – 239k Social Media Followers

Among the people on this list, Raphael has had a tough upbringing. In his teenage years, Raphael had quite a challenging past to say the least, he was kicked out of school, getting into fights and hanging out with the wrong crowd. However, through multiple life learning experiences, Raphael was able to pick himself up and is now a eight-figure business owner and a real estate expert.

20. Alex Saenz – 191k Social Media Followers

1.6k on Twitter | 174k on Instagram | 1.2k on Facebook | 10k on YouTube | 5k on LinkedIn

Finally, last but not least Alex Saenz comes at number 20. The businessman, focuses on wholesaling real estate and has been a full time real estate entrepreneur at the young age of 18 which he started with nothing.

Pretty impressive definitely! But what is more impressive was that he was able to flip more than 100+ homes before he reached the age of 21.

Comment from Pedro Hernandes, Demand Generation Manager at Groundbreakers sais:

It is interesting to see that most real estate influencers focus on LinkedIn and Twitter, which, on the other hand, opens doors for others to grow on other platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.

However, we see that to be at the top, like Grant Cardone, Rod Khleif and Ryan Serhant, it is necessary to have a balanced strategy across all channels.

Well there you have it, here are the top 20 most followed real estate influencers in the US. It is clear that social media in our age is needed and flowing with so much potential for financial growth regardless of your work or profession, specifically with the nature of this business, glamour and fortune are enticing for many which are delivered through the social media lense.

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