RE/MAX Prime, formerly RE/MAX Fifth Avenue

Location: 901 W. Washington St.

Phone: 683-1500

Website: www.sequimprime.com (coming soon)

With a new home purchased, Richard and Liz Parks felt a name change was appropriate for their real estate agency.

Since moving from their Fifth Avenue space in February to Washington Street, the couple changed RE/MAX Fifth Avenue to RE/MAX Prime for a few obvious reasons.

Liz, the designated broker, said it didn’t make sense to keep the Fifth Avenue name and their new home is a “prime piece of real estate.” She and fellow agency brokers moved to the former Union Bank space at 901 W. Washington St. a little over a month ago.

Richard, under his Peninsula Properties, Inc., designed the bank site to convert three offices and the lobby into 14 offices and two conference rooms, and he continues to finish reworking the drive-thru into a business space with six offices for possible expansion or a tenant.

“We’ve been trying to buy something for years,” Liz said. “We’ve made four or five offers on places.”

The new office space is designed to look toward the pyramid skylight and rather than taking out the former bank’s vault door, which Richard said weighs as much as a Ford F-150, they converted the space into a conference room, which is available for public use.

Their plan is to install a sign that reads, “Your real estate dreams are safe with us.”

So far, the Parks say they love the building and have seen more foot traffic due to the move.

But the couple isn’t done yet. Liz said she’d like to continue expanding by bringing in a few more professional brokers to the office in the near future.

She and Richard bought RE/MAX Fifth Avenue from Mike and Carrie Millet in April 2010 to what Liz says was in the middle of the recession. But since then they’ve grown the office from six to 13 brokers.

Richard said typically this time of year is slower due to tax season but everyone in the office has remained busy.

The Sequim office was the No. 1 selling branch in Clallam County from 2012-2014 and No. 2 in 2015 behind Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty in Port Angeles. But so far, RE/MAX Prime is No. 1 in 2016, Liz said.

However, their problem and other agencies’ problem, she said, is low inventory across the county.

In Sequim there are 182 active listings with 111 of those with RE/MAX Prime and 296 total between Sequim and Port Angeles, Liz reports.

She said the Sequim office doesn’t commit to one niche and what brokers sell is up to them whether it’s land, residences or commercial properties.

“We have an amazing group of people here,” she said. “I never wake up saying I never want to go to work. They all love what they do.”

RE/MAX Prime’s team includes Liz Parks, designated broker/owner; Team McAleer — Michael McAleer, managing broker; Jackie Ansotegui, licensed assistant; Trisha Cobb, broker; David Kruth, broker; Shawnna Rigg, broker; Claire Koenigsaecker, broker; Rita Adragna, broker; Dan Tash, managing broker; Doug Hale, broker; Nell Clausen, broker; JoElle Munger, broker; and Marcus Oden, broker.

RE/MAX Prime is a co-op office and its parent company is in nearly 100 countries with about 103,000 associates.

Richard previously ran a contracting company for 28 years in Miami, Fla., and Liz started her real estate career in 2002. The couple moved to Sequim 15 years ago.

For more information on RE/MAX Prime’s listings, call 683-1500 or visit  www.sequimprime.com.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.