Ben Kinney, a Bellingham real estate agent was recognized in two national real estate news companies for his success at the Keller Williams Western Realty Market Center.

Kinney was listed as the leader of one of the top real estate brokerage teams in the county in 2011, based on closed transactions, by Real Trends, Inc., a real estate consulting and communications company and a leading source of industry news. Kinney’s team, Home4Investment, ranked 18 out of 250 teams nationwide.

In addition, Inman News, another real estate industry news source, placed Kinney on its top 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders for 2011 in the media, social media and marketing category. Inman News recognized Kinney for developing an online platform called the Internet Marketing Specialist Designation, which helps real estate agents pursue business leads through the Internet and social media.