Long & Foster Cos.
Lilian Jorgenson in the McLean office shows a home in Falls Church to potential buyers. (Photo: Juli Verrier / Long & Foster)
About Long & Foster Cos.
11351 Random Hills Rd., Fairfax, Va. 22030
www.longandfoster.com
| 703-359-1500
| Founded: 1968
Industry: Real Estate | Category: Top Private Companies
Sales revenue flattened at Long & Foster after a series of record-breaking years during the housing boom. The company hunkered down as home sales slowed and inventory rose. Revenue from real estate sales dropped 16 percent, falling to $38.2 billion from $45 billion, a performance mirrored by the company's lending unit, Prosperity Mortgage, where sales fell 16 percent, dropping to $4.2 billion.
Other parts of the business compensated for some of the declines, however. Insurance sales, for example, rose 10 percent, to $4.1 billion. The most notable surge in business came from settlement services, which rose 47 percent, to $18.5 billion. For that reason, the company's overall sales fell slightly, to $65.1 billion in 2006 from $66.5 billion in 2005.
Part of the company's growth came from its acquisition of a North Carolina real estate firm, Fonville Morisey, last summer, which broadened Long & Foster's market penetration in that state. Early this year, Long & Foster also acquired W.C. & A.N. Miller Realtors, which operates in the District and suburbs in Maryland. The company's network includes 259 offices, up from 235 last year. Long & Foster also proceeded with the construction of a 282,000-square-foot headquarters in Chantilly, which it expects to occupy in mid-2008.
2007 Financial Data
Total employees: 2,317 | Local employees: 1,153Did You Know
Long & Foster Cos. operates Long & Foster Real Estate, the Washington region's largest residential real estate brokerage and the largest privately owned brokerage in the country. The company employs thousands of agents working on commission in seven states and the District. Long & Foster also offers mortgages, insurance, settlement services and title services.
