Drawdown in Afghanistan means more soldiers buying Oahu real estate

Friday, June 24th, 2011 at 3:56pm. 557 Views, 0 Comments.

The President announced this week that 10,000 troops will return home from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and another 23,000 by the end of next summer, a drawdown of the 30,000-troop surge he ordered to fight there in 2009.  

So 30,000 troops will return home from Afghanistan by next year, and that means that thousands of those soldiers from Schofield Army Barracks, Pearl/Hickam, and Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Base will be returning to Hawaii.  And since there is already a wait list for homes on the military bases here, that means they and their families will have to rent or buy a house.  Either way, it's good for Oahu real estate. 

There is already a shortage of homes for sale on Oahu, and if even 200 more military families buy a house…

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Long term investment: Stocks vs Oahu real estate

Monday, June 13th, 2011 at 8:48pm. 615 Views, 1 Comments.

How did your money do over the last 5 and 10 years?  Was housing a terrible investment?  Which did better, stocks or real estate? 

Well look back to 5 years go and say you had chosen to invest in stocks.  If you had $50,000 in (June 2006,) and you had invested in the Dow, you would currently have about $54,870, an increase of 9.7%. 

If you had invested that same $50k 10 years ago in the same Dow stocks, you would have about $54,445, an 8.9% increase.  Basically, any money that you had in the stock market over the last 5 years or 10 years is worth less when you include inflation.  By the way, I have been calling high inflation for about 2 years now, just following most economists.

Now let's say you had invested in Oahu real estate. 

In…

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Honolulu Rail - pie in the sky estimates on number of riders

Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 2:19pm. 571 Views, 0 Comments.

How many people are actually going to ride the Rail?  The City of Honolulu says that 97,000 people are going to ride it, and that is a pure lie.  Even in Houston Tx, where the population is  5 times higher, and the traffic far worse, only 38,000 people ride the rail system.

Will Honolulu succeed in getting approximately 6 times higher percentage of rail riders?  Hmmmm.. Take a look at this chart created by Panos Prevedouros, civil engineering professor at UH, and candidate for Honolulu Mayor (hopefully).  

The numbers are absolutely clear - the number of estimated riders of the Oahu Rail system is a total fabrication by the current Honolulu City administration. The city should cancel this underfunded, over hyped project which is not going to cut…

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Honolulu Board of Realtors and HAR should take a stand against Rail

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 2:08pm. 3977 Views, 2 Comments.

The Rail system in Honolulu is a massive financial black whole even before it has begun.  With a budget already falling so short that government employees are forced to take furloughs, and with tax revenues down and falling even more, the City and County. and the State cannot afford this $5billion project. As a member of the Honolulu Board and the Hawaii Association of Realtors, I think it's time these two associations take a stand against the Rail project, before more tax dollars are wasted and more debt is ammassed. Already the City (read: Mayor Mufi) has used our tax dollars to advertise on the radio and TV, attempting to turn public opinion in favor of this project.  Already money has been spent on planning, researching, etc. It’s time to stop. Last…

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No appraisal needed for VA loan refinances

Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 7:14pm. 868 Views, 0 Comments.

If you have a VA loan and you want to simply lower your rate, did you know an appraisal is not required by the VA?  Some lenders require an appraisal as an in house rule, but the VA doesn't, so you should be able to find a lender who will let you lower your rate without any appraisal at all.

Pretty great deal for anybody with a VA loan that they got more than a year or two ago.

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64% of the Realtors on this island did 1 transaction or less in 2008.

Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 8:49pm. 618 Views, 1 Comments.

I saw an article in the Star regarding the drop in number of Hawaii Realtors in 2009. The article highlights the total number of Hawaii real estate agents that haven't renewed their licenses this year, but that's not what I love about it.

Sure, "the Hawaii Real Estate Commission saw a 21 percent decline in license renewals this year," but that's no big deal.

The part I love is this - "Of all Honolulu board Realtors, 44 percent made no sales, and  18 percent made only one sale last year. "

That is amazing. I guess these are part timers or people who just have their Hawaii real estate license just in case. But I can't imagine trusting a part timer with the most important financial decision of your life - your home sale.  So about 64% of the Realtors on…

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You're planning to move to Hawaii, but when should you start looking at houses?

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 6:41pm. 518 Views, 0 Comments.

Most of my blog posts are prompted by questions that people ask me by email or phone. This week someone emailed me and said they are planning to move in about 8 months, wondering if they are looking at houses too soon.

You should be looking online as soon as possible, and in person about 2-4 months before you move.

As soon as you even the thought of moving to Hawaii, even if your plans are not definite, you should start looking at homes online on a regular basis, keeping track of what the market is doing in the area you like. The more time you have to look at homes, the more you'll understand our little micro markets. You'll see that homes in nice condition tend to sell quickly in most areas, and you'll be able to see the sales prices very close the list…

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