December 2009 
There are 8 blog entries for December 2009.
New homes still going up in Ocean Pointe
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 8:09pm. 482 Views, 0 Comments.
Everyone here thinks of it as Ocean Pointe, but the
real name of the new development is now "Hoakalei and Ka Makana." I'm not sure why they chose such a difficult name, but that is what the sign says. Technically, Ocean Pointe is done, and now it's on with the new part of the development.
I was there yesterday with a client, viewing the brand new homes and models. It's tempting, with all the great things that come with newness, but right now the waiting list is literally 6 months long. If you show up right now with cash, they can't sell you a house until about June or July, maybe August.
Homes have been selling there like hot cakes, and every home we were looking at has a waiting list about 7 people long. Priced between about $500k and $1million,…
It's winter in Hawaii, time to head to the beach
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 8:04pm. 242 Views, 0 Comments.
It's December 23rd, and it's beautiful and 80degrees outside right now. I just rode my bike 
down to the beach to check the waves. It's Winter in Hawaii, and that means the same thing it means all year - the weather is beautiful and it's time to head to the beach.
This is my son at the beach last week, taken with my cell phone.
So wherever you are, if you're cold and dreaming of living in Hawaii someday, let this motivate you to make the move soon!
Hawaii is the 2nd happiest state in America
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 11:54pm. 247 Views, 0 Comments.
I have no idea how Louisiana beat us, but Hawaii is the second happiest state in the Union, according to a recent study published by the UK’s University of Warwick and Hamilton College in the US.
They were looking at the happiness levels of one million US citizens to discover which are the best and worst states in which to live in the United States.
"The state-by-state pattern is of interest in itself. But it also matters scientifically. We wanted to study whether people's feelings of satisfaction with their own lives are reliable, that is, whether they match up to reality -- of sunshine hours, congestion, air quality, etc -- in their own state. And they do match. When human beings give you an answer on a numerical scale about how satisfied…
Plenty of new Oahu home listings coming in January
Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 8:34pm. 235 Views, 0 Comments.
I've been getting the calls, even during Christmas week. While inventory is at a 4 year low in Oahu, the calls from sellers have been starting to come.
Several Hawaii homes owners have been calling me to let me know to get ready to list their home in January, so I wouldn't be surprised if lots of other agents are getting those calls too. Every year, the market activity picks up dramatically around January 5th.
I also have several buyers that waited patiently through 2009 to see if the market would tank. It didn't. So now they are ready to buy something in 2010 before rates go up.
I wouldn't be surprised if the number of sales closed in February and March were double those of last year at the same time. Heck, even triple!
Only a couple weeks…
America's top 10 best tap water - Honolulu is #6
Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 12:07pm. 1038 Views, 1 Comments.
I saw an interesting article on the best and worst tap water in American cities. I've always thought that our tap water was pretty darn good, but it's nice to know for sure.
Cities with the best water:
The article says that, "Experts still agree that drinking tap is preferable to drinking bottled water. Bottled water is much more expensive than tap, it takes a huge toll on the planet, and it's not necessarily any safer than tap. "Bottled water is not regulated in the same way as tap water," says Olga Naidenko, a senior scientist at EWG. "With bottled water, consumers often do not know what they are…
The Allure Waikiki, almost done. 20% off the list price!!!
Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 12:38pm. 851 Views, 0 Comments.
The Allure Waikiki is now discounting their original list prices by at least 20%, sometimes more for the higher floors where prices are around $1.5million. I visited the sales office with a client of mine on Wednesday, where the sale agent explained that all list prices would be 20% off or more. Quite a bargain compared to other buildings we viewed.
HERE is the current PRICE LIST - Contact me for more info!
We began at 10am by viewing The Watermark, Lanikea, 1717 Ala Wai, Ko Olani, and a few others. When we visited the Allure, we found that you could buy a 1350sqft brand new unit with a view for around $850k. That's an amazing difference compared to the 1000sqft condos we found in the other buildings.
Now the grounds haven't been…
Giant waves come to Hawaii, pics from Quiksilver Eddie Aikau
Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 8:40pm. 419 Views, 0 Comments.
I went up to watch the giant waves that came in this week. This pic was from the day before the Quikselver Eddie Aikau , which was bigger than the day of the contest. It was an awesome day of giant waves. I took this pic with a 500mm zoom lens, because that's about as close as I would ever get to a wave this big.
Look at the guy there. He is about 5'10", which makes the face of the wave about 35 feet. If that thing hit you, it would feel like you got punched in the face by an elephant. There is more water in that wave than in 10 Olympic size swimming pools.
And this is a beautiful thing in Hawaii, because it brings the media, tourists, professional surfers, and big corporate sponsors. And guess what, some of them buy North Shore real estate!…
2009-2010 Home buyer's tax credit extended through July 1st 2010.
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 11:52am. 400 Views, 0 Comments.
I've been hearing various conflicting information on the home buyer's credit. Here are the exact details as published by NAR. The main two things to note are that the credit is now available for people who already own a home, and you can close as late as July 1st 2010.
The renewed home buyer credit:
Who Qualifies for the Extended Credit?
- First-time home buyers who purchase homes between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010.
- Current home owners purchasing a home between November 7, 2009 and…
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