There are a lot of real estate investors who have a somewhat combative, almost hostile relationship with the concept of realtors. It doesn't make sense to me. Investors and realtors play different yet incredibly complementary roles in local real estate transactions. I understand on the surface where some of the friction comes from -- to a large extent, we market our services to the same people. … [Read more...]
Putting Together a Real Estate Superhero Team
We all have different real estate goals. Some of us just want to buy a house while interest rates are still relatively low. For some, it's a first house for a new family, maybe a condo in Salt Lake, Honolulu or a townhouse in Makakilo or Kihei. For others, a vacation house on the North Shore of Oahu or just off the beach in Poipu, Kauai is just what we want. Others have significantly different … [Read more...]
So Long, Mr. President
Come tomorrow, President Obama and family will head back to their usual residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in our nation's capital. It's been a surprisingly quiet visit for the First Family compared to previous years. While they stayed in Kailua on the windward side as they always do when visiting Oahu (in a legal rental, we hope!), there weren't as many of the typical stories in the paper and … [Read more...]
Preparing for Hawaii Real Estate in 2014
We're only 2 days away from ringing in 2014. Can you believe an entire year has once again passed us by? Tempest fugit, indeed. How did the year shape up for you? As we get ready to watch the fireworks light up the Hawaiian skies in just over 48 hours, let's take a look back over the past 12 months and where we may be going from here. Improving Your Home Value Many residents in Hawaii have taken … [Read more...]
Keeping Hawaii Off the Map
There's been a fair amount of talk lately about the promotion of Kailua as a tourist destination for the "Honolulu - been there, done that" crowd and the relatively rapid development of legal and illegal vacation rentals to feed this niche. Too many of these rentals, the opposition says, replace actual housing for local residents and drive up the prices, which are some of the highest real estate … [Read more...]
Can You Help a Homeowner Friend in Need?
You know what can be the hardest thing to do? Ask someone for help. It's human nature that we rarely actually ask people for help, no matter how much we may need it. I think we all feel, at some level, that asking for help means admitting weakness. The truth is that we ALL need help at some point. Every single one of us, even here in beautiful sunny Hawaii. And if we all need help, doesn't that … [Read more...]
Over 100K in Renovations – Large Home for Sale in Honolulu NOW!
We just finished a long project in Moanalua Gardens, Honolulu. We put over $100,000 into rehabbing this large 2-story, 5-bed 3-bath home at 1720 Ala Amoamo Street behind Fort Shafter. A long journey but well worth it as we turned out a BEAUTY of a house! Kudos to general contractor Sam Kim and KO Builders for all the hard work they did. This stunner just hit the local real estate market on … [Read more...]
Should You Liquidate an Inherited House?
If you've inherited a house in Hawaii through probate or other means, then you may have a big decision to make. The big question most homeowners in this situation ask is... Should you liquidate an inherited house? There are certainly pros and cons to selling the house versus keeping it for the long haul. Let's look at both... Reasons to Keep an Inherited House There are both financial and … [Read more...]
Summer Real Estate Season
It's widely known that in most areas in the country, the peak of home buying season is in the summer months. It's not just the temperature that's hot in June through August months. While the Hawaii real estate scene does not suffer from winter storms and subzero temperatures that plague open houses, and home sellers, in much of the mainland, even Hawaii's market picks up in these times as well. If … [Read more...]
What Makes Hawaii Real Estate Different
Whenever I speak with some of my real estate investor colleagues beyond Hawaii, the conversation inevitably comes back to what it's like to work in the Hawaii real estate scene. Of course, they get jealous of our consistently beautiful weather, high housing market value and in-demand inventory, not to mention the freedom to wear t-shirts and shorts to open houses in January. And who can blame … [Read more...]