Hawaii real estate news

This afternoon we changed the status on our 3330 Wauke Street listing to Active Continue to Show (ACS). The ACS Status means we have an offer and are still showing the home, just in case it falls out of escrow. When we move further through the transaction and the buyers' loan is approved we will change the status to Pending and stop showing the home. After changing the status to ACS, I checked the current listings and noticed that all six homes for sale in Kapahulu are in escrow. They are eit... Read Full Post

Makaha Valley Plantation is located on the west side of Oahu. This neighborhood is popular with retirees from the U.S. mainland and Canadian "snowbirds" looking for a warm place to stay during the winter. Makaha Valley is remote - it's about 40 miles away from Waikiki. Because Makaha is "away from it all", prices here are much lower than they are on other parts of Oahu. This creates a great opportunity for homebuyers on a budget who don't need to work or who are employed on the west side of O... Read Full Post

Hawaii's home prices are increasing at a steady pace, up 13% in October compared with a year ago. We are recovering from the recession and home prices nationwide are on the rise. And interest rates remain low, currently around 3.25% for 30 year fixed rate mortgages. What's the best move? For prospective homebuyers and investors, if you are ready, willing and able, I think it is time to buy. Sure, a realtor is saying it's time to buy. "It's a good time to buy" is the #1 cliche for realtors. Co... Read Full Post

Oahu's real estate market is improving and you can see it at Makaha Valley Towers! Inventory available for sale is down and prices are moving up. In 2011 it was easy to get a studio or one bedroom for under $100,000. As of today, the lowest priced Active listings are just over $100,000. Some people might think they are too late to get a deal - I disagree! Prices were much higher than they are now, during the last price peak. Earlier this year I sold a one bedroom for $85,500 which the sellers... Read Full Post

I used to post listings on in the real estate section of Craigslist to sell Oahu properties. Luckily, Oahu's real estate market has taken off and these days I spend more time working on transactions rather than advertising. When I have spare time I take a look at various websites including Craigslist to see what's new. Craigslist Hawaii's real estate section seems to have 99% junk now. Some realtors are posting multiple links with different titles attempting to drive traffic to their website.... Read Full Post

Hawaii Kai along with most of Oahu is seeing steady growth in real estate selling prices. The world economy may still be wobbling, but around here we are seeing increasing demand for both high and low end properties. Taking a look at Hawaii Kai home sales in May 2012 and comparing them with May 2011, the change in median prices is an eye catcher. Don't worry, if you are on a budget there are still plenty of houses for sale in Hawaii Kai for less than $1 million. The median sale price was sway... Read Full Post

I majored in Accounting in college and later became a realtor. I still do some accounting work and have run across some interesting info about the tax credits for energy-conservation in the home. Specifically, we will cover solar electric power, or "PV" systems. Federal tax credits Solar credits for residential properties can be applied for using Form 5695. These credits apply to residential properties - either a primary residence or a second home. The credit amount is 30% of materials and la... Read Full Post

We've been sitting on several short sales for many months. Suddenly, we're getting bank approvals on them - three in the last week! The Ilikai - Our offer on an ocean view unit written in July was approved and we're closing on it next week. Very fast, we have less than two weeks to clear all the contingencies. Obviously this requires a cash purchase. Ala Moana Hotel Condo - I'm representing the sellers and we received an offer in late September. It was approved this week and the seller's bank... Read Full Post

Last year the owner of a townhome at Ocean Pointe contacted me about selling. He was military, bought in 2005 and very much upside-down in value. He bought his Ke Aina Kai two bedroom plus den, two and a half bath townhome with a two car garage for $425,000 six years ago. By 2010 it was worth about $275,000. Luckily, the owner met the requirements to get a HAP Sale. What's a HAP Sale? Basically, the Federal government covers the shortfall between what the seller owes and the current market va... Read Full Post

Today we closed a sale at the Makaha Beach Cabanas and this time getting financing was more difficult than expected. Sure, we've all heard banks are adding more requirements to get loans today. The problem we ran into with this Cabanas purchase was different. The buyer was well qualified with a large down payment. The problem came when the underwriter did some searching on the internet. You see, residential condos are generally not legal for short term rentals, defined as less than 30 days. C... Read Full Post