HOUSTON – (By Michelle Leigh Smith, Realty News Report) – Martha Turner, an East Texas schoolteacher who founded a Houston real estate brokerage that grew into a leading name in the luxury residential market, has died.
Turner’s career began modestly in Hemphill, Texas, where she sold World Book Encyclopedias door to door. Those early sales skills fueled a remarkable rise: she co-founded her firm in 1981 with Nancy Owens and built it into a major regional brand. Her first jobs as a child included folding overalls at her family’s Fuller’s Feedstore; over the years she sold everything from encyclopedias to wigs before focusing on real estate.
Turner, 81, died Friday morning after a prolonged battle with aggressive cancer, family members said.
“We are heartbroken over Martha’s passing,” said Robin Conner, President of Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty Houston. “She was a deeply respected leader in the Houston real estate community and an inspiration, friend, and mentor to us all. Last year, Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty celebrated 40 years of excellence, and in her honor we will continue her legacy by upholding the values she established so many years ago. We are fortunate to live out her vision, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity she gave us all to be successful.”
Turner often said, “To be successful, you have to love what you do, love the people around you, make everyone feel special, and realize that you are the only person in charge of your life.”
She transformed real estate from a part-time pursuit into a respected profession where women could build successful careers and support their families.
“She was always fastidiously dressed and beautifully coiffed, raising the bar for women in her profession,” said Marilyn Thompson, who retired last year as President of the Houston office of Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty. “When I first started with her, Martha limited the company to 50 people because she wanted only the best. We were expected to wear stockings and were not permitted to wear pants. She professionalized the industry for women, mentoring them in how to present homes and conduct themselves. She was known for her presentations and her classy commercials, where she claimed her company ‘sells homes ranging from $20,000 to $20 million.’”
“She was a woman of great faith,” Thompson added. “Like Mary Kay Ash, Martha put God first, family second, and Martha Turner Properties third. She truly had more faith than anyone I know. Family was important to her.”
In the early 1980s Turner invited a young Houston Chronicle reporter to lunch at Nick’s Fishmarket, a popular downtown power-lunch spot, to discuss how working women were taking clients out to lunch. “At that time, men owned most of the big real estate companies in Houston, so Turner really was changing the face of real estate for women,” Thompson recalled. “Martha encouraged agents to get out of the office and take clients to lunch—always ask for the business. She never asked anyone to do anything she wouldn’t do herself. For big bank presentations, she rolled up her sleeves alongside us: if we spread materials on the floor, she was down there with us. We’d get it done.”
Marilyn Thompson served as Turner’s right hand and succeeded her as president when Turner stepped back from day-to-day management.
“Martha had a great sense of humor—she was extremely funny,” said Neal Hamil, one of the firm’s top agents. He recalled her lesson about humility: she once told a story about buying a Rolls-Royce and driving to a client’s home in River Oaks. When she invited the client into the car and asked if she had ever ridden in a Rolls-Royce, the woman replied dryly, “Never in the front, dear.”
Turner’s meetings often mixed professional guidance with personal conviction. “Now that we’re owned by Sotheby’s, a public company, I can’t quote Scripture in the sales meetings,” she would joke. “I’m going to miss that so much.”
“There will never be another Martha Turner—she was so special,” Hamil said. “She always wanted to know how you were and how she could help. Do you have everything you need? She reminds me of Eileen Ford. She could be fierce, but I never heard her say an unkind word.”
“Martha Turner was a real estate icon!” said Beth Wolff, Chairman and CEO of Beth Wolff Realtors and Real Living. “She was a formidable opponent who became my friend!”
Turner’s life reflected resilience, generosity, and the company of close friends. On her 75th birthday, then-Mayor Annise Parker declared it “Martha Turner Day” in Houston, marked by a proclamation and a birthday cake shaped like a River Oaks mansion with a Martha Turner “For Sale” sign. Music by Marshall Maxwell and chocolates from Cacao & Cardamom were part of the celebration.
In January 2014 Turner sold her independent brokerage to Sotheby’s. Although best known as an auction house and fine art dealer, Sotheby’s has maintained a real estate brand since 1976 with offices worldwide.
At the time of the sale, Martha Turner Properties employed more than 200 sales associates across six Houston offices and ranked among the city’s largest, most profitable brokerages. The company’s ubiquitous yard signs and memorable advertising—stating they sold homes “ranging from $20,000 to $20 million”—gave it high visibility. In 2013, the firm recorded its strongest year, selling more than $2 billion in property, marking the best year in the company’s 32-year history. Real Trends ranked Martha Turner Properties No. 8 in the nation based on closed sales volume per agent, with each agent averaging $7 million in sales.
Following the sale, Turner and co-president Tom Anderson said she planned to step back from daily management to focus on what she loved most: attending home visits with agents and delivering invited lectures. “I’m not retiring,” she said then. “This acquisition means everything in the world because it allows me to do what my dream is—to work as long as I want. I told Sotheby’s I hope when I’m 90 I’ll still be in the office.”
Although she did not reach that particular milestone, she achieved nearly every other goal she set for herself, leaving a lasting legacy in Houston real estate.
April 8, 2022 Realty News Report Copyright 2022
Photo: Courtesy Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty