Long road to success
1926
Long Realty is founded by Roy H. Long. He and his son Barry Long run it for 54 years.
1980
No longer a family business, Long is headed by Robert Piersol for 12 years.
1990s
Long expands into Green Valley and Sierra Vista, launches a Web site and breaks the billion-dollar mark in sales.
1999
Long merges with real-estate holding company HomeServices of America.
2000
Long Title is established.
2001
The company acquires competitor Tucson Realty & Trust's residential division.
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2002
Nearly $2.6 billion in sales are reported.
2003
Long Mortgage is established with loan officers in each branch office.
2004
Long establishes a commercial-real-estate division. The company has 24 offices.
38%
Long Realty
Rosey Koberlein, president and CEO
7%
Long mortgage
Renee Booker, president
19%
Long Title*
Wissy Wendt, president
* resale loans, not including refinancing or new construction loans
Who owns Long?
Although Long Realty Co. is locally managed, it is a brokerage firm of Minneapolis-based HomeServices of America Inc.
HomeServices is the second-largest full-service independent residential real estate brokerage firm in the United States, based on closed transactions.
Home Services, which acquired Long in 1999, had $48.6 billion in sales last year, up from $36.9 billion in 2002, according to its annual report. Nearly a quarter of that increase came from acquisitions of major real estate companies in California, Florida, Kentucky and Nebraska.
HomeServices also is a subsidiary company of Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., of which Berkshire Hathaway holds an 80.5 percent interest.
In his 2003 annual report, Berkshire CEO Warren Buffet said the company is building a "brokerage powerhouse" through its acquisitions and operations.
- Becky Pallack
UP, UP AND AWAY:
Sales have risen steadily since 1992, to more than $3 billion in 2003
SKY'S THE LIMIT:
New agents, services and territories will add to the plus column