Long & Foster Real Estate, the largest independent residential real estate company in the country, has named Larry “Boomer” Foster as a president of its general brokerage business, effective Nov. 1. Foster, whose uncle P. Wesley “Wes” Foster, Jr., founded the 46-year old real estate business, will work in partnership with current Long & Foster Real Estate President Gary Scott.

The past couple years under Scott’s leadership, Long & Foster has significantly expanded its market coverage and grown its business in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. Most recently, the company acquired a 14-office former real estate franchise in the Philadelphia area, a move that positioned Long & Foster as the No. 2 brokerage in that region. These developments have been tremendously positive for the entire organization, and as its executive team, including Scott, looked toward the future and continuing such improvements, they recognized the need for an additional leadership position to help maintain the high level of support and service for which Long & Foster is known.

“Appointing an additional president to our general brokerage business is about staying as close to our agents as possible, and that becomes even more critical as we continue to expand,” said Jeffrey S. Detwiler, president and COO of The Long & Foster Companies. “I’m confident that the combination of Gary Scott and Boomer Foster working together will help us increase our business and better support our agents, while also keeping that small family-company approach in everything we do.”

Boomer Foster currently leads the Northern Virginia and West Virginia regions for Long & Foster—a role he has held since January 2010. In that position, he oversees more than 30 Long & Foster locations, which bring in roughly one-quarter of the company’s annual sales volumes. He has been part of the Long & Foster team since 2006, when he joined as a sales associate, but as a member of the Foster family, real estate has always been in his blood. A trial lawyer by training with nearly eight years of experience in that field, Boomer Foster had no trouble adapting to the world of real estate, quickly rising from rookie to top producer.

He became branch manager of Long & Foster’s Kingstowne Centre office in Alexandria, Va., in 2007. There, Boomer Foster honed his skills in management, recruiting, coaching, training and business development. Under his leadership, the office grew significantly, both in overall sales volume and the number of agents working with the firm. His success in that position led to his appointment as the regional leader in Northern Virginia and West Virginia.

Going forward, Boomer Foster and Scott will jointly lead Long & Foster’s general brokerage business, and each will be responsible for specific market regions. With the two accomplished real estate professionals working together, Long & Foster is well positioned to grow its business and even better serve its sales associates and their clients.

“Gary has done a great job steering Long & Foster toward growth over the last few years while maintaining a high level of agent service,” said Wes Foster, founder and CEO of The Long & Foster Companies. “With recent acquisitions and with future growth in mind, we felt we needed an additional leadership position to stay as close to our agents as possible across all the markets where we do business. I also couldn’t be more pleased to welcome a member of the Foster family to our executive leadership team working with Gary Scott and Jeff Detwiler.”

A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Boomer Foster is a licensed broker in both Virginia and the District of Columbia. You can read more about him and the company at www.LongandFoster.com.