By Kim Parmon, September 10, 2018
I’m a pretty positive lady. I can tell when situations are beyond someone’s control and they’re doing their best. Today, I have a client that finally closed on an REO transaction after weeks of the bank delaying things for very little reason. Hooray for my client making it through a very frustrating experience! I can’t wait to see how he makes this house shine again. And that’s about all that I can say about this deal that’s positive so I’ll take a minute to talk about the role of escrow in real estate.
Escrow is the neutral third party in a real estate transaction that makes sure both parties are taken care of. They’re the ones that hold earnest money in a safe place that neither party has access to until things close. They are the ones that work really hard to make sure a buyer knows everything about the title of the property so that they are safe to buy a place. They are the ones that hold all of the money and all of the documents until everything is done per the terms of the contract and then they will distribute things accordingly. Basically, they are the unsung heroes of real estate that don’t ever really get the credit they deserve. A good escrow officer will make a deal seem smooth and easy, even when things aren’t happening the way they’re supposed to.
Not all escrow officers are created equally, though. While the good ones take care of problems before you even know about them there are also those escrow officers out there that make everything way harder than it needs to be. Occasionally buyers are presented with a choice when writing an offer: choose this particular company and receive a seller paid title policy, which saves you x amount of money. Sounds great, right? A lot of people choose to go this route to save a couple of bucks because they don’t realize that escrow is the glue that holds everything together. Sometimes paying a little bit more is worth it to avoid three week closing delays or liens not showing up on title. As always, you are in the driver’s seat during a real estate transaction: don’t feel obligated to go with the escrow officer you are being pushed towards! Your agent will help you make the right decision for you.
Stay happy out there, friends!
Kim Parmon
Principal Broker | Earth Advantage Certified | OR
She/Her
Kim Parmon
Principal Broker
Lead Listing Agent
Earth Advantage Certified | OR
kim@livingroomre.com
Oregon is the fifth state that Kim has called home in her life, and this one is sticking! After moving multiple times in her childhood, Kim fully understands how empowering homeownership and having roots is. She loves waking up every day in this beautiful place and wants everyone to experience what it feels like to live in their dream home.
As a kid, Kim spent her free time wandering through open houses and exploring construction sites for the fun of it. After careers in the professional ballroom dance world, the entertainment industry, and the service industry, Kim stumbled into real estate as both a passion and a profession through the purchase of her first bungalow. After renovating it with her husband and selling it for enough of a profit to pay off their debt as well as buy a new house to live in, everything clicked: she decided to get her real estate license and help her community experience the emotional and financial benefits of homeownership.
Kim put down roots in Portland in 2015 and has cultivated a referrals-based business throughout the years. She understands that real estate is a service and the experience she gives her clients is first-rate. She works hard to anticipate needs. She is responsive, thorough, empathic, and a skilled negotiator who enjoys market analytics and strategy as much as she enjoys connecting with her clients. Her ethics and reputation are the cornerstones of her business and the happiness of her clients is the yardstick that she measures success against.
Kim merged her business with the best agents in Portland at the beginning of 2022, which has allowed her to give her clients more resources, more advocacy, and a top-notch real estate experience. She is honored to be a part of her incredible team and feels lucky to go to work every day.
In her free time, you'll find Kim enjoying lazy evenings by the fire with her husband, daughter, and rescue dogs. She loves dancing, live music, exploring all of the beautiful places around us in the PNW, enjoying a cider and a good meal with friends, and browsing Powell's for a great new book.
Andee Ziegler
Licensed Listing Team Operations Manager
andee@livingroomre.com
Loving where you live will change your life. Everyone deserves that joy. For me, real estate has been a way of nurturing my community and doing what I can to help people find stability, grow generational wealth, and create a little space of their own in the world.
For 15 years I found the most joy in helping first-time homebuyers, guiding my peers through their first major investment and dreaming up what home means for them. I’ve done restoration work on homes from a variety of eras, 1894 Victorian farmhouse to classic 1950’s ranch. I enjoy empowering new homeowners with the knowledge I’ve garnered over the years, from systems to finishes.
In 2022 I joined forces with some of the best realtors in the biz and shifted my focus to operation management for listings. This welcome change opened up space in my life: more cake, less pants.
Andee Zeigler | Licensed Listing Team Operations Manager | andee@livingroomre.com
Jessica LeDoux | Lead Buyer Agent | Broker Licensed in Oregon | jessica@livingroomre.com
Karim Alaeddine | Operations | Principal Broker Licensed in Oregon | karim@livingroomre.com
Jenessa VanZutphen | Buyer Operations Manager | Licensed in Oregon | jenessa@livingroomre.com
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- T: 503-438-5101
- kim@livingroomre.com
