The Sawzall is great for do it yourself work

 

 

Have you ever heard of a Sawzall?  I hadn't until some handymen did some work around my place recently.   I'm one of those old fashioned guys that would use a regular hand saw for cutting things up.  I have one saw for wood and another for metals.

We moved to our home in Palolo Valley last year and it was a fixer upper.  There was a lot of junk to be cleared from the yard too.  I talked with the handymen and found out all the great things a Sawzall can do.

Features of a Sawzall

As you can see from the photo above, a Sawzall is a "Variable Speed Reciprocating Saw."  It's almost like a chainsaw, but it's electrically powered and easier to maneuver.  The blade moves not only back and forth, but up and…

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Hawaii foreclosures increase a bit

Haven't they gone up everywhere?  Honolulu statistics for the first quarter show 155 foreclosure filings this year (January through March) versus 102 during the same period last year.  That's an increase of 52% - the increase percentage sounds ominous, however the number of forclosures versus households is still very small.  Honolulu has the second lowest foreclosure rate in the U.S!

Why aren't we getting hit?

What's so special about this place?  We got smoked back in the mid-1990's after the Japanese bubble burst.  Some people actually walked away from their houses and let the banks take them back.  Note that the people doing so were in neighborhoods away from downtown Honolulu.  Homes in Honolulu are just too…

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Misspelling and poor grammar are not good things

Hi Webmasters,

I see so many misspelled words and improper grammar on blogs that it sometimes gets to me.  If we don't watch our spelling and grammar, people that don't know any better will read what we write and think that's the right way to do it!

Here are some examples from the REW blogs:

- Tail of a happy homeseller...  (should be Tale)

- My families business...  (should be family's)

- For sales decline... (what for?  This doesn't make sense)

- Who need back links anyways!  (A question should end with a question mark)

Please don't take this the wrong way.  There is poor spelling and grammar all over the internet.  I think most of us realtors have college degrees and consider ourselves…

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Torito's Restaurant in Honolulu

Torito's restaurant is located at Market City in Kapahulu.  This restaurant is a local favorite and it's been around for quite awhile - I first ate there around 1998.  Torito's is a local favorite because of the great menu and reasonable prices. Two people can eat at Torito's for about $20 including tip.  Add in some margaritas and the price will go up!

My favorite dish at Torito's is the vegetarian quesadilla plate.  I order my plate with black beans (they normally serve pinto beans).  This will keep me satisfied for about $7.  The chicken enchilada plate is also delicious.  Once in awhile I'll have the huevos rancheros for something different.

Toritos is open for lunch and dinner.  The lunch plates are a little…

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Aloha Airlines closes

 

 

There was little notice on the closing of Aloha Airlines.  March 21, 2008 Aloha Airlines announced it had enough cash to operate for ten more days and it was filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.   The company was also looking for potential buyers.  For about a week there was nothing in the newspapers or on tv news about Aloha Airlines.  Suddenly on Sunday, March 30th Aloha announced that March 31st would be their final day of business.   How could this have happened?  We just didn't think the March 21st announcement was that serious.  After all, Aloha had… Read Full Post

Hawaii Tourism Authority Steps Up

On March 31 2008, Aloha Airlines flew its last passenger flight and laid off 1,900 workers.  Customers with flights booked on Aloha Airlines were stuck if they were not completing their roundtrips by that day.  Then on Wednesday April 2nd 2008, ATA Airlines shut down operations, stranding more passengers.

Tens of thousands of people were affected by the shutdowns and there were not enough flights on other carriers to get people where they needed to go.   Aloha Airlines and ATA handled 15 percent of the air traffic between the West Coast and Hawaii prior to their shutdowns.

Pat the Hawaii Tourism Authority and Hawaiian Airlines on the back and say "Nice Job!" 

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) put up $5 million in…

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Los Chaparros

Los Chaparros opened in 2005 on Beretania Street in the McCully-Moiliili area.  Husband Mario (from Mexico City) and wife Lisa (a Californian) decided to create a restaurant with authentic Mexican cuisine.  

The Los Chaparros name

In Spanish, Los Chaparros means "the shorties."  Both Mario and Lisa are, uh "vertically challenged."  They're not tall.  So the restaurant name reflects their statures.

What's on the menu?

All kinds of good stuff!  We've eaten at Los Chaparros many times.  The other night my girlfriend had her usual Chicken Enchilada and I tried the Chile Colorado with corn tortillas for the first time.  As usual, the food was great.  We're not big drinkers, we split a blended margarita and it too was very tasty.  It was ice…

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Hawaii Foreclosures rising

This morning's newspaper has an article titled "Isle foreclosures slowly building."  The article intrigued me as a Palolo Valley resident and realtor in Hawaii.

House for sale in Palolo Valley

I live just around the corner from the house pictured in the newspaper article (and pictured above).  This house is located in Palolo Valley, a Honolulu neighborhood.   Several months ago the house had a garage sale and we stopped by to check it out.  The owner told us his story about moving and claimed that he had sold the house.

Later the house came on the market at a high price with a low commission.  That's a deadly combination for a home seller.   I imagine the realtor recommended a lower price with a higher commission but he or…

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