Blog Stories The Story of the Hand-Dug Basement

The Story of the Hand-Dug Basement

By Kim Parmon, February 18, 2020

My personal real estate motto is that anything can be a deal for the right price.

Ellie and Emilie were searching for a property they could fix up and either live in or rent out.  They wanted to build in their own equity and not pay for someone else’s work, which is something I wholeheartedly support!  We got to work looking for a fixer and ran into several multiple offer situations where true flippers were waiving their inspections and winning out.  Ellie and Emilie wouldn’t be deterred, though!  We kept at it and finally found a great property in Cully.  It had a solid floor plan, room to build equity, and an awesome lot.  They knew right away that they wanted to put in an offer but by the time I got into the car after our showing to call the agent the seller had gone under contract.  Darn it!

I had a feeling this property was the one despite the hiccups, so I encouraged Emilie and Ellie to write a back up offer.  Lo and behold, a week later I got the call: the top position offer was backing out and we were moving into first position!  My clients were thrilled.  We got our inspections scheduled right away.

We knew there were a lot of problems at this property prior to the inspections and had budgeted for them.  But we weren’t expecting to find out that the nine foot tall basement was supposed to be a crawlspace (!!!).  The seller had spent his thirty years at the property slowly digging down and creating a basement where one hadn’t existed before, dragging out buckets of rocks and gravel one at a time.  I’m talking Shawshank Redemption-style, folks.  I’ve seen a lot of weird things in my career but this one takes the cake!  Were Emilie and Ellie worried?  Not at all.  They kept their rational minds about them.  We reached out to a couple of foundation companies to have them take a look and got several bids.  We went back to the seller and were able to negotiate a 110k price reduction because of our findings.  It was a strange situation but the numbers still worked!

Last week, I gave Emilie and Ellie keys to their new property.  I’d show you pictures but it’s not much to see yet!  I’m so excited to see what they do to it, though.  🙂

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 
Read More
  • T: 503-438-5101
  • kim@livingroomre.com

You might also enjoy

Just Listed! Prime Location!

David Columbus

1223 NE 78th Ave Portland, Oregon, 97213 Just minutes from the vibrant Montavilla neighborhood core, this...

How To Negotiate Effectively, Efficiently – and Fairly

Andy Meeks

Negotiations are a delicate dance, and it’s not about simply ‘splitting the difference’. In fact, I advocate...

Home Warranties Explained: Pros, Cons, and Everything You Need to Know

Will Sing

When buying a home, one of the considerations you might encounter is whether to invest in...

Book Nerds Wanted

Marissa Sainz

I love to read.  It is my nightly ritual to read in bed to end my...