Blog Stories Meant to Be

Meant to Be

By Kim Parmon, December 23, 2019

Have you ever felt like you were supposed to meet someone?

It was the last five minutes of an open house that I was hosting for a colleague at a beautiful Victorian in Lair Hill.  The last group had left already and all was quiet.  I stood up to start locking up when I heard the front door open.  A woman strode through the heavy front door as if she were on a mission.  She had seen this house online and had no idea that it was open today.  She though that she would come by and check.  If it was open and she was able to see it that was a clear sign in her mind that it was meant to be.  Well, she saw the sign out front and here we were!

After she toured the property we sat down at the dining room table together to talk.  I learned that her name was Meg and that she wanted this home to create a live/work space.  Meg works with children with autism and developmental delays.  She has always had a dream of creating a welcoming space in her own home where the kids would be comfortable.  Having no commute was really important to her since she is on call 24/7.  The dining room we were sitting in would be perfect!  It had two large pocket doors that could close off the space when she was helping her kids.  She also loved the history of the home and area.  Basically, the house was perfect.

Meg had some concerns, though.  Her current home was almost paid off and she would be taking on a new mortgage.  Would it make financial sense to move?  I talked her through her options.  She was paying rent on an office space for her practice right now.  Could she move her practice into her current home?  “No,” she said.  “It wouldn’t work there.”  Did it make sense to give up the office space or did it make more sense to keep it?  Meg told me that she really wanted to stop throwing her money away on the rent for her practice.  But even though she’d be saving on her office rent here she was still nervous.  “Come with me,” I said.

We walked through the backyard to the basement door.  The owners of the Victorian had done some extensive work on the basement, basically rebuilding it so that it was dry and safe and had plenty of space.  I pointed out to Meg that we were very close to OHSU here and this space would make a great studio apartment for a traveling nurse.  She might also be able to rent it out to a college student.  There was already pluming and electrical in place.  If she was able to convert it to living space and generate some rental income would it be less scary?  “Yes,” she said.  If she could save money on her office space AND generate rental income it was a no-brainer.

Within two weeks we had Meg’s current home prepped for market and listed.  It received nine incredible offers, all over asking price.  After a couple of months of hard work, Meg is moving into her new home today.  I am so happy to have met this amazing woman, who I can now call a friend.  Being able to help her has been a real honor.

Congratulations, Meg!

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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  • kim@livingroomre.com

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