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What is the risk of a Tsunami or Hurricane hitting Hawaii?
Last week everyone on the news was saying that Hurricane Flossie was going to hit the Big Island of Hawaii. The first thing you should know is that the Big Island is hundreds of miles from Oahu, so even if it had hit the Big Island, it wouldn't be anywhere near us on Oahu. It seems like everyone interested in Oahu real estate right now was worried that the island was going to wiped out or something. In fact you if you own real estate on Oahu, it's almost like a different state than the Big Island.

As it turned out, Flossie was a total dud. She didn't even bring us any good waves. No wind, no rain, nothing. We were actually hoping for some much needed rain. So what's the deal, is living in Hawaii going to be dangerous? Are you going to worried about hurricanes every few months if you move to Hawaii?

Definitely not. Most people who have lived in Oahu for the last 50 years have never had to deal with any problems at all. If you own a home in flood plain, well maybe you should be worried, but most houses in Hawaii are on some kind of hill, so the water just runs downhill to the people in the flatlands (like me). That's why every house in Hawaii, no matter how high up on the hill it sits, has a flood zone code. Usually just by looking at the lot you can tell whether it's going to flood or not. So when you're looking to buy a home in Oahu, it's important to look at the flood zone code and find out what the risks are. You can get flood and hurricane insurance here, and depending on your house, maybe you should.

Since 1950 five hurricanes or tropical storms have hit the islands hard enough to do some damage in Hawaii. The last one, and the worst one, was Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Oahu had some damage only on the Leeward side, while most of the rest of the island was untouched except for some rain. However, Kauai did get hit very hard and destroyed several homes. It's now been 15 years and we haven't had a hurricane since.

Before that, in Hurricane Estelle produced high surf on Hawaii and Maui and flooding on Oahu in 1986 but not extensive damage. In 1982 Hurricane Iwa did extensive damage on Kauai and Oahu. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1959 when Hurricane Dot hit only Kauai, and in 1957 there were some record winds from Hurricane Nina, but no major damage.

So if you lived here on Oahu for the last 67 years, you would have seen a few hurricanes and very likely had no damage to your home.

Now, what about tsunamis? Well first of all, the last tsunami to hit Hawaii and do any damage was in 1976. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System is setup to tell us whenever a large tsunami is coming, so if there is some giant wave coming, they will warn everyone. I say large because we frequently get "tsunamis" of less than a foot or two that couldn't drown a cat.

On the flip side, if you live on the mainland, are you going to get a warning that a tornado is coming? Or an earthquake? Sure there are natural disasters everywhere in the world, but we don't worry about them too much in Hawaii. If a tsunami comes, I bet some surfers will be riding it.

Honolulu Real Estate Blog Everything about Oahu you can read in 2 minutes

So you want a home in Hawaii. Should you build a house or buy one already built?
People ask me this question once a week or so. With the median price of homes in Oahu at $625k at the beginning of August, it seems like you could find some land and build for less couldn't you? Unfortunately, in Hawaii the answer is very complicated.

First of all, good for you for thinking a little outside the box, but there are many issues to consider before you make your decision. Will you buy land or tear down a house? What area will you buy in? Hawaii Kai? Kahala? Kailua? Aiea? How much home will you build? What is your budget for building? What type of house will you build? Custom or pre-drawn up plans? Will you hire a general contractor or do it yourself? What does the zoning allow? How much time do you have? How far beyond your budget can you go (you WILL go beyond budget.)

Land of course is the primary question. You want to build on some nice real estate in Hawaii, but where will you find land? The truth is that there are usually several pieces of land for sale all around Oahu, but most of the best land has already been built on. Since only about 5% of the land in Hawaii can be built on, it's not going to be easy to find a nice piece of vacant land. Right now there are a couple lots remaining in Na Pali Haweo, a ridge of homes in Hawaii Kai, but other than that, vacant lots are going to be spread out very sporadically.

It may take years to find the right lot. In fact, you may find yourself contacting owners of vacant lots to see if they will sell them to you. And that of course, puts them in the driver's seat when it comes to negotiating.

Now what about tearing down an old house? Well there are probably ten times as many tear down houses as there are vacant lots. What will surprise you is that most of these tear down houses have people living in them. You might pass by a house that looks like a single match would ignite the whole place in seconds, but find that an entire family has been living there for years and has no intention of ever moving or renovating. Right now there's a house a few streets down from me that I would love to tear down and rebuild, but the little old lady there has no plans to move until she dies.

So after looking through all the currently available vacant lots and knocking on the door of houses that are being held up with duct tape, let's say you find the right lot after a few months or a year, and it happens to be zoned so you can do what you want to.

By this time you've probably already started talking with an architect about your house. If you can find a non custom plan for your home in, let's say Kailua, you're going to save some money, but then you may not get the exact house you want. Actually, you may not get it even if you do make custom plans. A friend of mine drew up his own plans for his dream home and when it was all done he realized that his plans were only good on paper. The house was really annoying to live in because of the odd twists and turns, and in particular, the size and shape of the kitchen.

So after you've spent hours and hours going over your plans, drawing up your dream home in Kailua, it's time to talk to some builders, contractors, or developers. Yes there is a difference. You should interview several, get quotes, and most importantly, get references. Talk to their past clients and go visit their work. Go see a house built by a company and ask the owner how their experience was.

Finding a good contractor or builder in Oahu can make or break the deal. Or maybe not. Maybe you think you can build a house yourself. You're pretty handy, right? First of all, there are certain things you should probably not try doing yourself. Most of the electrical work, plumbing, and other high skill jobs. It's going to be hard to get your permits signed off if the work isn't done correctly. Speaking of permits in Hawaii…

Once you've drawn up your plans and chosen a builder/contractor, it's time to get permits. The Department of Planning and Permitting is where we get our permits to build Hawaii real estate. It's a state run office that is employed by people who seem to care very little if any permits ever get issued or not. I think their motto goes something like, "We don't care, so go away."

A good friend of mine filed for permits to add on to his house in Hawaii Kai, and after several weeks, went back to get the approval and they said they lost his application. By the way, he had to drive all the way to Kapolei, which is almost all the way across Oahu. He got so frustrated that he started looking around their pigpen of an office and found his application sitting in a trash pile in the corner. I am not joking!

Ok, so now it's been 3-4 months and you've got plans, a builder, permits, and no house. Let's say by some miracle you break ground 3 months after you buy your lot. That would definitely be a miracle in Hawaii. Now you have to deal with all the crazy issues that come with building a house. Will your materials come on time? Will they come at all? Will they be the right materials? Will your labor show up? What if the surf is really good? They will probably be sick that day (serious.) In Hawaii, when the surf is really good, you never know what's going to happen.

What about cost? How much does it cost to build a house in Hawaii? You're going to find that it costs about $250 a foot to build a nice home in Hawaii if you hire it out. If you do a lot of the work yourself, you might be able to get the cost down to about $150/ft. Now $250/foot would include fairly nice materials, but not top of the line. So if you build a 2000sqft house in Oahu, you are going to spend about $500k on the construction. If your lot cost $500k, which it will for a normal lot in a nice area, you've just spent a million dollars. Was it worth it?

Maybe. A nice new house in Oahu can vary greatly in price. In Hawaii Kai, it could be as much as $1.5million if the lot is really good, and even more if it's in Portlock or has a view. Of course, the lot is going to cost a lot more here in Hawaii Kai.

In Aiea, the same house might be $1million, and the lot will be less to buy. In Ewa, well in Ewa you're not going to be able to pull it off because all the empty land has been spoken for by big builders.

But here is what will amaze you. There are plenty of lots in Hawaii that will cost you over $5million. They are beachfront in Kailua or Kahala. You'll spend $2million building a house and maybe if you're lucky you might sell it for a profit. But buckle up, the ride will be rough to build a house like that.

So will you build or buy? O wait, one last thing I forgot. It's going to take you 18 months. Yes, 18 months. And you're going to be $100k over budget.

Have fun!

I'm famous! Again…
In last week's Time Magazine, the one with Arnold and Bloomberg on the cover, there is a story about reality real estate TV shows which talks about the show I was on, My House is Worth What? In the article is a picture of me with one of my clients and The Apprentice winner, Kendra Todd.

I never would have thought that I would do anything worthy of being in Time Magazine, but it's happened. My wife is very proud of me. If I ever meet Arnold I can tell him we have something in common now.

Property tax rates for O'ahu houses
I've talked before about how low the property taxes are in Hawaii, and just yesterday the Property tax rates for O'ahu houses and apartments were tentatively lowered even more, and may go even lower after a City Council vote next month.

In 2007 The Oahu real estate property tax rate for residential property will drop from $3.59 to $3.29 per thousand dollars of assessed value. So consider how much lower your payment on a $1million house in Oahu is compare to the same price house in CA or TX or WA. Most states charge at least 1% of the purchase price for property taxes, if not 2%.

So if you buy a home in Oahu for a million dollars, it's likely going to be assessed around $800k-$1million. That would make your tax about $3200 a year. The tax will be over $12,000 a year in CA. So you're going to save about $9,000 a year by buying real estate in Hawaii compared to buying in California!

The Honolulu City Council is also trying to keep a tax discount that was approved in 06, that gave a $200 credit for residents who qualify for a homeowner exemption.

So while Hawaii real estate may seem expensive to some, if you examine the total cost of ownership, it's probably a lot lower than you think.

The Boomers are coming to retire in Hawaii
8 years ago when I started in Real Estate, only the youngest buyers and sellers were looking online for a Realtor or for real estate. Over the last year I've noticed that something is changing. My clients are now Baby Boomers.

The oldest Baby Boomers are turning 60 now, and just about everyday I get an email or a call from someone who is planning to retire in Hawaii. They all say it's been their dream for some time.

In fact a friend of mine is VP of a big home building company that is constructing a brand new retirment community here in Hawaii, complete with medical care and every aspect of retirement services. They are building hundreds of units over in Kapolei. The Boomers are coming.

So while most of the country has a slowing real estate market, Hawaii is booming still. Why? Because the Boomers are going to create a housing boom in Hawaii, again.

As prices in Hawaii continue to outprice most of the youngest families, the top tier of Boomers with their huge retirement funds are buying real estate in Hawaii, and they're doing it in style. I frequently get requests for properties up to $5million on the water for people wanting to live out their golden years in paradise.

Some calculations show that 14,000 Boomers will be retiring every week for the next 20 yrs. Will they all be coming to Hawaii?

If they're buying a house, I sure hope so.

There is nothing for sale in Hawaii Kai or Kailua
I'm only exaggerating a little. Even though inventory in Hawaii has more than doubled in the last year, a lot of the homes for sale in East Oahu are junk. JUNK.

When I take buyers to Ewa beach or Kapolei or Makakilo, there are plenty of nice houses for sale and we get to be picky about what we look at. In fact I had over 20 homes to show a client a couple weeks ago in Ewa.

But when I look for homes in Hawaii Kai or Kailua, which are my specialities, I see a lot of run down, small, poorly decorated homes. If you decorate a house nicely and update it with modern flooring and windows, it sells quickly at a price almost over the market. Yes, over the market.

That's because a lot of the homes in Hawaii Kai and Kailua are old, with ugly flooring, ugly decor, rusty windows, and a shabby shingle roof. If you want to buy something that is nice, needs no work, and feels like a new house, you're going to pay a premium, because there isn't much for sale right now.

Bottom line - the market on the east side of Oahu has gone up, while the west side has gone down. Can a small island like Oahu have small pocket markets like this? You bet it can! Even from one street to the next you can see huge price differences.

So if you are thinking that the Hawaii market is going down, you're wrong and you're right. It just depends on which side of the island we are talking about. Since I've lived in both Kalua and Hawaii Kai, I can tell you this much, it's worth the extra cost to live on this side of the island. And if you're here long enough, you'll see that we are on the correct side of the train track.

Hawaii Mass Transit system approved - Fixed Guideway.
Will it cause Ewa Beach Oahu Real Estate prices to rise? Recently the city council of Honolulu approved the new Fixed Guideway system, fancy talk for "a train." We'll be getting a train that runs from the west side into town in about 15-20 years.

Will this effect prices? Maybe insomuch as people perceive a future value that this will add. It's like buying stocks. The rumor of a buyout is worth more than the actual buyout. In this case, the future potential train system is a good selling point and could increase the value of properties that will be effected, primarliy those that are within walking distance of a train station.

This is primarliy going to effect Ewa beach, where traffic is the worst. Plans for the train stations are not final yet and won't be for years, so you can stop guessing. Overall, I think this is good for Ewa beach real estate.

Thousands are moving to Hawaii
Everyday I get emails and calls from people around the country moving to Hawaii.

In 2007 I already am working with dozens of families who are moving here and who will be buying a house. Oahu being an island, that means that the availability of housing is running thin.

Back to high school Economics 101 - more people move to a tiny island and create higher demand than the existing supply of homes, creating what? Price increases.

Happy New Year! Hawaii Real Estate is Strong!

While I realize a lot of Realtors around the country are in a state of denial regarding their housing markets, Hawaii is in reality very strong still. In fact when the December statistics came out this week, I was very shocked to find the following.

PRICES WERE UP in December. That's right, UP. The median price of homes went up to $613,500, and INVENTORY WAS DOWN! The numbers don't lie, the market picked up in December. Need further proof?

List prices of new houses was also up to over $700k, which has only happened twice ever. So while other areas of the country are struggling to find the bottom to their market, Hawaii Real Estate is still strong and prices increased last month.

To be fair, the number of sales was down compared to last year, but that has not effected prices in the way we thought it might.

If you're waiting for the Hawaii market to go down, you might be waiting a lot longer than you think.

I'm gonna be on TV!
I just got the final confirmation yesterday that in January I will be featured on HGTV's show, My house is worth what? This popular new show is hosted by Kendra Todd, winner of The Apprentice with Donald Trump. Yes I'm name dropping.

So in a way, I will have a connection to someone connected to Donald Trump. And of course, I'm also connected to Kevin Bacon in about 6 steps, which is not quite as exciting.

I will be recommending a few Oahu home owners that have done renovations and would like to know the value of their home. I've already had a few clients very interested, since they plan to sell their home next year and would love to be on TV with their home.

My role on the show will be to assess the value of the renovations and give the homeowner an accurate value with the improvements.

And of course I get to hang out with Kendra. With my wife closely watching :)

Earthquake in Hawaii?
Sunday morning around 7am, I was rudely awakened by what I thought was my neighbor's car rumbling. It was just a low rolling sound, and then a few shakes. Growing up in California I was used to an earthquake every few months, so I just stayed in bed and waited it out.

But this isn't California is it? Hawaii is not supposed to have earthquakes, and it's even scarier to feel the ground move being out in the middle of the ocean, because of the slight chance of a Tsunami. Sunday morning's earthquake was certainly the biggest one anyone here in Hawaii has ever felt, but it was hundreds of miles away from Oahu, so there was very little movement here.

On the Big Island, there were damaged homes and buildings, but almost no real estate was affected here in Oahu. I did receive word of lenders asking for verification of that fact before lending money on houses I have in escrow right now.

The other thing was that we lost power for a few hours so we got to use our candles and flashlights. Actually it was kind of fun and my son enjoyed it.

That's about all for the earthquake on Oahu. Now back to selling houses!

Amazing decline in homes sales on Kauai, Maui, and Big Isle
This is hard to believe: While prices are still up on the neighbor islands compared to last year, the number of sales has dropped more than 50% across the board. It´s incredible that Oahu´s market has not been affected nearly as much.

Condo sales on the Big Island were down 64%, and prices were down 20% from a year ago! HELLO?! I can´t even imagine that, and the Realtors there must be really hurting. The number of Maui single family homes sold dropped 50%! What is happening over there?

I think I know.

People who move to Hawaii are doing so for jobs or military. People who buy on the neighbor islands are mainland vacation home buyers, people with a lot of extra money, and retirees. As the market on the mainland has come to a screeching halt, the neighbor islands are really feeling it, since they have no real economy of their own apart from Oahu and the mainland.

In Kauai, sales were down 50%. If this happened on Oahu, I think our states economy would be totally trashed. Prices in Kauai were down only 8%, since last year, but prices on Big Island single family homes were actually up $2000.

An estate in Makaha - Sold!
Once in a while I run accross what I would call a really special property. It's not just a house with an ocean view, there's a thousand of those. It's not just big, not just remodeled, not just a big lot.

I'm talking about something really, truly unique, and in Hawaii, there are some great ones. This past week I sold this amazing estate in Makaha for $1,695,000. It's on an acre of mostly flat land with incredible ocean views, a 4300 ft house with a gym, media room, bar, and giant custom pool. hawaii estate home luxury

It is truly amazing and unique. I think the price is the most amazing part. If this house was on the east side, it might be $5million or more. If it was in Los Angeles, it would probably be $10million, because of the lot size.

There are amazing estates out there in Makaha, as this one is located in a great gated country club community called Maua Ole Estates. With 2 golf courses right there and a nice resort, this place is truly a gem.

1031 Exchange in Hawaii
Hawaii has a very high percentage of rental properties, as you might imagine. From small Waikiki condos up to multi million dollar beachfront homes, rental properties abound on Oahu. Since many owners would like to sell their properties and cash in the gain, avoiding the huge capital gains tax is an important issue to understand.

One way to avoid taxes, or at least delay them, is through a 1031 exchange. A 1031 exchange allows you to exchange Hawaii real estate property for a like-kind, so that no gain is realized and no tax is paid on the sale. In an exchange, a property owner sells one or more properties, let´s say a rental condo in Ala Moana, for one or more replacement properties of like-kind, let´s say a rental single family house in Montana, deferring the payment of federal taxes and some state taxes. Since the property is sold without the owner actually receiving any money, there is no tax paid at that time.

This is very popular in Hawaii and it has helped thousands of people avoid or delay taxes. But someday when the property is sold without an exchange, the owner may be subject to tax. Unless of course the person moves into the house and lives in it for a few years, long enough to satisfy the new IRS rules.

There are many many rules for 1031 exchanges that must be followed. Before you sell your Waikiki rental condo and put an offer on a Hawaii Kai single family home, make sure you understand the 1031 rules, and work with a Realtor who understands them even better than you do. A small mistake can cost you thousands of dollars in taxes!

Check out my 1031 info page.

I get this same question everyday...
I've been saying that a lot lately. As buyers and sellers from around the world come to my site, they are all wondering the same thing: "how is the market in Hawaii?"

The market in Hawaii in incredible. We are at historically high sales volume. We are selling double the amount of homes we did a few years ago when things were slow. Houses that are very nice are selling in a couple days, at or above asking.

However, there is a lot more inventory, and houses that are prices too high will sit for a long time, maybe forever. Gone are the days of sellers asking crazy prices and getting even more. Gone are the lines of buyers waiting to buy anything for any price. As of September 1st, there are about 4300 homes on the market, while the number of sales has remained about the same (very high too.)

So if you want to sell a home, it either has to be very very special (read pimped out) or it has to be priced very well (read low.) But there are tons of buyers, and I talk to them everyday. The advantage of Hawaii is that we have a constant flow of transfers, people who want to live in Hawaii because it's their dream.

So how is the market? As hot as the weather. Sales would have to drop in half before we would be at the levels we were in the down market of the early 90's. Is it time to buy? Well, would you rather rent for $3000 a month?

Living on the water in Hawaii
I've said before that Hawaii Kai is the only place in Oahu that you can live on the water and have a boat, which is true, sort of. There is Enchanted Lake in Kailua, where you can have a non motorized boat. kailua enchanted lake

Last week I showed a buyer several properties in Kailua, and one of them was this house for exactly $1million on the lake. For a million dollars you get a pretty good size houe in Kailua if it's not on the beach or on the lake, but this house even has a nice pool where you can sit and view the lake. While you can't waterski or jetski on Enchanted lake, you can get a nice water view and throw a fishing line out and catch some fish that you would never want to eat.

The water is a bit brown compared to the aqua green Hawaii Kai Marina, but it's still access to the ocean with a kayak, not that you would want to paddle that far. But if you want to live in Kailua and you want to live on the water, this house and others like it, are a great alternative to Hawaii Kai.

SOLD!
2 smooth escrows closed last week - My Miloiki listing, which sold for $773k, and a purchase at The Colony in the Peninsula for $700k. Both very smooth transactions.

Oahu Schools again
Here are the first 10 schools on the list from the "Grading the public schools" article in Honolulu magazine:

Momilani Elementary
Noelani Elementary
Aina Haina Elementary
Nuuanu Elementary
Mililani Maka Elementary
Waikiki Elementary (it's really all Kahala kids)
Maeamae Elementary
Koko Head Elementary
Wilson Elementary
Manoa Elementary

But here's an interesting thing. If you take out the Parents and Teachers ratings, and just go with the math and reading skills, here's what you get, a very different list:

Momilani Elementary
Manoa Elementary
Koko Head Elementary
Noelani Elementary (tie)
Kahala Elementary (tie)
Maemae Elementary (tie)
Kaelepulu Elementary (tie)
Waikiki Elementary (tie)
Pearl Ridge Elementary (tie)
Aikahi Elementary (tie)

Isn't that amazing? I don't think I put nearly as much value in the teacher's ratings as anything else. The parents, well maybe they a little more non biased view, but I think the math and reading scores are the best indicator of all. So if you're interested, I would be glad to send you the entire list by email.

Oahu schools
I finally got a copy of the school ratings from Honolulu Magazine. This list is quite eye opening. While you would think the top schools would all be on the east side, the number one school was in the leeward district of Oahu! Congrats to them!

Of course Koko head and Niu Valley were in the top 5, both Hawaii Kai schools. If you would like a copy of the entire list of Hawaii public school rankings, let me know and I'll be glad to send you one.

Inflation in Hawaii is up
Not so good news for Hawaii residents, as The Honolulu Advertiser reported today that inflation in Hawaii is rising at the fastest pace in 15 years. The U.S. Department of Labor released its Consumer Price Index for Honolulu, showing the cost of living climbed 5.8% in the first half of this year compared with the same period a year earlier.

"Most of the increase came from higher housing and energy costs. Housing costs, which represent roughly 40 percent of the average person's total spending, were 8.5 percent higher at the end of June. Gasoline prices, which represent 3 percent of spending, shot up 24.2 percent... However, personal income in the first three months of this year rose 5.6 percent, according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. This means a lot of people are falling behind a bit. "

However there is some good news, as the rate of inflation seems to have peaked already, and is probably dropping, as the cost of housing seems to be coming down a bit. Rental prices are a little lower right now compared to last year. Just look at all the rentals available in the paper right now, and of course there are over 4500 homes for sale.

That's why the Advertiser says "The Consumer Price Index was up just 2.9 percent for the first half of this year when compared with the second half of last year. That's a sign that the inflation rate is slowing and has probably peaked, said University of Hawai'i economist Carl Bonham... He said energy and housing costs are unlikely to rise at the same high rate during the last half of this year."

While the cost of living has risen sharply, the economy of Hawaii is very healthy, with low unemployment and a healthy growth rate for businesses.

1354 Miloiki st in escrow!
After 45 days, my listing at the top of Kamiloiki is now in escrow. We had almost 30 showings in that time, with many interested buyers shopping for their piece of the real estate boom in Hawaii. This beautiful home is a great example of how nice Hawaii Real Estate can be at a reasonably affordable price. For Hawaii Kai, $763k (list price) is actually quite reasonable. I realize that it's a lot higher than CA or NY when you look at what you're getting, but remember that Hawaii's property tax is extremely low.

In CA you pay about 1.25% of the purchase price on a home, which in this case would be about $8000 a yr. Here in Hawaii you pay about $2000 on that same home. So that extra $500 a month makes up for a lot. With $500 a month you can borrow about $80k. So buying a house in Hawaii for $763 is like buying a house in CA for $663k. And when you compare it that way, it makes sense that Hawaii Real estate is actually not much more than California.

But let's be honest. Would you rather live in Hawaii Kai than Los Angeles?

Hawaii July 2006 Real Estate Stats are in! The news is... um... not good
The total number of single family home sales is down 8.5% through July 31st, with 222 less sales than the first 7 months of July. Interestingly, in leeward Oahu, which includes Ewa beach, Kapolei, and Makakilo, sales are actually up 2.4%. Hard to believe when you look at all the listings over there. It looks like nothing is selling, but actually it's just that there are a ton of new listings over there.

Now I would have thought that condos were selling better, but actually condo sales through Jule are down 12.8% compared to last year. Amazingly, the average price of condos is up 19.8% for the year! WOW! 20% in one year?!

Now this makes a little sense, but not a lot. The total number of homes for sale on Oahu is now over 4500, compared at 1754 last year, and the number of sales is down - but prices are up? I guess the buyers haven't caught on yet. When demand stays the same and supply doubles, you would think the buyers would start making low offers. I think that time is coming soon, or may be here already.

Case in point, my listing on Miloiki st in Hawaii Kai. It's a beautiful house with plenty of appeal. It's spacious at 1888sqft, with a large garage and plenty of nice upgrades. We listed for $799k but after 40 days we had to lower the price to $769k. Well it finally sold, and we close in 2 weeks.

The point though, is that it's a beautiful house and yet it took 45 days to get into escrow. So while homes in Hawaii may be selling for more than they were last year, that may be short lived.

It looks like North Shore real estate is taking the biggest hit. North shore dollar volume of sales is down 59% for this year. Holy cow!

Meanwhile, metro Oahu is selling pretty strong, with only a 1.1% decline in dollar volume of sales this year. Downtown Honolulu is still strong. Probably because most of the jobs are there. I do get a lot of requests from people who want to live in Honolulu.

Now the big number - median price. The median price of single family homes in all of Oahu (Honolulu county) was $660k, which is up from down from May's high of $668k. That was the all time high. The condo median price was $329k, which again was the all time high.

Now the inventory breakdown. The number of single family homes is up 96% since last year to 1885, and the number of condos on Oahu is up 163%, to 2634. Now with so much selection of condos for people looking in areas like Ala Moana, where the rise was 338%, or in Wahiawa, where the rise was 1700%, buyers are going to have a lot of room to push sellers down.

There are some areas where the number of listings hasn't changed nearly as much. In Aina Haina, the number of single family homes is exactly the same as last year, 53. However, in Kailua, the number of homes listed is up 173%.

The overall Oahu median sales price of single family homes was $660k, comapred to $599k last year.

So what's the bottom line? The real estate market in Hawaii is slowing down, in a sense. There are a lot of new listings, which creates activity but not sales. The number of sales is a little down since last year, but prices are still up.

Na Pali Haweo update
I currently have a buyer for Na Pali Haweo, but there are only 3 houses for sale up there. We've been looking at vacant land up there, which is pretty cheap at around $600k, but then that takes 2 yrs or more to complete.

Amazing that even though there are over 4000 homes for sale in Oahu, only 3 of them are in Na Pali Haweo. There is 1 house for sale in Kamehame ridge, but it's not quite what my buyer is looking for.

It's beautiful up there, and I can understand why people don't want to sell, but please, someone sell??? We need a house up there for our buyer!

High Tech Realtors Can Make or Break Your Escrow
As an industry, the Real Estate business is archaic. Most of the old dogs are using their cell phones just to make calls, with no clue that it has other super powers, and surprisingly, a lot of Realtors rely on paper maps instead of GPS or Google maps. treo

Some Realtors barely understand digital imaging, Efaxing, or wireless email, so if you tell them that you want to fax them a PDF to their cell phone so they can view, and forward it to escrow wireless, they'll probably start hemmoraging from their brain.

When I think of my work productivity, a few things stand out as amazing time savers and money makers. The one I already mentioned is wireless email. With my Treo 650's wireless email or my wireless Dell laptop, I can be alerted within minutes of a property getting listed, no matter where I am. I can receive offers and counter offers while I'm on the road. I can even receive a fax and forward it while I'm in a meeting, all from my phone.

Let's say that you need something urgently to close your escrow. A form was forgotten by the signer, or something needs to be ammended at the last minute. Can you low tech, I-don't-use-wireless-email Realtor get what is needed within seconds?

What if you get a counter offer with a very short time frame to respond, and your Realtor is out of the office? With my high tech lifestyle, I can get everything done from just about anywhere.

When it comes to Real Estate, you want a high tech Realtor on your side. And when it comes to high tech, I'm the highest, techiest of all.

Andrew Gomes has a great article today about the new luxury homes coming to Ewa. I love Andrew's articles . He writes for the Advertiser
Here's a summary.

Hawai'i homebuilder Gentry Homes is building the most expensive homes in Ewa. Ranging from $950,000 to $1.3 million, this is the top of Ewa's pecking order for sure.

Gentry is calling it Cypress Point - 27 luxury homes .

Ewa is great for first-time buyers willing to trade long, slow commutes to town for the opportunity to own a new single-family house.

The median price of previously owned single-family homes sold on the 'Ewa Plain in the first half of the year was $530,000, which was $100,000 below the O'ahu median and the second-lowest behind Makaha-Nanakuli and Wahiawa, according to Honolulu Board of Realtors data. But the trend may be changing as more new homes in the region are built and sold at luxury prices.

Right now the most expensive homes in Ewa are at Ocean Pointe, where developer Haseko Homes has luxury homes with five bedrooms and spiral staircases selling for $937,000. With upgrades, the price for Haseko's Manor Homes can cost $980,000.

The Cypress Point homes range from about 2,500 square feet to 3,500 square feet, with three to five bedrooms on 7,000-square-foot lots, compared with more typical 5,000-square-foot lots.

Hobson said four homes are under construction and should be finished in October '06. they will be made available for sale on Aug. 12.

How to make your home stand out
Right now there are over 4200 homes for sale in Hawaii. That's up from 1700 or so in April of 05. So the competition is stiff, and even though there are buyers out there, it's getting harder and harder to lure them. So how can you make your Hawaii home sell faster than others? How does your Hawaii Kai home or Waikiki condo make a statement that's different from the rest?

Here are some ideas to get you started

1) Price - Nothing says "buy me!" like a home that is priced extremely competitively. I ask sellers this question: "Do you want your home to be the next to sell, or do you want to sell in 3 or 4 months?" If your home has 10 showings and no offers, it's time to reduce the price. If your home is shown less than 10 times in a month, it's priced too high.

2) Cooperating Commission - If you want your Hawaii home to stand out, to be the next one to sell, consider offering more commission than everyone else. 3 percent is normal, but lately I'm seeing a lot of 3.5% and 4%, and even bonuses like $5000 to an agent that can close by a certain date. Agents always look at the commissions, it's human nature. So if there are 20 homes like yours (there are) and a few of them pay less commissions, they don't show them. It's just business.

3) Seller Financing - A lot of sellers lately are offering to finance some of the purchase. This is a great tool that makes more buyers able to buy!

4) Buyer Incentives - New Home Builders on the mainland are now offering huge incentives to buyers. Some are giving away $10,000 in upgrades, everything from new flooring to a nice new granite kitchen counter. Some are throwing in items like flat screen TVs and trips to Hawaii . Recently a builder in San Diego gave away a car! Not a bad deal, huh? Buy a home, get a car. Offer $1000 in free handyman work.

5) Marketing - Do traditional marketing: flyers, ads and "Just Listed" cards. Target marketing to surrounding apartments or homes. Also, make sure to remove the address from all marketing pieces. The bottom line: get aggressive with your marketing efforts.

6) Access/Easy to Show - If your home is only available to be shown by appointment and you must be there to accompany, they will not get shown very often. Make it as easy as possible. Have a lockbox and make it easy for agents to set appointments to see the home or else they will take their buyers elsewhere.

7) Staging - The benefits of professionally staging your listings are huge. There is no doubt this will make the home stand out. If there is too much furniture, remove some of the furnishings to create more space. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Your job is to determine which listings would benefit from being staged and then convince your sellers of the benefits.

8) Curb Appeal - What does the front of the house and yard look like? In Hawaii a lot of homes are ugly on the outside and beautiful on the inside. It's time to change that as buyers become pickier. A fresh coat of paint, some beautiful flowers, a clean and green lawn, these are all things that help. Try getting a new mailbox, cutting back trees, and certainly remove any junk or cars that can be moved.

Automated Listing emails - why you should sign up for it
It's the greatest thing since the invention of lockboxes and listing signs and it can make all the difference when you're searching for a house. It's called "freemail" and it's the Honolulu MLS automated system that sends you an email whenever a house is listed within your parameters.

Now this may not sound very high tech in light of all the great advances of our day, but when shopping for a house, this system is pretty great. Let's say you're seaching for a 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house with at least a 3 car garage, in the Aina Haina school district, with central air, a tile roof, priced under $860k, with a lot of at least 6000 sqft. I can input all those features (and about 100 more) and make the MLS system email you anytime a property is listed that fits those criteria.

You can specify that you want at least 1782sqft of living space, or if it's a condo, at least 2 assigned parking spots, but not tandem spots. You can tell the system just about anything about the house you want. It's an amazing system.

The system will email you the very day that the house is listed, so if you're looking for a specific house, you can be sure that you won't miss it. I love it, and you will too. Email me your criteria for a home and I'll set it up for you!

Our baby is born! maia
Sorry about the lack of posts lately, but our baby was just born this week! Maia Grace Kawaguchi was born at 11:53pm July 24th, weighing 6lbs 15oz. Her little 21 inch body looked very small to me, since I'm used to my 2 1/2 yr old son's size now.

We are very blessed, extremely thankful to God for answering our prayers for this little miracle.

July 2006 Blog Archive

How to have a Moving sale
AdvertiseFirst, you have to advertise. In Hawaii this means putting an ad the Honolulu Advertiser, Star Bulletin and on Craigslist. Then have some very bright large signs pointing the way from the major streets, like Kalanianaole Hwy. No signs with small writing please, just big arrows and "Moving Sale". Add "huge" or "giant" or "multi family" and you're bound to get a lot of traffic. Ask permission to post signs at work, church, grocery stores and other local businesses. Tell friends.

In your ad, list popular items to attract more customers. Furniture is huge in Hawaii, and so are tools and fishing gear.Try to coordinate with neighbors and have a neighborhood sale. This really brings in the buyers! You will have people driving from the opposite end of the island for your sale! Organize

Now that you have advertised your sale, you really have to organize your stuff. First of all, the hot Hawaiian sun can make a yard sale very unpleasant, so buy or borrow some canopes so that people will stick around longer. If it's too hot, people will run back to their air conditioned cars. Just a little shade makes a big difference.

A couple weeks before your garage sale, start saving shopping bags and boxes. Make sure items are clean and neat looking. This will help you get more money for them.

Put price tage on everything. Use different colored stickers or an identification code on the tags if more than one family is involved in your sale. People in Hawaii will swarm your sale if you have advertised it well, so be ready for chaos! No time to ask, "who's stuff is this?" Have newspaper ready to wrap fragile things. Put sets of things together. Put the same types of stuff in same area: kitchen stuff, gardening stuff, clothes, toys, tools, etc... Hang clothes on a clothesline or on rack.

Doll clothing and accessories are always in demand. Dolls and stuffed toys make a hit with the kiddies and they can persuade their parents to buy something.

Set up a cashier area with calculator a secure cash box with small bills and coins to make change Make it comfortable

The weather in Hawaii can change suddenly, so be prepared. Have several large sheets of plastic handy to cover everything quickly for that sudden, unexpected rain shower.

Have some soft drinks and bottled water with ice in a cooler . Merchandise

Separate inexpensive items from more costly ones. Establish areas such as "Under $1.00," "Under $5.00," "Free with purchase of $5.00 or more," etc.

String up a clothesline to display any clothing you may have. Remember, clothing for all ages, men or women, is always in great demand. Children's clothing goes over best and especially about the time for school to start in the fall.

Set up tables to display small merchandise. Leave room between tables for a lot of shoppers to browse without being crowded.

Glasses, dishes, and cups will sell faster if you price them in sets of 6 for $1.00 instead of 15 cents each. Paperback books, magazines, records and items that have titles will sell more readily if they are marked separately. If they want them collectively, they'll ask you. Put loose game pieces in a Ziplock bag and secure to the inside of the box.

To get the best prices at your moving sale, clean and shine the objects you're selling, and display them creatively.

Make the sign overly large. Get something that's 18" x 24" or larger. Draw attention to the sign with helium filled balloons or bright colors on the sign will attract drivers' eyes.

If you put toys next to kids' clothes, the kids will play while mom shops. And the kids might ask mom to buy a toy, too! Put high demand and high priced items up high on tables so that they can be more easily seen from the street by people driving slowly by. Toys, on the other hand, should be on the ground where kids can pick them up and get attached to them. Use removable stickers to clearly mark prices.

Be creative with pricing. Things like "buy one, get one free" can work for you, too. Mark things down as the sale progresses. Don't hesitate to do something unusual. Informing your next customer that they're the 25th shopper and entitled to a 25% discount will get a conversation started and could lead to a sale. Toward the end of the day, do free giveaways. "If you buy a shirt, you get free pants."

Pricing items for a garage sale is arbitrary. It's hard to say what an item is really worth, but it's worth more in Hawaii than on the mainland. Leave room so you can make what you want even after some haggling.

Donate leftover items to charity and get a receipt for taxes. Toward the end some people might come by and offer you a hundred bucks for everything left over. If they do, take it! Don't be left with a bunch of useless junk.

New Listing in Westloch Fairways $300,000 in Ewa Beach!
I just listed this 2 story townhouse in beautiful Westloch Fairways, which is near H1 in Ewa Beach. While most of Ewa requires a long drive down Fort Weaver road, Westloch Fairways is only 2 street lights from the freeway.

We have priced this property to sell fast! With comps in the $320-$330k range, this is bargain real estate! For first time buyers, for investment property owners, or for anyone looking for a small piece of paradise, this property is affordable and has a prime location in Westloch Fairways.

Who would have thought that 15 minutes from town you could get a beautiful condo in a nice complex like this. The buildings are nice, the complex is open, with lots of trees and a large pool, and lots of guest parking.

Actually I'm surprised that more people aren't lining up to buy a condo here, because in Hawaii alot of property in this price range is junk!

The Villages at Waipio is one complex that I feel I would recommend to anyone who has about $300-$340k to spend. I just put one into escrow this week, and I can tell you that it's very likely I'll sell more of them!

The NAR is predicting a calmer real estate market for 2006:
"Existing-home sales are projected to drop 6.8 percent to 6.60 million this year from the record 7.08 million in 2005. New-home sales are forecast to fall 13.4 percent to 1.11 million from a record 1.28 million in 2005. Housing starts are likely to decline 6.2 percent to 1.94 million in 2006 compared with 2.07 million last year."

"The national median existing-home price for all housing types is forecast to rise 5.3 percent this year to $231,300."

I am continually amazed that inventories can rise, rates can rise, and yet prices can still rise too.

1053 Kamehame Sold!
I'm happy to report that I have closed the escrow on 1053 Kamehame Dr. The home has a wonderful view and of course it's location is everything.

While the escrow was difficult, I'm glad that everyone is satisfied. My client is now happily off to their new home on the mainland, and the new buyer is settling in.

Homes in Kamehame ridge and Napali Haweo are in a special class of their own, sitting high above Hawaii Kai with sweeping views of the Hawaii Kai Marina and Kuapa pond. Many of the homes up there are currently well over $1 and $2 million.

No one has sold more homes in Napali Haweo and Kamehame Ridge than the new team - myself and Kim Lineham. We love Napali Haweo and Kamehame ridge because they are not like anything else on the east side of Oahu, or anywhere in Hawaii for that matter. Unique in many ways, it's home to some of the leaders of industry in Hawaii, and even some famous mainlanders too.

Where else can you get brand new multi million dollar estates or build your own on a plot of land that overlooks everything that the East Side of Oahu has to offer?

Our escrow on Kamehame ridge closed this week, and we are grateful to all who were involved.

My New Listing in Kamiloiki
Last night I listed this great 3bd 2ba home in Kamiloiki for $799k. It's MLS# 2610767. Check out this great kitchen:

There is nice landscaping and the house feels almost new, even though it's about 10 yrs old. In Hawaii 10 yr old houses are the newer ones, because a lot of real estate was built in the 60's and 70's.

So if you buy a house in Hawaii that was built in 1995, well it's pretty new compared to the rest. People who live in Kamiloiki can easily commute into town (Honolulu) within about 30 minutes with light traffic. I think the draw of the neighborhood is that it's very quiet and the houses are pretty nice.

The question everyone is asking. Are you afraid to hear the answer?
What are home prices doing? Over the last few weeks I have spoken to agents and home owners from around the country, and in some areas there is actual price decline. In Kansas City and in Virginia, the market is slow. Homes are taking a long time to sell if they sell at all, and prices are coming down.

In Los Angeles, prices are flat, but homes are still selling. They take longer to sell than before, but they do sell.

In San francisco and the Bay area, the market is coming down. Prices are falling in some areas, sellers are sitting on the market waiting for buyers. It's a buyer's market.

In Hawaii, the market is strong. Maybe it's the last really strong market in the country. Homes do take longer to sell, but prices are still rising, amazingly. Inventory of homes for sale in Oahu has more than doubled from a year ago, but there are still plenty of buyers, and most homes do actually sell. A home well priced, meaning it's not too much above the last sale, will sell right away.

Gone are the days of home owners in Hawaii demanding ridiculous prices and outrageous terms on the contract. There are still plenty of buyers out there, and I have sold my listings quite quickly recently, but the market is changing and everyone knows it.

In a meeting with about 100 Realtors 2 weeks ago, everyone unanimously agreed that the market is slowing down and prices are pretty much stable if not rising just slightly.

Don't be afraid. It's the cycle of the market that has happened many times before. The people who make money are the ones who hold on for the long haul.

10 Reasons you shouldn't own Hawaii real estate right now

- you like to pay the $2400 average rents in Hawaii
- you don't want a tax write off
- you like to move every couple years, whenever your landlord feels like you should
- you are flat broke
- you can predict the future, so you know what the Hawaii real estate market will do
- you are a hippie, living on the beach in a tent
- you're saving up to live in Nebraska
- you don't plan to stay in Hawaii
- real estate is risky, unlike stocks
- you can't find a good Realtor in Hawaii

It's almost summer, the best season for Hawaii Real Estate
The end of May means schools get out, vacations start, and people start buying houses in Hawaii. It's probably the same in every state, but particularly in Hawaii, summer means the beginning of the tourist season and also the high season for home buyers and sellers.

Each May and June hundreds of homes are listed as people are hoping to make their move or pocket their profits while most of the buyers are out and about. Sometimes tourists visiting Hawaii will buy something if they've been here a lot and they plan to be here more, but usually it's just local Hawaiian people moving around and job transfers from the mainland.

One other factor is that the military makes a big shift in personelle in the summer. Hundreds of military families will come from all over the world to Hawaii and buy a little piece of real estate in paradise.

It's time now, time to make your move. If you're planning to sell a home in Hawaii, do it now!

How to make money in Hawaii Real Estate
For many it sounds like a dream, owning a home in Hawaii. The funny thing is, a lot of homes in Hawaii look like they were built in a third world country by one armed carpenters. While the quality of a lot of Hawaii Real Estate is poor, it's the cycle of the market that drives most people crazy.

If you've been watching the Hawaii real estate market long enough, you know about the "Japanese bubble", and the foreclosure market of the 90's. Go back even farther and you can see the impact of the two world wars, especially Pearl Harbor.

While no one can know the future of the market in Hawaii's real estate, looking at the past can be a good indication. I run into homeowners everyday who have been in the same house for 30+ years. It's amazing how common that is here. They tell me about buying the house for $25,000 in 1968 as a leasehold property, then buying out the lease when some big estate like Bishop or Castle offered it. The lease often cost about $50,000.

Those same owners are now sitting on $700,000 properties, or more. As I meet owners around Hawaii Kai, especially in the Koko head terrace area, I'm always shocked at how long they have been in that same house, and the ridiculous amount of equity they have gained by sticking it out in the up and down Hawaii real estate market. It's mind boggling how much money they COULD HAVE made, had they bought more than one property.

Sure, if you had bought real estate in Hawaii around 1985, you probably would have lost money by selling in the 90's. In fact, even after 1990 you probably would have lost money had you sold before 2000. Unlike California and other markets, Hawaii's real estate market was still struggling in 1999. That year there were dozens of foreclosures in every city.

In the 80's and 90's a famous Japanese investor, Mr. Kawamoto, bought and sold dozens of homes all over Hawaii, turning them into run down rental dumps. On many of them he lost a lot of money. A LOT. We are talking multiple millions after all the losses were added up. The problem? He tried to time the market.

In 1999 A friend of mine bought a condemned foreclosure in Kailua for about $250k. It was a mess, with termites eating every piece of wood you could see. Then he put hundreds of hours of work into it and turned it into a beautiful little place with new just about everything. Last year he sold it for $825k. That's right, a profit of nearly $500k.

It's amazing, and I think there is a great lesson here for us in all these stories. You'll most likely make money in Hawaii real estate if you wait long enough. Sometimes it might take you 20 yrs, but you're probably going to make money.

Timing the market can be a dangerous and difficult task. People have lost their entire fortunes by trying it. But those that have just bought and held have made literally millions.

Will the Hawaii market go up this year? Next year? In five years? Nobody knows. One thing I do know: Hawaii is an island state with a very limited amount of land. Someday we may run out of space to build, and then what?

Honolulu Home owners - watch out for discount Realtors
This week I had the unfortunate displeasure of working with a "discount" real estate service. They list a house with a flat fee of $3500 and claim to save you money. In Hawaii this is a relatively new thing.

While they claim to save you money, here is a perfect example of how they cost their client money this week.

My client was a buyer, living in Hawaii, and we made an offer at nearly the asking price. I faxed it over and expected to hear from the agent, since regular agents call right away when you send an offer, to go over the details and see if there is anything we need to adjust before presenting, such as closing time, special terms, etc.

In the case of this dicsount real estate agent, they didn't call. FOR 3 DAYS. I left numerous messages, sent numerous emails, kept calling and calling, nothing. The receptionist said, "he will get back to you right away," to which I laughed out loud at her.

After 3 days, I get a 2 sentence email. "The seller got a full price offer. We will be declining your offer."

This is full service? If the agent had told me there were multiple offers, we would have offfered more. If the agent had counter offered, we would have accepted at least 20k higer. So this agent cost their seller at least 20k! 20k even in Hawaii goes a long way.

How is that any discount? The only discount was the house! If you want to make the most money, you gotta go with full service. The discount agents just DON'T CARE about you!

For Full service Real Estate, Call me.

The best ways to improve your Hawaii home
A lot of homes in Hawaii are getting old and needing some updating. You could repair or replace the roof, repave the driveway, get a new pool, change the carpet or any one of a hundred other do it yourself home projects.

But what's the best way to spend money on your house? If you're going to spend $10k or even $100k improving your home, where do you start? In Hawaii it might be a little different than in other places, because of the sun, the salty sea air, and oxidation just about everywhere.

The consensus among most Realtors is that the kitchen is the first place to start. If you have an old, dark kitchen with outdated appliances, most people are not going to be happy buying your home. While a kitchen on Oahu can be 20% more expensive than on the mainland, just be glad you're not on one of the neighbor islands, where shipping costs can add another 10% on top of our prices here.

Now that you're in the kitchen, start with the cabinets, the most obvious permanent fixture. Paint can do a lot, but refacing or replacing the cabinets with high quality new wood is usually the best bet. In terms of return on your dollar, you're going to get more bang for the buck in the kitchen than in any other place in your home, so don't be afraid to spend money for the best stuff.

Appliances can last 10 yrs or more, and I've seen some stretched way too long. I think it's kind of gross to use the same oven for 20 yrs. So think about getting really nice appliances. It doesn't have to be a Viking range, but that would help. Stainless steel is great in Hawaii, but don't fooled, it's still going to oxydize a little bit.

If you've already done your kitchen, the next step might be either to renovate or add a bathroom. After the kitchen, the bathroom is probably the next best return on your money. I can't tell you how much people hate an outdated bathroom. Maybe it's even more gross to have a 20yr old bathroom than a 20yr old kitchen. A new toilet at least, and new sink and fixtures can make a bathroom seem a lot better. But if you have the money, then rennovate the whole thing. Floors, shower and tub, toilet, sink and fixtures, even the windows and wall texture. Do it all, the bathroom has to be nice or your home is not going to command a good price. As Hawaii real estate slows down, sellers need to have every advantage, and that means making the home look great.

Let's say you've already done the kitchen and the bathrooms, and they look great. They are up to date and clean, and now you're looking for what to do next. I would say replace the floors. For some reason a lot of homeowners in Hawaii decided to use ugly white tiles when they built their homes back in the 60's and 70's. So think about wood, or if it's too expensive for you maybe a laminate. There are so many good brands of fake wood these days that it's hard to tell if it's fake sometimes. Sometimes.

Kitchen, bathrooms, floors. Now what? If you have land to expand, then add a bedroom, because that's one of the main things that people look for. 4 bedroom houses in Oahu can demand a much higher price than a 3 bedroom house of about the same size.

If you don't have the room on your lot to add a bedroom, then look outside. Maybe go with the roof and landscaping. A lot of the older homes in Hawaii have weird landscaping that involves a lot of cement blocks. That is so 1970.

An Explanation of Flood Zones in Hawaii Real Estate
In Hawaii, almost everything is in a flood zone of some kind. But there are so many designations, it's hard to keep track. Well here is the info from the FEMA site, explaining flood zones:

Zone A Zone A is the flood insurance rate zone that corresponds to the 1-percent annual chance floodplains that are determined in the Flood Insurance Study by approximate methods of analysis. Because detailed hydraulic analyses are not performed for such areas, no Base Flood Elevations or depths are shown within this zone. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements apply.

Zone AE and A1-A30 Zones AE and A1-A30 are the flood insurance rate zones that correspond to the 1-percent annual chance floodplains that are determined in the Flood Insurance Study by detailed methods of analysis. In most instances, Base Flood Elevations derived from the detailed hydraulic analyses are shown at selected intervals within this zone. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements apply.

Zone AHZone AH is the flood insurance rate zone that corresponds to the areas of 1-percent annual chance shallow flooding with a constant water-surface elevation (usually areas of ponding) where average depths are between 1 and 3 feet. The Base Flood Elevations derived from the detailed hydraulic analyses are shown at selected intervals within this zone. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements apply.
Zone AOZone AO is the flood insurance rate zone that corresponds to the areas of 1-percent shallow flooding (usually sheet flow on sloping terrain) where average depths are between 1 and 3 feet. Average flood depths derived from the detailed hydraulic analyses are shown within this zone. In addition, alluvial fan flood hazards are shown as Zone AO on the Flood Insurance Rate Map. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements apply.

Zone AR Zone AR is the flood insurance rate zone used to depict areas protected from flood hazards by flood control structures, such as a levee, that are being restored. FEMA will consider using the Zone AR designation for a community if the flood protection system has been deemed restorable by a Federal agency in consultation with a local project sponsor; a minimum level of flood protection is still provided to the community by the system; and restoration of the flood protection system is scheduled to begin within a designated time period and in accordance with a progress plan negotiated between the community and FEMA. Mandatory purchase requirements for flood insurance will apply in Zone AR, but the rate will not exceed the rate for an unnumbered Zone A if the structure is built in compliance with Zone AR floodplain management regulations.
For floodplain management in Zone AR areas, the property owner is not required to elevate an existing structure when making improvements to the structure. However, for new construction, the structure must be elevated (or floodproofed for non-residential structures) so that the lowest floor, including basement, is a minimum of 3 feet above the highest adjacent existing grade, if the depth of the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) does not exceed 5 feet at the proposed development site. For infill sites, rehabilitation of existing structures, or redevelopment of previously developed areas, there is a 3-foot elevation requirement regardless of the depth of the BFE at the project site.

The Zone AR designation will be removed and the restored flood control system will be shown as providing protection from the 1-percent annual chance flood on the National Flood Insurance Program map upon completion of the restoration project and submittal of all the necessary data to FEMA.
Zone A99Zone A99 is the flood insurance rate zone that corresponds to areas within the 1-percent annual chance floodplain that will be protected by a Federal flood protection system where construction has reached specified statutory milestones. No Base Flood Elevations or depths are shown within this zone. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements apply.

Zone D The Zone D designation is used for areas where there are possible but undetermined flood hazards. In areas designated as Zone D, no analysis of flood hazards has been conducted. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements do not apply, but coverage is available. The flood insurance rates for properties in Zone D are commensurate with the uncertainty of the flood risk.

Zone V Zone V is the flood insurance rate zone that corresponds to areas within the 1-percent annual chance coastal floodplains that have additional hazards associated with storm waves. Because approximate hydraulic analyses are performed for such areas, no Base Flood Elevations are shown within this zone. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements apply.
Zone VE Zone VE is the flood insurance rate zone that corresponds to areas within the 1-percent annual chance coastal floodplain that have additional hazards associated with storm waves. Base Flood Elevations derived from the detailed hydraulic analyses are shown at selected intervals within this zone. Mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements apply.

Zones B, C, and X Zones B, C, and X are the flood insurance rate zones that correspond to areas outside the 1-percent annual chance floodplain, areas of 1-percent annual chance sheet flow flooding where average depths are less than 1 foot, areas of 1-percent annual chance stream flooding where the contributing drainage area is less than 1 square mile, or areas protected from the 1-percent annual chance flood by levees. No Base Flood Elevations or depths are shown within this zone. Insurance purchase is not required in these zones.

How to decide where to live Or better, how to choose a house
"Which house do you like better?" she asks, sounding slightly confused.

"I'm not sure. Which one do you like better?" he replies, afraid to make a choice.

I've heard this conversation dozens of times. After spending hours in the car looking at property, a lot of people can't make a choice. In some cases people can't even choose a city, or even a state, to move to. I've actually heard this before, "We like this house here in Hawaii Kai, but we also might move to Connecticut."

What?!

Well here is a simple decision making process that I learned in high school. I think actually it's something used by big time execs too.

Step 1 - List all the possible categories that apply to your decision. For instance:

proximity to work
proximity to family or friends
size of house
price
size of yard
quality of school district
condition of house
neighborhood
investment value/resale value
layout of the house
pool, playground, other amenities
etc.

Step 2 - Take the list and rank them all in order of importance. So if you have 10 categories, the one that is most important to you gets a 10. The least important one gets a 1. E.g., if the most important thing to you is proximity to work, give it a 10.

Step 3 - Under each of your options (houses) you go through each category, and give the appropriate score to the house that is better in that category. E.g., if one house has a better neighborhood, and you ranked "neighborhood" a 4, you put a 4 under that house. The other house gets nothing for that category.

Step 4 - At the end you should have a few numbers under each house. Add them up. Whichever house has the higher score should be your choice.

Maybe...

$1million real estate in Hawaii
What you get for $1million in various areas

Remember when a million dollar house was an amazing estate. Actually I remember when $500k was a pretty amazing house too. But that was a long time ago, at least in Hawaii. If you want to buy real estate in this state, you gotta pay up.

So here are a few examples of $1million homes from around Oahu.

In Hawaii Kai, where I live, you get this nice 3 bedroom 2.5 bath Mariners Ridge home for $1,059,000, with an amazing view. It's 2121sqft. Mariner's Ridge is a great community up on a ridge (of course) that overlooks Kuapa pond and most of Hawaii Kai. Many of the homes have sweeping ocean views.

So as you can see, even on an island, a million dollars buys you a lot of very different real estate, depending on the location. So you have to decide which priority you are going to focus on. Size, year built, view, location, condition, land?

My money is in Hawaii Kai.

If homes in Hawaii are too expensive for you
Smaller or farther, which would you take?

A 2 bedroom 1000sq ft condo in a highrise in downtown Honolulu will cost you anywhere from $200,000 to $700,000. Let's use $500k as an average, which will get you into a place like the Imperial Plaza, an upscale condo building with great amenities like 24 hr guard and heated pool.

Or you can take your $500k and move out toward the suburbs of Ewa to the west or Kailua and Hawaii Kai to the east. In Ewa, that money will buy you a single family home of about 1400ft, and you get to fight traffic for the rest of your days coming into town. In Kailua, you're still looking at a condo, but it's going to be a little bigger, maybe 3 bedrooms, and maybe not in a big highrise. Then over in Hawaii Kai, you'll get a very small townhouse in a nice community, probably a newer home, but still small.

So you want more house? You can go even farther west to Maile, where new construction on 1500sqft homes begins around $420k right now. Brand new, nice beautiful homes.

This type of thing has been happening in LA for years. People are driving all the way from Palmdale to LA, which is about 70 miles. And they do this every single day. It's amazing, and it's happening in Hawaii too.

So, at what point do we say enough and start building business centers in these remote places? When is Maile going to get a business park? Maybe never. Which means more and more traffic, and people commuting farther and farther.

The problem is, Oahu is an island, and we have nowhere else to go. So should we turn the state conservation land into business parks? I doubt anyone wants to do that, but in Hawaii only 5% of the land is used for commercial and residential buildings. 95% of our land is agriculture and conservation. Sure a lot that is on the Big Island, but there is a ton of land on Oahu that is not used.

What will happen? Will the government build commercial property on the Pali? Will the Koolau mountains be graded for industrial use?

Who knows, but there is a problem on Oahu that is getting worse everyday. Overcrowding. And what will that do to real estate prices? History shows that metropolitan areas usually see ridiculous price increases when construction is nearly impossible.

And I wonder if that is already upon us in Oahu.

DROA changes from Honolulu Board of Realtors.
A couple weeks ago the official State of Hawaii Termite Inspection Report (PC9 form) was changed. One important change removed "active (i.e. live)" termites from the report.

In order to be consistent in the DROA, Hawaii Association of Realtors recommends that words be crossed off in the Termite Provisions paragraph as well as in C-59 and initialed by both Seller and Buyer until these changes appear in the May 15 standard forms release.

Changes happen all the time in Real Estate. Years ago the DROA (purchase contract) was a 1 page simple form. Because of law suits throughout the years, the contract has gotten longer and longer, which verbage changing constantly.

This is another good reason to make sure you have a good Realtor. One little mess up can cause you a lot of trouble. Legal trouble.

Ewa townhouse - Lots of activity, in escrow after 30 days
I listed a townhouse in Ewa last month for $428,000. We had about 20 showings, did 1 open house which was quite busy, and then got an offer Saturday.

We did lower the price to $424k, but ended up with an offer over that amount. Sure there are a lot of houses listed, but a good property at the right price is still selling quickly.

This property was in Ke Aina Kai at Ocean pointe, a great little community that will soon have an Ernie Els golf course and a marina that you can walk around.

So while other realtors may be struggling to sell, I think it's just a matter of the right property at the right price. In Ke Aina Kai there were 5 other listings, and one was at $399k. We were the highest priced and yet ours sold 1 day after the $399k property, same model.

Does it make a difference which Realtor you use? You can bet $424,000 on it.

Home sales cooling - back to normal?
Another good article from Andrew Gomes at the advertiser about the trend of home sales coming down on the neighbor isles.

Here is the thing: if Oahu sales cool down 20% and inventory rises 50%, we'll be at historically normal levels. Right now and for the last 5 yrs or so, we have been selling and buying in Honolulu at a ridiculous pace. In fact I have had a lot of people buy homes they didn't love, just because that was all that was available.

So while the median price did drop in Honolulu also, it's still over $600k! I cannot hardly believe that we are this high, and even if it dropped 20% to $480k, that would be a great place to be.

Will it drop that much, I doubt it.

Rent vs Buy in Hawaii the numbers say it all
Let's say you want to live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Hawaii Kai. If you rent it, it's going to cost you $3000 a month or so for a decent townhouse in Nanea Kai or Koko Isle.

$3000 a month will allow you to borrow $474,632.45 on a 30yr mortgage at 6.5%, today's rate. The thing is that you get a huge tax deduction on your mortgage payment, and none on your rent. So let's amortize your $3000 mortgage payment.

It's about $2500 of interest a month the first year, which means you get a $30,000 tax deduction. If you're in the 20% tax bracket like many, you could save $6000 in taxes next year. I'm not even figuring in the Hawaii state income tax.

So divide that $6000 by 12 months, and you're saving $500 a month by owning a home in Hawaii Kai with a $3000 payment verses renting one for $3k a month.

Stay with me.

So that means that having a mortgage of $3500 is nearly the same as a $3000 rent payment, after you figure in the tax deduction. And of course on top of that, you are paying down your mortgage which someday will be gone, hopefully.

Question: what kind of house can you buy in Hawaii for a $3500 mortgage payment? Well you can borrow $553,737 @ 6.5% for $3500 a month. Are there homes in Hawaii that are that much? Yes, but they're not as nice as what you can rent for $3000.

So you might have to do some work to make your home nice, but still, you own it. If it's the same cost to own or rent in Hawaii, why would you rent? Isn't everyone's dream to own a house in Hawaii anyway?

More new condos in Honolulu
Kapiolani Blvd building to be converted

The Star Bulletin today said a developer who bought the old NCR commercial building on Kapiolani Blvd into 47 condos from 640 to 1400 ft. they are supposed to be urban feeling new condos with 11.5 foot ceilings.

This is reminicent of something that has been happening in LA for a few years now, as young buyers like big open studios with few partititions or walls.

Here's a crazy fact about that commercial building - In 1991 NCR paid $15.5million for it. The new developer paid only $6million last year.

I guess we should keep our money in Hawaii's residential real estate.

Kamehame Ridge home sold in 3 weeks
The home that we listed on Kamehame Ridge for $849k sold very quickly. In fact we have mutiple buyers interested now, even though we are already in contract.

This shows you that 1) there are plenty of buyers in Hawaii 2) Kamehame Ridge is really a special place 3) homes priced right will sell quickly.

The monthly Honolulu stats did show that median home prices in Honolulu dropped in April, but we were surprised to see that inventory was almost unchanged since last month. So while many people are cashing in on proftis, there are still many sales happening.

I think the most important thing happening right now is the rise in condo prices overall. Many buyers who have been priced out of $900k single family homes in Kailua, Hawaii Kai, and Manoa are turning to condos.

For that matter, I am getting a TON of traffic on my Ewa listing at $424,000. That townhouse has had more traffic than H1 west bound on a Friday afternoon.

The market in Hawaii remains strong, while Phoenix, Vegas, Miami, and San Diego seemed to have started declining. What can I say, it's an island and there is only so much of it designated for housing.

June 2006 Blog Archive

April housing statistics for Honolulu Hawaii
Yesterday as we reviewed the monthly statistics for Honolulu's housing market, we were not surprised to hear that the median price of homes in Honolulu had dropped back to $615,000. What was surprising was that the median list price was up to $699,000. So when you have a variance of $84,000 between list and sale price, what does that tell you?

It could mean that higher priced homes are not selling while lower priced homes are. It could mean that sellers are taking lower offers than normal.

It could also mean that it's time to sell your house.

Military housing in Hawaii
I love working with military families.

My dad was in the Navy for many years, so I understand that moving every few years is not the easiest thing to do. But Hawaii is the dream assignment for many. Living near the beach, enjoying the ocean and the mountains in the same place.

I've helped many military personell buy and sell a house here in Hawaii, using the HUGE non taxable housing allowance you get on top of your pay. Your housing allowance gives you a great opportunity to invest! If you get about $3000 a month for housing alone, that means you can buy a property worth over $500k.

DON'T WASTE MONEY ON RENT!

Here you can check your Hawaii housing allowance based on your rank.

On top of the great housing benefit, you can use a VA loan, which allows you to put zero money down and get a great interest rate - usually much better than a conventional 80/20 loan, because the 20% has a rate of about 9% these days.

There are a whole lot of military coming to Hawaii, buying and selling houses, and making a ton of money in the process. It's the American way, and since you are putting your lives at risk for our freedom, you're worth every penny!

Are you considering buying a house here in Hawaii? Then click here to view homes for sale in Hawaii!

While homes in Hawaii are some of the most expensive in the country, that also means that buying a house here in Hawaii can help you a great deal when you move to other cheaper areas. I've worked with families who bought a small condo here in Hawaii, and when they were transferred to Texas, they were able to buy a HUGE house for less. The great thing was that their home here in Hawaii had gained so much equity that the house they bought in Texas had almost no mortgage!

Getting assigned to Hawaii is a great opportunity for you. I'll help you every step of the way, showing you which areas of the island are more affordable, which areas are safe, and very importantly, which areas your family will like!

Are you ready? Email me now!

Kakaako development on hold
New yesterday about Kakaako. A lot of people here don't want this project to move forward. I have 3 reasons to be against it: traffic, beach access, and traffic.

Off the market - Can choosing the wrong realtor keep you from selling?
I won't say her name, but I have a friend who chose the wrong Realtor. Only a couple weeks after she listed her house with this Realtor, my friend was in tears about it. The agent she chose wasn't returning calls, wasn't doing anything she was promised, and bottom line, wasn't selling the house.

This $1.2million waterfront property should have sold. It has great marina frontage with a dock, and the house is over 2000ft with plenty of yard space too. There were 4 other houses for sale on our street, and this was the cheapest.

This past weekend the house was taken off the market after 4 months.

Can choosing the wrong Realtor actually change the course of your life? Could it mean you don't get to move and follow through on your plans? Yes. So be careful and choose someone with a good track record. Interview past clients and get references.

In the case of my neighbor, she said the Realtor was "a family friend." Well, I checked her MLS history and she only sold 1 house all last year.

New construction prices up
The Advertiser has a nice article today about new home construction in Oahu.

Existing home sales better than expected

Existing-home sales were stronger than expected in March, dropping just 0.7% from a year ago, but inventories rose to the highest level since 1998 and sales were weak in the West.
Total existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condos and co-ops, came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.92 million homes, compared with 6.97 million a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Economists expected sales to drop to a rate of 6.65 million.

New Construction in Oahu For $400k? If you don't mind driving to Maili
Last week for the first time in about a year I drove to Maili with a buyer, and she instantly fell in love with the place. Brand new homes by DR Horton, Schuller division, are being built for about $390k right now.

It's really amazing. You can buy a beat up piece of junk condo in town, maybe 500square feet with mold and termites, or you can buy a beautiful brand new house, a HOUSE, for the same price.

One week after my buyer signed the contract on the new construction in Maili, I had another buyer who wanted one, so I made the 47 mile (each way) drive again. And again, he was in love with the place.

The thing is, there is no traffic after you pass Kapolei, so if you're going to drive into Ewa or Kapolei anyway, you may as well drive another 7 miles and get a brand new house instead of a crummy little beat up condo or something for $400k!!! These new houses are about 1400 ft and have an attached garage. Some have 4 bedrooms and a yard, and the highest priced homes are about $425k!

There is a whole giant community being built there in Waianae/Maili, and I think sooner or later the west side will lose it's bad rap. About a thousand homes are being built, which means the populations is going to change dramatically.

Another top 10
From Rain City Guide, an informative and funny post about things that will keep your house from selling.

The First 10 things to do when you move to Hawaii

Almost everyday somebody from the mainland sends me an email about moving here. I've had so many email conversations with people moving that sometimes I think I'm having deja vu. It's common for people to have a lot of questions about living here, as if it's another planet, and in some ways it seems like one.

So here are the first 10 things you should do when you get here, not necessarily in order:

Change your license plates. This takes only a few minutes and you can do it at a satellite city hall. There are a few branches around the island. You'll need Hawaii car insurance and a safety test, which you can get at almost any gas station.
Change your cell to an 808 area code, Hawaii's only area code. Don't make your new friends and co-workers in Hawaii dial long distance, it's just a reminder to us that you're not from here. You have to change someday, just bite the bullet.
Get a map. Learn all the freeways, highways, and major city names.
Related to #3, drive around the whole island. Get to know what cities look like, how long it takes to drive around, and familiarize yourself with your town. Being familiar with roads is a good way to feel at home.
Subscribe to the local paper, or at least read it online. This will teach you what local people are thinking and talking about. When you can talk with locals about property taxes and water quality, you sound and feel local.
Get involved in a social group. Of course I recommend church, but there are plenty of others, especially if you have kids. If you don't meet people outside of work, you're going to be lonely, and eventually you'll go back to where you came from.
Buy some Aloha wear. Shirts, dresses, seat covers, stickers, whatever. Show the Aloha spirit and you'll look and feel more local.
Find a local restaurant that you like and go there more than once. Just having a place that you like, a familiar place, will make you feel more at home. Pick a favorite place and become a regular. You'll be amazed how much this will help you in many ways.
Get in the water. Celebrate your move to Hawaii by enjoying our amazing warm ocean! If you pick up a water sport as a hobby, you'll really love it here. People who get in the water tend to appreciate Hawaii much more. I prefer surfing, but there are dozens of options.
Change your driver's license. This one is #10 for a reason. It's a total pain to get the license. You have to go to the only office on the island that does this, which is in Kalihi, and stand in line for a long time unless you get there at 7am, which means driving in traffic. When you get your license you'll really feel like a local. You get a Kamaaina rate (local rate) and hotels and some restaurants.

Welcome to Hawaii!

The water is clearing, is our economy ok?
For about 6 weeks now Oahu's water has been pretty much unused by locals. I still see some tourists in the water, probably because they don't know or they can't read the warning signs, or both.

Locals have not been fishing, diving, surfing, swimming, or even going to the beaches for the most part. It makes me wonder if this will have any effect on our local economy. Think of all the people who make their living by getting people in the water. Scuba classes, snorkeling equipment renters, surfing instructors, parasailing companies.

Maybe the sum of the fincancial inflow of these companies are statistically insignificant in terms of economic impact on the entire state, but it seems like a lot of local people will be hurt by having little to no income for about a month or more.

Even now there are still areas of Ala Moana that are closed to swimming and surfing. I know of at least 1 company that teaches surfing at that spot, and wonder if they have found somewhere else to do that.

We'll see in a few months I guess.

Interest Rates are UP
For about 3 weeks in a row 30yr mortgage rates have been up. Today they are about 6.5%, and just 3 weeks ago they were 5.875%. Amazingly, I've had clients get quotes up to 7.875% because their credit was bad. The difference in the payment on a $600k mortgage when you get a rate that high is astounding.

If this keeps up it could make buying a house incredibly difficult for young first timers.

How to live in Hawaii and fit in
I can spot a tourist a mile away. The pasty white legs, white socks pulled up to the shins, "I love Hawaii"T-shirt tucked into shorts, bright red face from sunburn, and rental car keychain in hand.

Now, if you want to move to and live in Hawaii and not look like you're JOJ (just off the jet) then here are some tips for you to fit in with the locals after arriving.

Drive slow. If you cut people off and drive 70 in a 35, you're a dead giveaway.
Never wear a tie. Hawaiians don't wear ties, not even at weddings or in the state senate. Not even the mayor or governor would wear one. Dressing up means wearing an Aloha shirt and sandals, maybe shoes.
Get a tan.
Don't be demanding, and be aware of the other people around you. You might be offending people without even knowing it. I see a lot of mainlanders getting angry at the slow service in a store or something, yelling and stuff - while the locals are looking on in disbelief.
Respect the Aina, the land. Hawaiians love their island, and when you don't care for it, it's disrepectful.
Talk slow, walk slow, do everything slow. What's the hurry anyway? What benefit is there to getting somewhere faster?
Learn some Hawaiian words. Ohana, hale, mauka, makai, pupus, keiki, okole, hapai, etc. Google some words to use. Knowledge of Hawaiian words makes you sound local.
Stop referring to things as north and south, east and west. Here we talk about Ewa bound, Diamond head bound, Makai, and Mauka. If you don't know what those mean, ask a local.
Learn to love sushi, all Japanese, Korean, and Chinese food.
Learn how to pronounce Japanese names like Kawaguchi, Kawamoto, Nagashima, and Okamoto.

Tony Kawaguchi and Kim Lineham Form Partnership for Na Pali Haweo and Kamehame Ridge
I've recently joined Kim Lineham in selling and marketing the Kamehame Ridge and Na Pali Haweo. For the last several years, Kim has sold more homes in Na Pali Haweo and Kamehame Ridge than any other Realtor in Hawaii! She has sold four times as much in this area as the next closest Realtor!

Kim approached me a few months ago and we began talking about working together in this wonderful neighborhood. "The home owners in this area tend to be very market savvy, and often own multiple properties, so I was very careful to select the best agent in our company," said Kim when she asked me to join her.

Well I was honored to be asked to join Mrs. Lineham, who has been a top producing agent for several years now. Kim and I will be working together on listings and sales in Na Pali Haweo and Kamehame Ridge from now on.

Think of us when selling or buying : The team that has sold more Na Pali Haweo and Kamehame Ridge than any other agents!

Kamehame Ridge House Sold In 2 Weeks!
While the world is talking about a housing bubble and a slow down in sales, we are still selling fast! We just sold the $849,000 Kamehame Ridge house in 2 weeks. Homes in Na Pali Haweo and Kamehame Ridge (where I specialize) often take months or even years to sell, because many sellers have a price in mind that may not be realistic, but when priced right, a home here can sell quickly!

When it's a million dollars or two, buyers are very sophisticated people who are aware when you're priced too high, even if it's only a hundred thousand or so.

Multiple offers still around
This weekend I listed a townhouse in Aiea for $479,000, which was $4000 higher than any property had ever sold for in Hillside Terrace. On the listing I wrote, "no showings until Saturday the 16th".

Within 24 hours I had 2 offers, and after countering at full price, it looks like we will get our asking price and close next month.

While some people are talking slow down in the market, it sure didn't feel slow this week.

The blessing of 41 days of rain in Hawaii
As you've probably heard it's been raining like crazy in Hawaii, but for the past 6 days it's been sunny and beautiful. The great thing about 41 days of rain is that when it's over the island looks amazing.

Check these pics out. This is the view from the top of Koko Head, a nice hike in Hawaii Kai near my house. I've never seen Hawaii Kai look this green before. Click the pics for a bigger view.

And has anyone ever seen Hanauma Bay look like this?

Please steal this townhouse
The seller of this townhouse needs to close by June 5th. Please bring any offers you have, as she has already found her replacement property.

It's a 3bd 2.5 ba 1435ft townhouse in Aiea for only $479,000. A similar model is currently listed for $20k more. It has a 2 car attached garage, new paint, newer carpet, and 2 decks that look out to a beautiful green canyon.

It's in Hillside Terrace 2, which is about 1mile away from H1 so there's less noise than many of the other units.

If you have any interest please email me.

New homes to be built in Waianae
Under $500,000!

Ke Ola O Poka'i Bay is a new home development which should begin construction soon in Waianae. The builder, Mark Development, priced the homes starting at about $417k, which extremely cheap for Hawaii.

Of course you can buy new homes from Schuller right now too. Sea Country still has a bunch of homes available as we found out yesterday while looking around their models. Those start at $383k or so but they are a lot smaller.

New hotel at Ko Olina coming in 2008
Andrew Gomes from the advertiser says that a Florida development firm has bought beachfront property at Ko Olina Resort & Marina to develop a luxury condominium hotel that it hopes to brand with the Donald Trump name.

"Plans call for a 16-story condotel later this year with 400 to 500 units on eight acres fronting Lagoon No. 3 next to the Marriott Ko Olina Beach Club time-share."

Too bad it's a condotel, they don't usually work out for owners. There are maybe 2 or 3 that work in Hawaii. It is supposed to be finished in 2008, which is not as far off as it sounds. People are buying new construction condos in town right now, set to be completed in 2008 also.

State Senate says no to housing on Agricultural land in Hawaii
The State Senate killed a bill that would have recognized homes on agricultural land as legal.

The bill initially had been seen as a lifeline for developers of the Hokuli'a luxury home project on the Big Island. But after a lawsuit blocking the project was settled in March, it turned into a more complex and passionate discussion of the conflict between housing and agriculture statewide.

Bummer. This would have really opened up a new market for Hawaii Real Estate.

New business park in Kapolei means more jobs on the west side and less traffic in Honolulu
The Advertiser reported some good news this morning for west side residents, especially those who commute into town and those who own real estate out there.

Kapolei is getting a new industrial park near Kalaeloa Harbor. "Kapolei Harborside Center" would increase the usefulness of Kalaeloa Harbor, which eventually may be upgraded to handle container ships and offer more relief to overcrowded Honolulu Harbor.

More jobs, more businesses and an improved harbor would all help solidify Kapolei as O'ahu's "second city" as originally planned in the 1970s. The best part for some is that there would be less people commuting into town. The other benifit of course is that it adds value to west side real estate owners.

The project would represent Kapolei's final phase of industrial development, according to the petition filed by estate affiliate Kapolei Property Development LLC. Development of the Kapolei Harborside Center could begin in 2008 or 2009 and take until 2018 to be fully populated with businesses, the estate said in its petition.

Hawaii Discount Real Estate Brokers Give You 50/50 Chance of Selling
Can you save thousands of dollars in commissions by using a discount real estate broker? Only IF your home actually sells!

The biggest discount broker in Hawaii sells about 55% of their listings. The other 45% never sell.

We checked this statistic by looking at the listings and sales of the broker ourselves. So you have about a 50/50 chance of selling your home using a discount broker. Can you afford to take that kind of risk?

In contrast, we at RE/MAX 808 sold 87.7% of our listings in 2005. How's that for full service!

Aloha Aina Award Nomination
I was just nominated for the "People's Choice Award". A past client of mine nominated me and said, "Tony efficiently progressed this sale to completion from over 3000 miles away. Tony gets the job done."

The seller was in Colorodo.

Thanks for the nomination!

Honolulu Median Sales Price Goes UP in March
Great news for the Hawaii Real Estate Market!

To just about everyone's surprise, the Honolulu Board of Realtors released very positve March 2006 housing market statistics.

Total sales in March = 1088. That's 34 more than March 2005, and 353 more than last month!

The number of listings was only marginally up - 62 more than last month. And the number of sales was also UP.

The best news of all - The median list price for all single family homes in Honolulu in March was UP to $650,000! That is a new all time record!

Look! Up in the sky, it's a huge light!
After 41 days of rain we have finally had a few days of sun. Not to waste any time, I went and knocked on about 30 doors today to let people know about our Kamehame ridge listing.

With all the people that told me they were waiting for the sun to come out before buying or selling, we should have a flood of business in April. Let's hope for good weather!

The Imperial Plaza - Kakaako Highrise Condo Living
A few weeks a friend of mine asked me to look for a condo in town that might be a good investment, and yesterday we checked out the 400ft tall Imperial Plaza building in Kakaako. It's a 40 story condo building built in the 1991 with 241 units. Many of them have great ocean views, starting at $499,000 going up to $1.35 million. The largest units are over 4300 sq/ft!

From starter condos to luxury penthouses, The Imperial Plaza's appeal reaches many with views like this. There are several two story units in the building, and when you're in one of these you forget you're in a condo highrise at all.

The building is about to undergo some renovations, get new security cameras and key fob entry system, automatic gates for the garage, and exterior paint.

The location of the Imperial Plaza building, which is the corner of Kapiolani and Cooke, is one its great selling points. It's 5 minutes to Waikiki, 3 minutes to Ala Moana, and 20 minutes to the airport. You can get to the Pail in about 5 minutes without traffic, so getting across the island is easy from here.

The building has a security guard in the lobby and a great water fountain in the entryway. You also get use of a pool and bbq rec area on the 6th floor. While it's located right in town, when you close your windows it's surprisingly quiet.

For highrise living in town, the Imperial Plaza is one of the best options.

Seller needs to move in 2 weeks!
This doesn't happen often - the seller called and said, "I need to sell in 2 weeks. What price can we sell it for in 2 weeks?"

The answer, we think, is $849,000 for this Kamehame Ridge home with an incredible view of the ocean!

It's a 3 bd 2 ba home on the very prestigious ridge and it's probably priced way too low. I wish we had time to market it the way it needs to be, but today was the first showing and we have less than 2 weeks left.

It's probably $50k-$75k low, no joke.

Townhouse in Ocean Pionte for $428,500
If you want to live in Hawaii for under $500k, it can still be done! This very nice, nearly new townhome was just listed today.

It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and 1096 feet. It also has one thing most townhouses don't have around here, a yard. The owner of this unit spent thousands of dollars on this nicely landscaped yard.

Location is always key, and this one as you can see opens up to a great grassy park. First open house April 9th.

Ke Aina Kai is the most desirable townhouse project in Ewa, since it's in the Ocean Pointe neighborhood and the units are very well made. The other complexes in similar price ranges don't offer a yard, and they just feel a little dumpy compared to very nice Ke Aina Kai.

Please call me to schedule showings.

Fed Raises Rates Again!
The new Fed chairman, Beb Bernanke, has raised the Fed Funds Rate to 4.75%. This means that credit card rates, second mortgage, and all kinds of other debt will be more expensive.

The one things it doesn't directly control is the 1st mortgage market, which is dictated more by the 10yr treasury bond. It's so funny that you can get a 30yr mortgage for 6%, and earn about 5% on a CD at your bank. Even my savings account is getting 4.5% now.

What will this do to real estate? Well the perception by and large is that rates are getting higher, which, even if it isn't true for mortgages, may cause people to buy less of a house, or no house.

Some people who are trying to beat the system might buy a house now highly leveraged, hoping to earn more like 7-8% on their money in the bank, while only paying 6% on the mortgage. Now that would be true double dipping. You get the write off for the mortgage, AND you earn money on the money you would put down on the house.

Rain and bad weather bad for real estate in Hawaii?
It feels like it's been raining all year in Hawaii. Today was the first day without rain, but it was still very cloudy and dark. According to the National Weather Service Honolulu the rains have set record rainfalls for the month of March on Kaua'i and O'ahu.

After six straight weeks of rain everyone here is ready for some warm sun. On O'ahu a couple of records have been set also including in Punalu'u which had almost 45.5 inches of rain since Feb. 19 and 36 inches in March. The March record was 35.2 inches in 1920.

Even for Hawaii this rain is out of character, so I'm pretty sure that the housing numbers for March are going to be even worse than they would have been. With heavy downpouring like this week, people don't want to get out and see houses. Open houses have been attended, but lighter than a usual March.

Yesterday was probably the heaviest rain I have ever seen in my life.

My Office: RE/MAX 808 Realty
This is the website of my company RE/MAX 808 Realty in Honolulu: http://www.remax-808realty-honolulu-hi.com

I think it's the best office in Hawaii!

3 Ewa Beach Listings
We currently have 3 single family listings in Ewa, and two of them are under $500k. The great thing about Ewa is that you get a lot more bang for your buck, especially in the amount of land you get, which translates to a yard for the kids, usually. People choose to live in Ewa usually knowing there will be a lot more traffic, but taking the trade off of having a much newer, better built house with more land.

Here's an Ewa Gentry home of 1259ft reduced to only $459,900. It has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths with a nice little yard.

For $465k you can get this 1320 ft house in the same neighborhood. It has an even bigger yard:

Or if you have $549k to spend, this Westloch Fairways home has a 6004 ft lot, which is nearly double the lot size of the 2 homes above. So you get a big yard and it looks great on the inside too:

I highly recommend Ewa for anyone who either doesn't have a commute into town, or who just wants the most home they can get for their money.

Rain!
Tons of rain on Oahu this week again. On the one had the mountains have never looked greener. On the other hand, everything is soaked and flooding is common.

Last Sunday's open houses were surprisingly busy even though the rain was dumping. I don't think rain keeps people in Hawaii from buying houses the way snow and freezing cold keeps people away in the midwest and east.

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