Washington Fine Properties Turns 25
By • June 12, 2024 0 195
Washington Fine Properties is celebrating 25 years this year. One of the top real estate firms in the Washington, D.C., area, WFP was founded in 1999 by managing partners Tom Anderson, Dana Landry, William F. X. Moody and Marc Schappell.
“Every special market has the firm of well-connected professional agents who dominate their markets,” Anderson said. “We hoped to create a new firm to keep that tradition here in Washington,” following the 1998 purchase of Pardoe Real Estate by Cendant Corporation.
Today, Anderson, Landry, Moody and Schappell are grateful to what Anderson calls “their exceptional agents,” who have made that a very successful reality, far exceeding their goal.
The firm includes 150 top-producing agents; the size is intentional. “We have been blessed over our 25 years in so many ways, although most importantly, any firm is only as good as its people, and WFP is fortunate to have the most experienced and productive agents in the Capital Region,” said Anderson.
L to R: Tom Anderson, Bill Moody, Dana Landry and Marc Schappell in 1999. Photo from WFP.
When the foursome founded WFP, Schappell was managing partner at Egon Zehnder, a New York-based global executive search firm. He chose to stay in that role until 2007, when he moved to D.C. to join WFP, focusing on recruitment and on building the firm’s footprint.
“From the start, we have embraced what we wanted our ‘lane’ to be, both from a cultural and operational standpoint, and we have stuck to our principles over the last 25 years,” Schappell said.
With a total sales volume of $3 billion, WFP’s average sale price is number one in the Capital Region. The firm also has the highest regional sales volume per agent at $19.1 million and the highest Mid-Atlantic average sales price at $1.6 million.
Before he became a managing partner at WFP, Moody covered areas of New York, Chicago, Dallas and other cities. “As a director for my previous firm, I had the opportunity to visit real estate offices in many cities across the country,” he said. “The difference is that D.C. is a big small town.”
There were struggles at the beginning, as there were at Moody’s previous D.C. firm. “The challenge was guiding the independent contractor/real estate agent to adjust their mindset away from being so independent, to working together with their colleagues,” he said. “At WFP, we have succeeded in having our agents work together with each other in all marketing, advertising and promotions. What that has created is the power of the company fortifying the independent contractor/agent in building their business.”
