Company News: REAL Trends and Other Industry, Company Awards

Long & Foster’s Parent Company Takes Top Rankings in 2018 REAL Trends 500 Report

HomeServices of America (HomeServices), the parent company of Long & Foster Real Estate, took top ranking in several categories in the 2018 REAL Trends 500 report. The annual report ranks the performance of 500 of the nation’s largest and leading residential real estate firms by closed transaction sides and by sales volume, and is the trusted source for information about the performance of elite brokerage firms in the United States.

HomeServices ranked second for 2017 in the categories of both closed transaction sides and closed sales volume. In 2017, the company’s sales associates, which includes over 10,000 Long & Foster agents, facilitated over $125 billion in residential real estate sales and nearly 350,000 home sale transactions. Of those figures, the Long & Foster team closed nearly 78,000 transactions for a total volume of more than $28.9 billion.

HomeServices earned the No. 1 position for Largest Privately Owned Independents by transaction sides. The company also ranked at the top for the largest increase by sides and by volume from 2016 to 2017, placing HomeServices in the No. 1 spot for the categories of Top Movers By Transactions and Top Movers By Volume.

Long & Foster Retains Prestigious RELO Quality Certification

Long & Foster Real Estate’s Corporate Real Estate Services division successfully completed the re-certification process for the prestigious RELO Quality Certification (RQC). Presented by Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE), the RQC was the first program to quantify and qualify the meaning of relocation service excellence. LeadingRE created the award to provide measurable standards for the pursuit of relocation excellence.

When certifying companies for the RQC, LeadingRE evaluates performance and production, staffing, training and continuing education. They also consider a firm’s quality and scope of relocation services, program marketing, customer satisfaction, technology resources and office facilities, among other standards. The CRES division, under the guidance of Pandra Richie, now retired president of CRES, and Vicki Hamp, senior vice president of CRES, has continually demonstrated that it meets the criteria for the award. The re-certification process must be completed every five years.

Cornerstones Raises Record Funds at 2018 Capitol Steps Benefit

Long & Foster Real Estate and the Reston, Virginia, offices once again supported the annual Capitol Steps performance to benefit Cornerstones. Long & Foster served as the presenting sponsor of the event, and its offices and local agents contributed to the fundraiser as well. The sold-out event was held Jan. 21, with more than 600 guests filling the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Reston Town Center.

Cornerstones is a nonprofit organization that works to help Fairfax County families become self-sufficient by providing support and advocacy for those in need of affordable housing, quality childcare, food and shelter. This year’s event raised a record $340,614, which was presented to Cornerstones by the event co-chairs, including Liz Gavin Pao, who is also an agent in Long & Foster’s Reston office and was an event sponsor.

Long & Foster Honored as a Top Workplace in Richmond Region

Long & Foster Real Estate has been awarded a 2018 Top Workplaces honor by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by research partner Energage, a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools.

The anonymous survey measures several aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution and connection, and the Times-Dispatch recognized 65 companies in four categories, ranging by the organization’s size. Long & Foster earned honors in the Top Workplaces large companies category, which recognizes businesses with 400 to 999 employees.

 

Columbia Office Honored with Foster Cup Award

Vice President and Branch Manager Suzi Padgett and the team of sales associates at Long & Foster Real Estate’s Columbia, Maryland, office were recently honored with the company’s 2017 Foster Cup Award. The Foster Cup Award acknowledges those who achieve excellence in real estate. Long & Foster’s Columbia office has consistently been a leader in the local market and ranks among the company’s top 10 offices. The Columbia office also received the Foster Cup for 2015 and is the only Long & Foster office to have received the coveted award twice. Padgett said she is most proud of the dedication and effort her office’s associates put forth to make a difference in their local community, and she thanks the local community for their support.

30 Prosperity Home Mortgage Consultants Recognized as Top in the US by Mortgage Executive Magazine

Prosperity Home Mortgage, LLC, (Prosperity) has once again been recognized for its exceptional mortgage originators by Mortgage Executive Magazine. In its spring 2018 edition, the industry publication honored the Top 200 Mortgage Originators in America and the Top 1% of Mortgage Originators in America. Thirty members of the Prosperity team were named to these exclusive lists.

Three of Prosperity’s mortgage consultants ranked among the Top 200 Mortgage Originators in America by annual mortgage volume in addition to ranking in the Top 1% of Mortgage Originators. Jody Eichenblatt, a senior mortgage consultant based in Alexandria, Virginia, was ranked No. 71 on the list; Jonathan Okun, a senior mortgage consultant based in Bethesda, Maryland, earned the No. 93 spot; and Thomas O’Keefe, branch manager of Prosperity’s office in Bethesda, Maryland, was ranked No. 144. To see the full list of Prosperity’s mortgage consultants named to the Top 1% of Mortgage Originators in America, click here.

Cindy Ariosa Recognized as One of 2018’s Influential Marylanders

The Daily Record, a Maryland-based news outlet, has named Long & Foster Real Estate Senior Vice President and Regional Manager Cindy Ariosa as one of its 2018 Influential Marylanders. Created in 2006, the Influential Marylanders list comprises individuals who have made significant contributions to their industries and serve as leaders in the state. Editors at The Daily Record select the honorees and Ariosa was the only residential real estate executive to be named to the list.

Ariosa has more than 25 years of experience in the real estate industry and oversees about 45 Long & Foster offices in Maryland. She has been recognized among the real estate industry’s most influential leaders on the Swanepoel Power 200 in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and was named to the Inman Influencer List in 2017. Ariosa is the treasurer for the Bright MLS Board of Directors, and she is actively involved in Realtor associations at the local, state and national level. She frequently contributes to publications like The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun.

WBJ Names Long & Foster Top Residential Real Estate Company in D.C. Area

Long & Foster Real Estate has once again been recognized by the Washington Business Journal as the top residential real estate company in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Long & Foster earned first place on the publication’s annual list, which ranks residential real estate companies by their 2017 metro-area sales volume.

WBJ Honors Prosperity Home Mortgage

Prosperity Home Mortgage, LLC, (Prosperity) has been recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of the top home mortgage lenders in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Prosperity earned 7th place on the publication’s annual list, which ranks companies within the region by their 2017 metro-area lending volume.