STEVE LONG REALTY, LLC

                              BIOGRAPHY OF STEVEN B. LONG, 4th Generation Tucsonan

 

I was literally born into real estate. My grandparents, Roy H. & Mimi (Meta) Long started Roy H. Long Realty in 1926, with two sales associates. Pop became known as “Mr. Acreage” for selling many large tracts of land in Tucson. Long Realty is now the largest real estate company in Arizona. 

 

They lived at their Tucson home / office located at 1815 E. 5th St., present-day site of McKale Center and the University of Arizona baseball field. 

 

I remember standing next to “Pop,” as we called him, as he sat at his upright office piece, with the flip-down desk, the drawers below, and the bookcase above. I would watch him hand-write one-page real estate agreements. I still use Pop’s desk daily. 

 

The office moved downtown to 92 E. Broadway, then moved again in 1946 to 1826 E. 6th St., at that time east of the U of A stadium. It became known as the Central Office. 

 

I was privileged to have been the first grandson to work for Long Realty, starting in 1968 as a sophomore at Catalina High School. I cleaned the company’s one office, the Central Office, on the weekends. Soon, my duties increased to filing the daily listing sheets into a file tray, and running errands. Back in those days, a text or an email was called a Western Union Telegram! 

 

In 1976 I obtained my Arizona real estate license. For four years during the mid-1870’s, I managed the Central Office with 40 sales associates. I was also the company’s Designated Broker, coordinated the company’s early marketing programs, and helped develop and predominately teach Long’s infant sales training programs. 

 

In 1952, the year I was born, my parents, Barrington (Barry) and Marjorie (Marge), purchased Roy H. Long Realty from Mimi & Pop. They built Long Realty into a nine-office company. In 1982, my brothers Russell and Roy and another partner and I purchased the company from them. 

 

I was also privileged to have been the last family member to have been with Pop before he passed away in 1983 at age 91. He and I often played golf 

together at Randolph Park Golf Course in his later years. He didn’t hit the ball far, but he hit straight! It was a real pleasure to have known him. 

 

In the summer of 1969, I had an opportunity to be a foreign exchange to the Philippines for three months! What an adventure for a 16-year old – it was an experience that I will never forget! 

 

When I returned from the Philippines in 1969, the company was just “installing” its second office - a single-wide trailer located at the intersection of Ina and Oracle Rd! I got to clean that office too! 

 

I worked for Long Realty while I attended the U of A from 1970-74. Very few people know this, but I was U of A football and basketball cheerleader during my first three years there. 

 

From 1984 to 1988, I was the co-creator and co-master lease holder of the first long-term Arizona State Land Department land-lease project of its kind in southern Arizona – a 50-year lease for a first class manufactured home park. It was partnershipped with Ashton Construction, and is currently known as Harrison Hills located at Harrison and Irvington Roads. 

 

Today, Long Realty is the largest real estate company in Arizona, with branch offices all across Arizona, and branches in Mexico as well.