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Most Oahu residents saw a decrease in their tax assessed values for 2009. Some homeowners here and there have higher assessments this year. A friend called me yesterday to talk about her assessment, which has been climbing year after year. This Kaneohe homeowner has been living in her home for years. Despite the overall decrease in assessed values on the windward side of Oahu, her assessment is up again, possibly higher than the actual market value of her home. We ran a comparative market ana... Read Full Post

We've been getting a good amount of rain in Honolulu lately. Visitors to Hawaii might be disappointed when the sun isn't out, however we do need the rain to recharge our aqufiers and water our lawns. Yesterday I was driving home from real estate showings and saw this unusual rainbow in Palolo Valley. The left side of the rainbow is standing around Carlos Long Street and the right side is planted on 10th Avenue. Have a healthy and prosperous new year! Aloha, Mike Read Full Post

On the night after Christmas, when all through the house, we were all in the dark. We were enjoying a family dinner with my mom and stepdad in Hawaii Kai. As we finished up, the lights flickered a few times. We ignored the flickering and continued talking. Then, around 6:45 p.m. we lost electricity. Hawaii Kai and the surrounding neighborhoods were almost pitch black. Cars driving along Kalanianaole Highway illuminated the coastline. Some buildings had backup power to light their stairways an... Read Full Post

Barack Obama is on his way home. He'll be arriving on Oahu shortly for a holiday stay in Kailua. The Obamas are renting several homes on one property, in the Beachside neighborhood. As the name implies, this is an area with homes on a sandy beach. Beachside in Kailua on a sunny day The property being rented by the Obamas has its backyard overlooking the Oneawa Channel. A beautiful white sand beach fronts the homes. The Kaimalino neighborhood is across the channel. Neighbors are excited about ... Read Full Post

Oahu's tax assessments for 2009 have arrived. And the news is... an overall increase in property values! The percentage decreases on the regional map below might appear shocking, however Oahu's overall value put into dollars is an increase from $190.7 billion in the prior year to $191.1 billion this year. That doesn't sound as bad. How does the increase in Oahu's land values tie in with some significant decreases reflected above? The answer is, a big portion of the most valuable property on t... Read Full Post

I picked up a customer at Honolulu Airport on Saturday and took them out to Makaha Valley Plantation. They had recently purchased a unit at the Plantation and this was their first time seeing it in person. We arrived at the Plantation and checked out their unit. They were very happy with the purchase and have a long term plan of living there. Taking a look around, we noticed something odd in the neighboring building. The top floor (of the three story building) was missing its walls in some sp... Read Full Post

Today we had calm winds and cool weather. When the winds are light we often have beautiful sunsets in Honolulu. I got up on the roof of my house and took this picture around 6 p.m. Just left of center in the photo you can see the outline of Diamond Head. It's a great place to surf and a great place to live. The hill on the right is Saint Louis Heights. Saint Louis Heights homes have great views of the city and they're just around the corner from the University of Hawaii campus. The lights in ... Read Full Post

My friends just bought a 10-year old home a few months ago. Escrow offered them a home warranty and we discussed the pros and cons. I recalled a case where the buyer moved into a home that was just four years old. Within a week, the built-in microwave oven died. The new owners paid about $55 for servicing and American Home Shield repaired the oven. That was good enough for my friends and they purchased the home warranty. A basic home warranty covers the major appliances for one year. This cou... Read Full Post

A new listing is coming up at Castle Surf, a condo on the beach at Diamond Head. This unit is on the fourth floor. It has ocean and sunset views. Castle Surf is right across the street from the Dillingham Fountain, a famous landmark at Diamond Head. Besides being on the beachfront at Diamond Head, there are several other important features about this property. Castle Surf has two elevators, one at the front of the building and another at the ocean side. The maintenance fee is relatively low a... Read Full Post

The Aloha Airlines name may fly Hawaii skies again You may have heard that Aloha Airlines shut down on March 31, 2008. In an odd twist of fate, the Aloha Airlines name may be revived. Mesa Airlines entered the Hawaii market in 2006 with its regional company named go! Airlines. Prior to go!, Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines were charging around $150 per roundtrip between the Hawaiian Islands. go! started a fare war with with seats marketed as low as $10. By the end of 2007, rates settled around $45... Read Full Post