Archive for April, 2008
High Speed Internet Penetrates Honolulu!
April 17th, 2008 categories: Fun & Living
Who would have guessed? Read the entire Honolulu Advertiser Article.
“Honolulu is tied with the Seattle/Tacoma metropolitan area for having the sixth-highest percentage of households in the nation with high-speed Internet connections, the report by Scarborough Research shows.”
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Learn From Bruce Springsteen’s Drummer!
April 17th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101
Max Weinberg is Bruce Springsteen’s drummer. Based on this Wall Street Journal article, he is not only good at beating a drum, his research allowed him to one up City Hall. Even though Max’s story is from Middletown N.J., there is a big lesson to be sure to do your homework before you invest in Honolulu real estate or an real estate for that matter!
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Reasons To Sell Your Honolulu Real Estate-1031 Exchange
April 16th, 2008 categories: 1031 Exchanges, Reasons To Sell
Before you consider an IRC Section 1031 Tax Deferred Exchange you will want to seek counsel from your financial advisor, CPA, accountant, attorney and qualified experts in 1031 Exchanges.
After all of my chatter about the value of owning Honolulu real estate, I’ll bet you’re wondering, “Why should anyone ever sell something they own in Honolulu?” And my answer is, the only reason to sell is if you have something better to do with the money or if you can do something with it that is more meaningful to you. I will spend the next few months writing blogs about “Reasons To Sell Your Honolulu Real Estate”. This blog is the first of what will be many installments in this series.
Let’s assume that you live in the outside Hawaii and have owned a property here for the past 20 to 30 years. You were stationed here with the military, your career brought you or you are someone who grew up here. In any case, you don’t see yourself moving back to Honolulu and you have all of this equity built up in your piece of the rock. Homes in Honolulu can easily be $1,000,000 and condos can cost $500,000. If you sell, you are looking at a combined State of Hawaii and federal capital gains rate as high as 22.25% of you long term gain. Read the rest of this entry »
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Stryker Brigade Made Permanent!
April 16th, 2008 categories: Fun & Living, Rants & Riffs
The military plays a huge role in Honolulu’s economy and, therefore, demand in real estate. The recent announcement that the Brigade’s home base of Schofield Barracks has been made permanent is good news! See the articles in the Honolulu Star Bulletin and the Honolulu Advertiser.
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Ward Area Making Bid to become Center of Honolulu
April 16th, 2008 categories: Fun & Living
Review article on General Growths plan.
“As part of the overall 20-year master plan, most, if not all, of the existing buildings in the Ward neighborhood would be replaced to make way for the new vision.
A grand, central plaza two and a half football fields long will connect Queen Street to Kewalo Basin in the first phase.”
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Surf at Diamond Head
April 15th, 2008 categories: Fun & Living, Views of Honolulu
If you like surfing, here is what you’re missing at Diamond Head.
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Oahu Rent Highest in the Nation
April 15th, 2008 categories: Buying Honolulu Real Estate
Todays article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin quotes an affordable housing advocacy group’s recent report that says Hawaii is the most expensive state for renters. It goes on to say that Oahu has the highest rent in the state (an average of $1,630 per month for a 2 bedroom).
“In Hawaii, where a little less than half of the state’s roughly 403,000 households rent, rents have climbed about 70 percent since 2000, according to the report.”
If you own rentals, you may want to check to see if your rental rates are at the current market.
If you are an investor, take a look at buying in Honolulu. Even with higher values you may be able to make the cash flow work because of our average monthly rental.
If you rent, with current interest rates, you may be able to buy. After the tax benefits of the mortgage interest deduction, you may end up paying less per month and not have to deal with a landlord.
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Why Seller Shouldn’t Make Repairs & Why A Buyer Doesn’t Want Them To!
April 14th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Negotiating
No home is perfect, so it seems after a buyer completes their inspection (Purchase Contract paragraph C-51) there is almost always an attempt by the buyer to negotiate some sort of concession (price reduction, dollar credit, seller repairs). In a previous blog, I talked about the benefit of handling issues through a price reduction or monetary credit. With this post, I encourage everyone to avoid (like the plague) having a seller make repairs for a buyer and here is why:
1. It is difficult for a seller to meet or understand a buyer’s expectation as to the quality of a repair. In other words, the buyer expects it to be fixed one way and the seller has it done in another manner, then upon inspection the buyer may not accept the repair. Which means problems, problems and more problems shortly before an escrow is supposed to close.
2. By giving a monetary solution, the buyer is then in a position to have the work done to his or her liking. Furthermore, the worker completing the work is answerable to the buyer. If work is done and/or authorized by the seller, the new owner may need to get the seller involved with the contractor to have a repair fixed or redone.
3. Liability for repairs could extend back to a seller. For everyone involved, it is best that when an escrow is closed all further relationships between the seller and buyer (with the exception of friendship) are severed. No seller or buyer wants to be dealing with an issue 2 years after a sale is closed.
I am not saying that sellers should never make a repair, but you (agents, sellers and buyers) should look at all other options before going there.
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Home Inspections & Negotiating in Honolulu Real Estate
April 12th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Negotiating
Once a price and Purchase Contract (PC) are agreed to by the Seller and Buyer in the sale of Honolulu real estate, the next major hurdle to get over is the inspection of the property. This can be performed by a professional inspector (I highly recommend the use of a professional inspector) or the buyer. After acceptance of the offer or counter offer, under the terms of paragraph C-51 of the PC, the buyer has a period of time (normally between 10 and 15 days) in which to complete the inspection of the property, the public records, surrounding area and any other aspect of property or neighborhood which may be of concern. Once the inspection (s) are completed it is not unusual for a buyer to ask the seller for a concession or to even cancel the sale.
The cancellation of the sale must be done in writing and within the time frame agreed to under C-51. Assuming this is done correctly, the buyer’s earnest money deposit is returned and the property then goes back on the market.
When it comes to concessions, they can take the form of a Read the rest of this entry »
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Honolulu Real Estate & Hospitals
April 10th, 2008 categories: Buying Honolulu Real Estate, Fun & Living
Almost all of the major medical care available in Hawaii is located in the core of Honolulu. Not only is there a great deal available in Honolulu’s center, but I am told that we have very good health care (thankfully, I haven’t had to personally discover how good it is).
If you need significant health care in Hawaii, you will probably come to Honolulu for that care. What does this mean to Honolulu real estate?
Well, we have all heard about the legendary buying power Read the rest of this entry »
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