Reneé Gonzales
CEO
Long Companies, a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®
Tucson, Arizona
https://www.longrealty.com
Region served: Arizona
Years in real estate: 23
Number of offices: 12 company owned, 15 franchises
Number of agents: 1,000 company agents and about 700 franchisee agents
Favorite part of your job: Helping agents achieve success, whatever that looks like for them.
What is one of the challenges your market faces, and what are you doing to overcome it?
Affordability is the main challenge. Inventory has been so low that prices continue to go up, making it difficult for first-time homebuyers to get into the market. Overcoming this challenge is all about helping consumers understand the importance of having an agent who is looking out for them.
The other thing we’ve been doing is educating consumers. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I’ve come to learn that there’s so much that consumers don’t know about the real estate process. You have to educate the consumer and spend time ensuring they understand the process.
How do you see your market evolving through 2025?
I believe it’s going to continue to grow in regard to listings coming onto the market. In most of our markets, we currently have three to four months of inventory, which is a pretty stable level. It’s not a buyer’s market, and it’s not a seller’s market—it’s pretty balanced. I think this will continue because people have been waiting on the sidelines, and now there’s nothing else to wait for. Plus, there are always going to be people who have to move.
That said, I think 2025 is going to be a little bit better than 2024 because we’ve stabilized. I think we’re going to see 3% to 5% growth in the market, which, if you look back historically, is a normal market. I think our appreciation is going to slow down, too.
How does your company make its agents’ jobs easier?
While we provide one or two classes on a weekly basis, most of our bigger branches have roundtable conversations taking place at least twice a week. We also have an academy that our agents go through when they get into the business in addition to mentors who help support new agents.
Our goal is to have the marketing tool, product or lead generation tool for agents to be successful—providing the service and training for whatever their business looks like.
Is now the time to pursue expansion—in terms of offices and/or number of agents? Why or why not?
It’s absolutely a great opportunity, especially for those companies that have the support because that’s what agents are looking for. Our recruiting numbers have gone up the past two months because agents are looking to be part of a group of professionals who support one another and want to be successful together.
What attracted you to Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE)?
They’re an amazing company, and their name says it all. We enjoy the relationships we’ve been able to build with brokerages across the country and the world. We know that when we send a referral to a LeadingRE company, they’re going to be taken care of—and that’s important because when you refer to somebody, it’s still your reputation that’s on the line. We’ve never encountered a situation where one of our agents didn’t get great service going the opposite direction, and they do a good job of keeping it that way, too. They’re very strict about their guidelines, and I like that because we want to make sure our clients are taken care of.
For more information, please visit https://www.leadingre.com.
