Long & Foster Cos.
11351 Random Hills Rd.
Fairfax, Va. 22030
www.longandfoster.com Year founded: 1968 Industry: real estate Revenue: $810.00 Million Net Income/Loss: n/a Earnings per share: n/a Dividend: n/a Stockholder equity: n/a Auditor: n/a Assets: n/a Market capitalization: n/a 52-week high: n/a 52-week low: n/a CEO: P. Wesley Foster Jr. COO: Brenda B. Shipplett Employees: 1516 Local employees: 1171 Description: Privately held Long & Foster is the metro region's largest residential real estate brokerage, with 12,500 agents working on commission in seven states. It is the largest privately owned residential brokerage in the country. Four companies make up the Long & Foster group: the brokerage, a mortgage company, a settlement company and an insurance agency. Together they're big enough to make Long & Foster the fourth-largest U.S. real estate services firm. Developments: Long & Foster rode the still-roaring housing market again last year, selling almost $30 billion worth of homes. Revenue for all its companies reached $810 million. The company opened several new offices last year, bringing the total to more than 200. Company officials say they prefer opening new offices near old ones, building on the company's brand, to expanding into completely new areas. The company made a big effort over the year to get its agents to use more of the company's mortgage, insurance and settlement products. Only about 20 percent of Long & Foster agents use the Long & Foster mortgage company, officials said. To make the mortgage business more accessible, they beefed up the number of loan officers in the offices. Long & Foster has also acquired several smaller brokerages over the past few years and will continue to look for more small ones to buy. Foster said the company will most probably buy at least two smaller brokerages in the Washington area this year. The higher interest rates many experts expect this year could hurt home sales in the future. Long & Foster chief executive P. Wesley Foster Jr., who opened his first office in Fairfax in 1968, says the cyclical housing market will dip at some point.
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