Mark Spain, founder of the namesake firm Mark Spain Real Estate based in Atlanta, Ga., has been honored as a 2019 REAL Trends Game Changer. He is the only member of the inaugural 50-person list based in Georgia.

Founded in 1987, REAL Trends is an industry leader in news, analysis and information on the residential brokerage industry. Among its many real estate industry contributions is sponsoring and compiling an annual, national awards ranking list, The Thousand Top Real Estate Professionals. Mark Spain and his team have annually appeared somewhere in the top 10 of this top producers list for several years. In 2018, Spain earned the No. 1 team ranking for closed transactions when Mark Spain Real Estate achieved 2,318 transactions and $550 million in 2017 gross sales. Only one other real estate team in the country broke the 2,000-sale mark along with the Mark Spain team.

““I’m honored to be on this list of industry game changers! To be in the company of these real estate titans and world-class leaders is an affirmation that my passion for this industry and innovative business practices are a winning combination,” stated Chairman and CEO Mark Spain. “The real estate industry has experienced major changes in recent years and I'm extremely fortunate to be on the leading edge of this change. I am so excited to continue to scale our real estate team across the Southeast. Being considered the ‘Team Pace Setter’ is the ultimate compliment!”

The REAL Trends selection process was, by the firm’s own admission, subjective as no nominations were accepted to be on the Game Changers list. A comprehensive list of 125 industry professionals was gathered, before a multi-step paring down process was undertaken to reach the 50 names on this year’s Game Changers list. The REAL Trends team asked questions such as: Is this person a thought leader in the industry? Is this person doing something in 2019 that could impact the real estate industry? Is this company or person doing something unique, innovative or interesting? And will others benefit from what this person is doing?

An affirmative answer was needed to all questions to earn a spot on the Game Changers list. Spain is in good company on the list. Other honorees include Gary Keller, co-founder and CEO of Keller Williams International, long-time and well-known industry trainers Brian Buffini and Tom Ferry, as well as the CEOs of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, RE/MAX International, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Zillow, Coldwell Banker, Realogy Holdings Corp., Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies, and HomeServices of America.

“When we look at what’s happening in our industry, it occurred to our team that there are a fairly small group of people who, because of their position, products or services, are currently playing a hot hand or have the real ability to change the game,” explained REAL Trends Inc. President Steve Murray. “This impactful group changes and shifts all the time. None of us know how much they will change the business, but our bet is these few will have outside impact. “