When you visit EXIT Realty Expertise in King George, VA, you’ll notice a photo plaque hanging on the wall. It’s an homage to Julia Snow and her late husband, Richard Snow. Jr., founders of the office that still operates in the same town where they once laid down roots as a young family and opened for business in 2007.
“Richard always kind of really wanted to have something to call his own. He was just that way. He got to a point in his career where he had reached the ceiling in a sense, and he wasn’t really enamored with the particular brokerage model where he was. He just felt like it was time for him to break away and create a company of his own to start giving back to agents through mentoring and sharing his knowledge,” Julia shared of her husband.
As a military dependent, Richard lived in many places including Japan, California, Georgia, Connecticut, and Midway Island before finally relocating to Dahlgren, VA in 1971. After graduation he would travel to Washington, D.C. where he met Julia before eventually returning to his Virginia roots. As a second-generation real estate professional, with both parents and his sister in separate brokerages, choosing real estate was a natural thing for Richard.
“It took some time to gain traction, as it was during a pretty steep recession at the time in 1994, but he had the inspiration of his parents and his sister,” Julia said of Richard’s journey to become the top agent for Century 21 in the state without any prior experience. “He just knew that he could pretty much succeed at anything that he set his mind to, and that [real estate] would be a good way to make a living.”
While on a trip to the Florida Keys in 2006, the perpetually entrepreneurial-minded Richard literally noticed all the EXIT signs and unbeknownst to Julia, began researching the brand she recalled, saying, “The more he learned about it, the more he liked it. Next thing you know he’s figuring out how to meet with [the regional owners] and talk to them about buying a franchise.”
It was a change for their growing family and Julia who was a nurse at the time. She would eventually leave the profession to take on an administrative role within the office, but described it as a labor of love watching Richard really come into his own as a naturally gifted broker/owner, and seeing their office of six double, triple, then quadruple in size as time went by.
“Agents just started coming over, wanting to join him and be under his tutelage, guidance, and integrity,” she said of the organic office growth and his gift for seeing talent where others didn’t. “It wasn’t like he went after agents, mined or poached offices. He just did what he did, and people followed him because they wanted to be a part of his success and philosophy. He also didn’t subscribe to that scarcity complex. He believed there was enough real estate to go around for everybody, you just had to work at it, and nothing was handed to you.”
Throughout his 12-year career with EXIT, Richard sponsored 40 associates into the brand, bringing several agents under his wing who remain with the company today. But it was in his 60th year, just after he and Julia decided to renew for another five-year term and start planning for retirement that he was dealt a terminal cancer diagnosis. Julia recalls how residual income first helped secure alternative treatments not covered by insurance, helping Richard enjoy a longer, better quality of life compared to others with a similar diagnosis.
They would ultimately sell the business to make the most of his remaining time with family, taking a once-in-a-lifetime sailing trip around the Virgin Islands before his passing, however she laments not doing this more often before. It’s something she tries to encourage in her children now saying, “They see, as many of us realize, that life is short; it’s precious. We’ve travelled together since Richard’s death, to seize those moments. Unfortunately it’s very easy to get caught up in the peak of your career when you’re in your 40’s, 50’s, or 60’s and say, ‘Oh I’ll do this when I retire,’ and know that you’re saving for the future, but it definitely puts things into perspective to have a bit more of a work/life balance.”
Even though they had put the business aside, it was EXIT’s culture of family that rallied around Julia after hearing the news of Richard’s passing. She recalled when current Broker/Owner, Gary Butler offered to help her with arrangements saying, “I remember calling Gary and him asking, ‘What can we do?’ and after I mentioned something he said, ‘Consider it done.’ They provided us with such a beautiful spread, had a huge cake with Richard’s picture on it, and they just took care of all of that. I didn’t have to think about a thing.”
The office continues to make her an integral part of their goings on, inviting Julia to social events and Christmas parties. In addition to the plaque that hangs in the office, there’s also a youth outdoor club program in Richard’s name. These days, whenever Julia sees an eagle out front of her house, she’s reminded of Richard; his determination, focus, and progressive ways that kept him on the leading-edge of whatever new trends or technology were out there. It’s part of what drew him to the very uniqueness of EXIT’s Formula all those years ago, and she’s thankful because it continues to provide for her today.
“Richard still left something behind from all of his hard work, like a token of how successful he was, and for the sacrifices that he did make along the way,” she said of the beneficiary benefits she’s received since his death five years ago. “I’m appreciative of it because that’s what EXIT Realty is. The Formula, especially back then, was something rather unheard of when your last deal was your last paycheck. It’s a nice reminder of what we had built together, and Richard’s legacy of EXIT Realty Expertise.”
