Inman

Long & Foster expands in East Coast

The Long & Foster Companies expanded its East Coast footprint this week with the purchase of Raleigh, N.C.-based Fonville Morisey Realty, which includes 12 sales offices and 600 associates, the company announced this week.

The deal also includes the purchase of FM Lending Services, and the title insurance agency Guaranty Title.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Fonville Morisey Realty name and entire organization for all three entities will remain intact. John C. Morisey, president and founder of Fonville Morisey Realty, and his management team will continue to run the operations under the Fonville Morisey name.

Fonville Morisey Builder Marketing Group and Community Properties, a land development company, are not included in the transaction, the company said.

Fonville Morisey Realty in 2005 was ranked the 41st largest real estate company by Real Trends magazine, an industry publication. The company reported more than 10,000 closed transactions and $2.6 billion in sales volume in 2005.

The Long & Foster Companies entered the North Carolina market in 2002 with the addition of Hall & Nixon as a licensee in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. In January 2006, Hall & Nixon became a company-owned Long & Foster office.

With the acquisition of Fonville Morisey Realty, The Long & Foster Companies now has nearly 19,000 agents and employees.