ROCKINGHAM — Re/Max is usually in the business of helping others relocate, but soon, its Rockingham real estate agents will be the ones changing their address.

The company will soon be taking over the brick building located on the corner of Hancock and East Washington streets in downtown Rockingham across the street from Discovery Place Kids.

“I’ve noticed this property had been for sale,” said broker-owner Jamie Moss. “I’ve always thought it was appealing. I just saw potential. I’ve always wanted to be downtown.”

Moss said Tri-City, which owns the Richmond Plaza shopping center where Re/Max is currently situated, has plans to tear down the building that holds the realty company and First Bank after the bank relocates across U.S. 74 and potentially build a restaurant.

Re/Max’s new digs will be 1,800 square feet — a significant upgrade from its current office, which she said is less than 1,000 square feet and will make the staff feel like “We’re gonna be in heaven.”

As soon as customers walk in, a new lobby will greet them as they enter, something Moss wanted that her current office is lacking.

“I was a little worried about location because I got a lot of walk-in business at the shopping center,” she said.

In addition to the waiting room, the interior improvements are being taken up by David Bailey, who did the Arts Richmond building and renovated the Leak-Wall House. With help from Rockingham City Manager Monty Crump and Bailey, they hope to turn the current office space into an inviting environment for future Re/Max clients — something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Moss.

“It just seems like a tight-knit group of people,” she said of the downtown area. “It’s like a friendly neighborhood.”

Mac Page will be installing custom shutters for the office’s windows, and six-panel residential glass doors and awnings from Charleston Canopies have been ordered and will also be installed.

As for the outside of the building, Moss added she wants to keep the exterior’s look true to the building’s history.

Moss, now in her 31st year selling real estate in Richmond County, said the nature of real estate today is very computer-based, and with everything being automated, a lot of clients don’t even need to come into the office. She hopes Re/Max’s new downtown office will change that a bit.

“This was a situation that was too good to pass up,” said Moss. “If you’re gonna sell the dream, you’ve gotta sell it to yourself.”

Reach reporter Matt Harrelson at 910-817-2674, follow him on Twitter @mattyharrelson and listen to him at 12:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on G-104.3 FM.

Matt Harrelson | Daily Journal Jamie Moss, broker-owner of Re/Max in Rockingham, and office manager Courtney Vance, left, stand in front of what will soon be the real estate company’s new downtown office on the corner of Hancock and East Washington streets.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Remax.jpgMatt Harrelson | Daily Journal Jamie Moss, broker-owner of Re/Max in Rockingham, and office manager Courtney Vance, left, stand in front of what will soon be the real estate company’s new downtown office on the corner of Hancock and East Washington streets.
Building ‘too good an opportunity to pass up’

By Matt Harrelson

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