BRIGHTON - The name recognition and support of a real estate giant with a strong respect for hometown values.

    That’s what real estate agent Erica Hageman hopes she brings with the opening of her new RE/MAX Momentum office in Brighton’s Prairie Center. Hageman, a longtime Coldwell Banker real estate broker and Brighton resident for the past eight years, said she and her husband, Troy, began to talk last year about opening a new real estate office in Brighton.

    They agreed they wanted to bring a brand name real estate company to the area.

    “We knew we had to do a big thing. We knew we had to do RE/MAX because the Brighton area was lacking a major brand name,” Erica said. “Brighton, as a whole, really needed a different choice. I’m not saying that (Brighton) is lacking on good agents. But they really needed a brand name, national choice.”

    She added that without a major brand name, potential real estate customers miss out on the marketing power that a company like RE/MAX brings.

    When they started shopping for a brokerage, the only place RE/MAX was interested in expanding its Colorado market was in Brighton. She thinks it was a little bit of fate.

    “They said the only RE/MAX we’ll sell in general is in Brighton, and we just happened to live in Brighton,” Erica said. “It just all kind of happened to come together.”

    Erica and Troy, co-owners in the new real estate venture, have spent the past few weeks settling into their new, 9,000-square-foot suite at Prairie Center. Erica said they debated between a spot at the Brighton Pavilions and Prairie Center. She felt the Prairie Center spot offers a lot of symbolism.

    “It signifies the new Brighton,” she said. “It’s put us on an interesting cusp between Commerce City and Brighton and the proximity to Thornton, which will attract more consumers and more agents to come work for us.”

    Erica said the office also typifies the new mobility of real estate agents. While the couple’s two young daughters already have reserved individual office spots, many real estate agents don’t spend as much time tied down to the office today.

    “Real estate brokers have changed over the years, and they’ve changed more to working at home to have a better quality of life versus working out of the office,” Erica said.

    The office reflects that change in philosophy and has lots of open workspace. Erica said they have about eight agents but hope to eventually have 25 to 30.

    Erica points out that RE/MAX offers what she calls “world-class marketing” for clients and says remax.com is the top company specific Web site. She said RE/MAX agents are also offered superior training.

    In addition to real estate sales and purchases, the office handles rental properties. Erica and several agents have special training as certified distressed property experts. They are specifically trained in keeping homeowners out of foreclosure and in their homes or conducting short sales, if necessary.

    The real estate market has been stagnant for the last couple of years, but Erica can’t think of a better time to open the office.

    “You’ve got to figure out how to work in the market you’re given,” she said.

“Times like this weed out the weak and the bad companies and agents,” Troy added. “In tough economies, the strong and the smart survive and thrive.”

    RE/MAX Momentum will host a ribbon cutting in conjunction with the Greater Brighton Chamber of Commerce at 4 p.m., March 20, and is planning a free Easter egg hunt the following Saturday.

    Erica and Troy say they have felt embraced by the Brighton business community and look forward to involvement in many community events for years to come.