I was showing some homes to a client this week and walked into a home that smelled like flowers. All 3 of us made comments about how nice it smelled and felt happy the whole time we were there. I saw that the owner had lit some candles to make the home smell nice.

Then it hit me - why doesn't everyone try hard to make their home buyer friendly? Why is there so much weird stuff I see, smell, and hear when I walk into a house? So here are 10 things that buyers hate. 10 things that will keep your home from selling, in no particular order.

   1. Smokers. You cannot get smoke out of a house. Change the carpet, paint the walls, buy an ozone machine, and you might not get it out if it's real bad. I don't care if you smoke outside, you still can smell it when you walk in.
   2. Dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, and anything with hair. I can small pets the moment I walk in. your carpet is probably stained in places you can't see without moving furniture. You have fleas and you don't think you do. Your house smells like pets, and buyers hate that.
   3. Clutter. Please don't leave your collection of Chinese dolls or your 10 chess sets in plain view for us. Please throw away your trash, clean your dishes, put away your clothes, and make the house look un-lived in.
   4. People. Huh? Yes, people. Buyers want to walk around uninteruppted, and want to feel like they can look anywhere for as long as they want. So please get out of your house when we come to see it. Don't stand there watching over us like a school principle. Let us look slowly and carefully at this most important investment.
   5. Dirt - There is so much red dirt on this island, and it seems to get everywhere. It makes fences and walls look terrible, so go buy some Oxyclean and get that stuff off. You might have to get a pressure washer and put some of that Oxyclean in there. Whatever you do, just get the dirt off your house.
   6. Darkness. Open the dang windows please! Don't close all the blinds when we are about to show up, and please do turn on all the lights. If you have dark drapes or blinds, you might have to get rid of them. This is Hawaii, so let the sun in!
   7. Weird decor - we walked into one house that had a giant nude painting of a woman right in front of the entry. It was all we could talk about the entire time so we hardly even saw the house. The rest of the day we kept laughing about the giant painting. In fact the house was pretty nice, but we could hardly notice!
   8. Extreme colors - bright red, bright yellow or green, basically anything that will distract the buyers. I don't want to walk into a house and be shocked. If my first thought is, "whoa! bright colors!" then you've probably missed an opportunity to grab a buyer. First impressions do count, a lot.
   9. Heat - in Hawaii it gets warm, very warm. So if you have a home that has been locked up with all the windows shut, the buyer is going to walk in and feel too hot to want to stick around very long. Even if they like the house, they might want to get out because they are so darn hot. So if your house gets hot, you may have to turn on the AC when you have showings .
  10. Most importantly - PRICE! Don't overprice and hope to get something lower. Price the house to sell because this is a buyer's market and probably will be for a long time. If you price a house even a little too high, it tells the buyer that you're not that motivated. It might keep you from getting an offer, while pricing it "low" might get you 3 offers above asking. Price it to sell quickly or you'll be waiting around a year and probably will get less in the long run than if you sell fast.

Looks like we will getting a massive new shopping mall in Kapolei, which is West Oahu for those not familiar with the island.

Kapolei is where all the growth is happening in Oahu, with some massive home building to come in the next few years. There is going to be new contruction in Kapolei for the next 10 yrs. Construction is supposed to begin in late 2010 on the $500 million complex which will have a whopping 1.1 million square feet of commercial space, and 200,000 square feet each of hotel and office space.

The mall is going to be called Ka Makana and is supposed to create about 21,000 construction jobs over five years. Once completed, the whole complex is expected to create 4,000 to 5,000 jobs. The complex is going to have two towers for hotels and two for offices. The two hotels would have between 300 to 500 rooms and would be aimed at those doing business or visiting family in West Oahu.

The developers expect the Hawaii economy to recover by the time the first stores open because Hawaii is a little sheltered from this economy
Here is the article.

This is great news for Kapolei, Makakilo, and Ewa real estate, which have been struggling a little bit lately. Jobs = money to buy homes, pay mortgages, and less foreclosures.

When you're driving from Honolulu up to Kailua, after you get over the Pali but just before you start heading down the hill to Kailua town, you'll see some streets that seem to go off into the mountains to the right above Kailua. Those are the entrances to Maunawili, a hidden tropical neighborhood that is everything you would imagine from old Hawaii. The peaceful hills and valleys in Maunawili are lined with mature trees, and the homes seem to just barely peek out from behind the lush landscape.

There is a broad range of small homes to large estates, many with beautiful views that look like this. From some places in Maunawili you can even see Luana hills golf course.

When people who don't yet live here think of living in Hawaii, they might picture something that looks like Maunawili. Large green mountains, lush foliage, palm trees everywhere, houses nestled within the hills but only as an accent to the beautiful scenery.

Homes here aren't cheap, starting at about $800k for a decent home, and well over $1million for a nice renovated home. For something to be nice in Maunawili, it would most likely be renovated, since there hasn't been new construction here for many years.

The great thing about Maunawili is that it's just 10 minutes from Kailua beach, 20 minutes from downtown Honolulu, and perched high enough above it all to feel totally secluded. You can get to everything quickly, but you get away from everything even quicker.

It's probably not the type of place you would find without knowing about it, mostly due to the fact that there are only a couple streets in, and no signs that say Maunawili anywhere. But if you're looking for a beautiful tropical setting to live in, this is the place. Just bring about $1million.

Warning - it rains a lot in Maunawili.  A lot.

The Disney resort is expected to open in 2011 and provide 1,000 jobs.  There are no plans for a theme park, too bad.  Ko Olina master developer Jeff Stone said, "it's a dream come true."

It will actually increase public access to the beaches at Ko Olina becayse this development will add parking.  There is hardly any parking at all over there.  This development should help in the larger plan of nurturing Kapolei as a secondary urban center, helping to create the true "second city."

Whenever new jobs come to Oahu, and national attention is brought to our island by a big name like Disney, it's sure to help the real estate market in Oahu. Particularly, in this case, the market in Ko Olina and Kapolei. With Kapolei so close and hundreds of properties at Ko Olina, thie new resort can only help the cause.

As a side benifit, the new jobs will mean more people driving to Ko Olina, and less people driving to town. That should help with the traffic from the west side into town.

This is really a great thing for Oahu real estate.

When you're searching for a home, one of the first things you'll decide is how big a home should be for you. In Hawaii homes are smaller than on the mainland overall.

One way to get more home for your money is to look at single story homes. A two story home has around 15-20 steps, each of which take up square footage. There is usually also a landing area and some hallway that is not really usable space.

Last week I was looking at homes around 2000 sqft, and we found that the 1800 sqft single level homes felt larger, and had more usuable space in the living room and bedrooms.

We saw a little 1400sqft house that seemed bigger than all the 1900ft two story homes we looked at. It had a larger living room and kitchen, and even the master bedroom was quite a bit larger.

So if you are thinking about how many square feet your home should be, remember it's a different number if the home is a single story home. And the funny thing is, you might pay more for two story homes even though they are cheaper to build. Single story homes by their nature take up more land on a lot, which is why two story homes can be more preferable if you're trying to save lot space.

So the lesson is - you can search for smaller one story homes than 2 story homes. If you think you need 2000sqft and you're used to living in a 2 story, consider an 1800 sqft 1 story home, because they will be about the same.

I drove to Ewa Beach from my home in East Oahu last week and encountered something new - NO traffic!  At least not the normal kind. Why? Because the city and county is almost done widening Fort Weaver road, and now it is 3 lanes for almost all of it.

The first thing everyone says about real estate in Ewa Beach is that it takes too long to get there. The homes are newer, nicer, larger, and cheaper, but is it worth sitting in an hour of traffic each way? It is for many, and things are about to get much better.

When this road widening project is complete, the traffic should lighten up quite a bit. In theory it should be cut in about 1/3 or even 1/2. That could be huge for home sales and prices in Ewa Beach. Since traffic is the main thing keeping Ewa beach home prices down, residents there should be jumping for joy, not just for the traffic, but for their investments.

The alternatives to Ewa are Kapolei and Royal Kunia, both of which have higher prices primarily due to less traffic. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Based on how long it's taken them to complete what is currently, there, I would say they will be done by the end of the year.

Most of the buildings and homes in Oahu were built in the booming period during the 60's and 70's, which means just about everything in Oahu needs to be rebuilt now. As I view homes with people looking to buy Oahu real estate, the thing that is most obvious is how run down so many of the homes and buildings are.

Believe it or not, that creates a buying opportunity. It's now time in the history of Oahu for everything to be renovated or rebuilt (big difference.) While many homes and buildings are being renovated, some are choosing to rebuild completely.

Safeway has now opened their biggest store in America in Kapahulu, which is an old neighborhood just outside of Waikiki, and just west of Diamond Head. They tore down a big lot of basically junk buildings, and the new shopping center is beautiful, with the most modern amenities. It gives the entire neighborhood a much better feel. I think most people in the Diamond Head, Kaimuki, and Kapahulu areas are very pleased because now they have a brand Safeway and a brand new Whole Foods just a couple miles away. 

As storefronts, buildings, and homes are renovated, it is an opportunity to buy real estate before it appreciates more. People in Hawaii have been buying real estate that wasn't top quality because there was nothing else available, but now people are seeing that there is opportunity for profit in renovation, and it's going on everywhere. In high end homes and in low end condos.

The new Safeway is just a sign of what's happening everywhere. I recently viewed several homes in Hawaii Loa Ridge and Na Pali Haweo in Hawaii Kai, and found that many of the homes, while only about 25 years old, are looking really old and tired. For about one million dollars, you get an old run down house that needs new floors, paint, windows, fixtures, and usually bathrooms and kitchens.

The cost of doing all that may be $200k, but in the end you have a home that is worth way more than you put in.  So as you can see, the profit potential is huge.  People tell me they want a fixer upper in Hawaii Kai or Diamond Head, and the thing is under about $1 million almost everything is a fixer upper. It sounds crazy, but hey it's Hawaii and everyone wants to live here.

So thanks Safeway, you're keeping the renovation trend going.

I just listed this house on Friday, and it seriously has the nicest kitchen you will ever see in this price range - $640k. 

 Royal Kunia has some great homes, but this one is probably one of the best, and certainly has the best kitchen in the neighborhood by far.  The owner spent $100k on custom cabinets, Bosche applianaces, and more. 

 The house also has a huge corner lot with 3 large grassy fields in front of it. That's right, I said 3 grass areas.  You could play 3 games of football within 50 feet of the house.

The owners are maticulous in their care for the home, and enjoy entertaining in the huge 400sqft lanai that they added a couple years ago. 

You want a great house in Kunia?  This is the one. At over 1800ft with 4 bedrooms, it's got everything you could ask for at this price!

Some of my clients around Oahu have reduced prices on their homes this week, with the market seemingly slowing. The price reductions indicate a decline in the market and a coming to reality for sellers.

Usually when a seller wants to sell their home in Oahu, they assume that they won't get full price, and so they price it just above what they feel the sale price will be. Seems reasonable to most people that you don't always get full price. However, that tactic is backfiring on a lot of people lately.

Why?

Because believe it or not, many homes that actually close are coming in at or near full price. Yes it's true. Even though the Oahu real estate market is slowing in number of sales, homes that are priced right are selling at very close to asking price, or at full price. I've been going through the sales and found that a home either sells quickly at about full price, or it sits for a long time while the seller comes to grips with reality and lowers their home price a few times, until finally, he gets well below his asking price.

The bottom line is that homes are taking an average of 47 days to sell, so if you get beyond that without any offers, you've priced your home too high. So if you price your home according to the recent comps you should expect to sell quickly. In the case of my clients who reduced their prices, many of them wanted to get top dollar and even refused offers below their asking price.

One client of mine received 3 offers early on below asking price, but one of those offers was higher than his current list price. The market is not waiting for us, so we need to catch up to it. We need to come to grips with the reality of the current market.

Pricing a house for the market reduces the need for haggling.  Get your home sold quickly or you'll get less than you could have right out of the gate. 

I have some ideas that I think would be a great alternative to rail or any other changes to the traffic problem. Since the city is collecting millions of dollars with the extra 0.5% GET for rail, why not use that money in these ways that would greatly reduce traffic and save our city billions of dollars by not building rail or new freeways.  Besides, we're never going to have enough money to fund the rail system anyway.

So here are my ideas, and the dollar amounts are just examples:

    * Give companies $50k/year in tax credits for each employee that they move from an office in Honolulu to one in Kapolei.
    * Companies with more than 10 employees could be paid $250k to move their company to Kapolei.
    * Give companies $50k (or so) per employee to change that employee's schedule to 10am-8pm, or night shift, or swing shift. There are many employees doing things that don't need to be done 8am-5pm.
    * Give companies $50k per employee to make all their employees work Tues-Sat. Also they work earlier and stay later, to reduce traffic. Some people could work Wed-Sun.
    * If we switch a lot of government offices and services to Wed-Sun work week or have them open at night, then the city would also become more productive in that people would not have to take work off in order to go to the city hall, or DMV or the DPP or DLNR, or wherever they have to go.

Of course we would have to have a way to track that these changes were actually happening, and we would pay them per month or in the form of tax credits, and of course they have to keep doing it indefinitely to keep receeving the money.

These ideas might work, and would change the flow of traffic all around Honolulu.