The past couple of years have been a whirlwind for industry veteran Lacey Conway. In the spring of 2024, her family firm Latter & Blum, of which she had been serving as CEO, was acquired by Compass, where she would later go on to serve as the executive vice president of mergers and acquisitions. Conway’s latest move as president at Long & Foster Real Estate HomeServices of America brings her back to her roots in regional brokerage.
“I certainly feel like Long & Foster is a larger version of Latter & Blum,” Conway says in an exclusive interview with HousingWire. “There is a lot of familiarity with it being this iconic company with a lot of history, tradition and legacy. I think I am in a unique position to honor that legacy and help them go forward.”
Pulling from her past experience
While Conway acknowledges that the size and scope of Long & Foster is a bit bigger than what she was accustomed to at Latter & Blum, she says she still feels comfortable at the helm knowing that she has experience leading a full-service brokerage in the past. She is also excited to pull from the experience she gained and lessons she learned while at Compass.
“I can relate [to] a lot of situations and that positions me well for this role,” Conway says. There is so much to gain from my experience with Compass, which remains one of my proudest chapters, and I still have so much admiration for what they are doing and where they are going.”
Having been on the inside of a major national brokerage, Conway is hoping that experience helps her find more ways to leverage the partnership Long & Foster has with its parent company, HomeServices of America, while still retaining the unique Long & Foster brand.
“Working with M&A at Compass, I have this appreciation of partnerships and a growth mindset and being able to leverage strengths,” Conway says. “I feel like there are so many scenarios where one plus one can equal three, and I think I bring that spirit and mindset here to Long & Foster.”
Ready to move to the next brokerage chapter
Conway is joining the HomeServices of America family at a time when the company is undergoing some leadership changes, which began last April when Chris Kelly, an 18-year veteran of the firm, was appointed CEO. Gino Blefari, who had led the company since 2019, stepped down and transitioned into the position of chairman emeritus.
“Brokerage in general has been through a bit of a dark time the past few years with the lawsuits and all of the negativity and it feels like at HomeServices we are done with that,” Conway says. “We are on the offensive now, we’re positive, and we are creating the future that we want instead of having life come at us. It feels like a new chapter.”
Exploring the full-service, one-stop shop
At Long & Foster, Conway said she is excited to explore and strengthen the company’s full-service-one-stop-shop model.
“I feel like Long & Fost almost wrote the book on being a full-service shop and really trying to make the home ownership experience pleasant by trying to attract the top talent,” Conway says. “I am really impressed by the capture rates that Long & Foster has with insurance, settlement, mortgage and even property management. This is certainly a rock of this company that we will continue to fortify.”
Looking ahead at the industry as a whole, given her recent experiences, Conway is understandably keeping a close eye on industry consolidation, a trend she expects to see continue at both a national and regional level.
“I am bringing that mindset of growth and loving partnerships to Long & Foster,” Conway says. “I think there are going to be great opportunities for us to attract agents, teams and even smaller brokerages that like the stability, longevity and strength that we offer. That is really exciting to me, and I welcome those opportunities. I am excited for the future at Long & Foster.”
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