(RE/MAX Blog)- The sudden victory of Theresa May, Britain's new prime minister, meant former Prime Minister David Cameron had to vacate 10 Downing Street in about 48 hours. Needless to say, Cameron did not pack his own dishes. Professional movers arrived with a reported 330 boxes, 30 rolls of tape and three rolls of bubble wrap. Hopefully when you move, you'll have more lead time – and just as much help. But in case you don't, here are a few tips to help maximize what time you do have.

1. Gather your tools
Pick a place to be your packing station so you don't waste time constantly wandering the house, hunting for your Sharpie or the right-sized box. Stock it with plenty of tape, boxes of various sizes, bubble wrap, newspapers and markers.

2. Stick to a strategy
Pack vital things together, in specially marked boxes. This includes what you'll want on your first day, like sheets, pet food, electronics chargers, toiletries and a change of clothes. Then pack one room at a time and label boxes by room. It's helpful to color code rooms, whether with markers or strips of duct tape.

3. Use plenty of trash bags
To avoid confusion, buy them in two colors, one for packing and one for throwing things away. Don't be afraid to pack clothing and linens in the big plastic bags. You can squish them in between boxes to save space.

4. Fill your drawers
If you're using professional movers (and not friends with sensitive backs), pack your dresser drawers full. Otherwise, you're wasting space.

5. Watch your weight
Fill big boxes with lightweight items and small boxes with the heavy stuff. It'll help prevent the boxes from breaking down.

6. Don't get hung up on clothes
Wardrobe boxes make it easy to simply transfer your clothes on hangers rather than bothering with unhanging and folding.

7. If you've got the bucks…
Use professional packers. You can hire them to pack your whole home, just a room or a group of time-consuming items, like your extensive collection of fragile ceramic clowns.

Start your home search today.

(RE/MAX Blog)

1. Patience
MONOPOLY: So your family has decided to play Monopoly? Refill your beverage, grab a snack and change into comfortable clothes. You’re going to be there a while.

LESSON: Buying real estate is a process. There’s pre-approval for a loan, interviewing agents, searching for homes, submitting an offer, maybe submitting another offer, the home inspection, the appraisal, and final loan processing before you get the keys. Needless to say, buying a home can take some time. Instead of getting frustrated, focus on all of the great reasons you decided buying  a home was right for you. Staying in close communication with your agent throughout the process will help, too.

2. Neighborhood matters
MONOPOLY: Everyone starts the game with one corner in mind: Boardwalk and Park Place. The highly priced properties have the best returns on investments, and the players who snag them first tend to do well in the game.

LESSON: Location is often a major consideration in real life as well. Home values, your lifestyle and so much more are factors in your neighborhood choice. Work with your agent to learn all you can about the neighborhoods that pique your interest.

3. Keep an open mind
MONOPOLY: Baltic and Mediterranean Avenue have a bad reputation because they’re the cheapest properties on the board, but they also present opportunity. Add a few houses and hotels and your return could be bigger than the one on nearby Connecticut Avenue.

LESSON: Keep an open mind when shopping for a home. An up-and-coming neighborhood may have appeal you didn’t see before, and more value for your budget.

4. Be prepared
MONOPOLY: You’re a Monopoly mogul! You have a handful of desirable properties and a steady stream of income from your houses and hotels. Then comes the Chance card: “Make general repairs on your property – for each house pay $25, for each hotel pay $100.”

LESSON: You never know what card you’re going to draw. But unlike Monopoly, the real world has home insurance available to help you prepare for unexpected repairs and disasters. A variety of plans, customizable to any budget, are available. Some homebuyers also opt for warranties covering potential appliance issues after move-in.

5. How to win a bidding war
MONOPOLY: Trading properties keeps Monopoly exciting. And there are no strict rules as to how a seller determines to accept an offer. Sibling rivalry, bribes involving candy or even business sense can play into a player’s decision.

LESSON: Sellers don’t always accept the highest offer. Writing a letter about why you fell in love with their home can sometimes sway their decision in your favor.

6. The importance of strategy
MONOPOLY: Monopoly is a game of strategy, but few players are inclined to study ways to win. What if you had a coach sitting next to you, advising how much to bid for a property, where to look next, and whether or not mortgaging a utility to buy Boardwalk is a smart idea? You would be unstoppable!

LESSON: Buying a home is an infrequent occurrence; for some it happens only once in a lifetime. Wouldn’t it be helpful to have someone on your side who was up-to-speed on laws for your state, knew which neighborhoods would best fit your lifestyle and offered to help you navigate a bidding war? That’s the value an experienced agent provides.

Let us help you start your search for a new home today.

(RE/MAX Blog)- The holidays are coming – is your home ready for overnight guests? Follow these suggestions to create the perfect guest room for friends and family.

1. Offer reading material

A pile of recent magazines or a shelf of assorted books offers guests a way to wind down before bed.

2. Add flowers

A simple flower arrangement adds class and color to any room.

3. Provide seating

Make sure there's somewhere cozy for guests to sit if they need some alone time during holiday chaos.

4. Make wi-fi connection easy

Leave a piece of paper with your internet server's name and password on the dresser so guests can easily access your wireless connection.

5. Did they forget something?

Fill a basket with sample-sized containers of essentials, like toothpaste, mouthwash and shampoo.

6. Add a luggage stand

Put out a folding luggage stand where guests can prop their suitcases to avoid having to squat all the way down to the floor every time they need something.

7. Make the closet functional

Be sure to stock the closet with empty hangers for guest's clothes.

8. Add charm with decorations

Create a welcoming, calm space for guests. Err on the side of generic. Remember, not everyone wants to sleep surrounded by Star Wars-themed decorations or your horror movie poster collection.

9. A picture perfect welcome

Place a framed photo of you and your guest on the nightstand.

Is your "guest room" your living room sofa? Maybe it's time to look for a larger space. Start the search for your new home with RE/MAX Realty Group/100 today.

(RE/MAX Blog)- According to the National Association of Realtors, 42 percent of homebuyers start their home search online, and 92 percent use the Web during the home search process. While the Internet can be a good place to start looking, there are things real estate agents know about the process of buying and selling a home that can't be found in any Web browser.

Here are a few.

1. How to price a home

When setting a listing price, agents consider scores of factors, from local and national market trends and neighborhood development activity to the latest buyer preferences for kitchen appliances and landscaping. Every home is unique, and an agent with a track record of success knows how to price it attractively in the market.

The Internet isn't always much help when it comes to comparison shopping, either. Many of the same factors that help an agent set an appropriate listing price aren't available in an algorithm, so online estimators aren't always accurate – and could be costly if you purchase without consulting a real, live professional.

2. Marketing offline

While online marketing can certainly be valuable, agents have networks of contacts and years of experience to round out their marketing plans.

And, for buyers, agents often can tap into their network to learn about great properties before they hit the real estate websites or even the MLS.

3. Key points in the process

If you find a home you love online, the website won't be there to guide you through a mortgage application, find a home inspector or advise you what to do if an inspection reveals issues.

4. How to negotiate

Having an experienced, professional negotiator drive your transaction can be vital to reaching a fair price for the property you're buying or selling. A website can give you an estimate of how much a property should cost, but it can't evaluate whether that's a great price or not.

(RE/MAX Blog)- The day many tech lovers have been waiting for is here: Google Daydream View is now available in stores. The new virtual reality headset connects with a smartphone (specifically, Google Pixel) to immerse users in their favorite games, movies or even the latest news story. And at just $79, Daydream is making VR technology more accessible to consumers than ever before.

But the uses of virtual reality technology go beyond entertainment. Here are a few ways VR is making its way into real estate.

1. Open houses

Virtual reality headsets, about the size of a scuba mask, can provide 360-degree virtual reality property tours of homes. The headsets completely fill the user's field of vision with a view of the home, allowing them to look up, down and from side to side. Developers are working on adding more tactile features to the experience, so users can do things like see their own hand opening a door, reports the New York Times.They're even developing smells. One day Realtors might be able to add the smell of virtually baking cookies to their virtual open house.

2. Long-distance shopping

Virtual reality home tours give out-of-town buyers (and local buyers, too) another tool to help narrow down their choices of homes they'd like to physically visit in a limited amount of time.

3. Staging

More affordable than hiring a pro to stage your home, several virtual options allow you to add furniture and decorations to vacant rooms using computer technology. It can help buyers envision a property with different furniture and paint.

There's a lot more to a real estate transaction than VR goggles can replace. Ready to buy or sell your home? Start the process here.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD- RE/MAX Realty Group celebrated its 30^th Anniversary on Sunday, November 6, 2016. The brokerage, which serves real estate agents and clients in the Washington Metropolitan area, opened the doors to its first office in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1986. The office was only the third RE/MAX franchise in the county at the time and it quickly grew to become the largest single office in the RE/MAX system.

Today, RE/MAX Realty Group has two office locations in Montgomery County and 145 licensed agents. The RE/MAX Realty Group office locations are two of eight RE/MAX offices owned by Broker/Owner Ken Crowley. Crowley, which opened RE/MAX Realty Group with a former business partner, acquired RE/MAX 100, its six offices and 275 agents in 2015. This brought the total for his company to 400-plus agents and nearly $1.5 billion in sales. The acquisition also made RE/MAX Realty Group and RE/MAX 100 the number one RE/MAX brokerage in Maryland and Northern Virginia, one of 120 largest brokerages in the United States and the seventh largest brokerage in the Washington Metropolitan area.

Broker/Owner Ken Crowley credits a combination of hard work and agent loyalty for the company’s success.

“When our first RE/MAX Realty Group Office opened, RE/MAX was fairly unknown in our marketplace,” said Broker/Owner Ken Crowley. “Yet, even with that against us, there were agents who believed in us and joined our team. It was because of those agents that Realty Group grew into what it is today. The loyalty of all the agents we have today is what continues to allow us to serve our local real estate community. I couldn’t be more grateful.”

RE/MAX Realty Group and RE/MAX 100 have been in business for 30 years and have the reputation of providing quality service to customers and a quality experience to their realtors by providing them with the tools they need to succeed.

Attn: Agents! Looking to take your Real Estate Career to the next level? Give us a call at any one of our office locations to speak to a manager and learn how we can help.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD- RE/MAX Realty Group Real Estate Agents Danielle Mannix and Melissa Bernstein both served as guest Real Estate Experts in October on the channel 9 segment "The Real Deal in Real Estate."

Mannix, who made her appearance on Thursday, October 20, 2016 on Great Day Washington, shared her expert advice for first-time homebuyers. She suggested they keep in mind their long term goals and consider the neighborhood, school district, neighborhood amenities and resale value when purchasing a home. Bernstein, who appeared on the show on Thursday, October 6, 2016, shared guidance on how to navigate the bidding process.

"The most important thing is picking the right agent," said Real Estate Agent Melissa Bernstein. "As a buyer, you want a buyer's agent who has experience in listings because they are going to know what a listings agent is looking for in an offer. Many home sellers are now pricing to attract competing offers."

"The Real Deal in Real Estate" airs every two weeks and features a Lender Expert, Title Expert and Real Estate Expert.

For more information on RE/MAX Realty Group and RE/MAX 100, visit www.ournexthouse.com.

RE/MAX Realty Group and RE/MAX 100 have been in business for over 30 years and have the reputation of providing quality service to customers and a quality experience to their realtors by providing them with the tools they need to succeed.

(RE/MAX Blog)- Halloween decorations can be a fantastic way to express your creativity, but don't forget common sense. A few reminders to keep the peace with neighbors:

1. Decorations can be scary for kids

Remember, on Halloween night and during the weeks leading up to the fun, young children will see your decorations. Skip the carnivorous bunny rabbits and too-realistic skeletons.

2. Be mindful with volume (and song selection)

Be respectful if you play scary music on Halloween night or use display motion-activated decorations with soundtracks. Trick-or-treaters in the next county do not need to hear “Monster Mash" on repeat. And your neighbors certainly don't want to hear it past midnight, at the latest.

3. Check the HOA policy on Halloween decorations

Before you invest in constructing the best zombie apocalypse your neighborhood has ever witnessed, make sure your HOA doesn't have any restrictions around decorations, lights or sound effects.
 

4. Choose family-friendly themes

Have fun but don't offend the neighbors. Avoid things like fake tombstones with real politicians' names or decorations featuring religious icons.

5. The witching hour ends at midnight

Please try to take down Halloween decorations shortly after the holiday. Don't despair, it will soon be time for winter holidays.

Start your search today for a home with a porch that's perfect for trick-or-treaters.