Archive for February, 2009
Honolulurealestateviews.com’s 10,000th Visitor!
February 5th, 2009 categories: Rants & Riffs
Can I hear a “Hip, Hip, Hooray!” This blog has reached the milestone of a 10,000th visitor. Honolulurealestateviews.com began 9 months ago with the goal to provide readers with my insights on Honolulu’s real estate market. Here are a few random thoughts about the last 9 months.
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
VA Loan Amounts For Honolulu Real Estate Rise!
February 5th, 2009 categories: Military, Mortgages & Financing
As of January 1, 2009, the maximum VA loan amount for a house or condo on Oahu is $783,750. This is up from $625,500! If you are active duty military or a veteran, this is a terrific tool for buying Honolulu real estate. Call me locally at 808-737-2093 or toll free at 877-737-2093 to discuss your VA buying options.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE VA.
Today’s view is looking over the Pali toward Kailua.
| Discussion: No Comments »
BAH-Basic Allowance For Military Housing On Oahu
February 5th, 2009 categories: For Buyers, Military, Mortgages & Financing
BAH amounts for military housing on Oahu are much higher than the mainland. You may be surprised how much is available for your off base housing. CLICK HERE TO SEE A COMPLETE LIST.
If you would like to discuss moving to Oahu, feel free to call me at 877-737-2083 or locally at 808-737-2093.
| Discussion: No Comments »
Military Moving To Honolulu-Things To Know!
February 5th, 2009 categories: For Buyers, Military
If you are in the military and your Permanent Change of Station (PCS) is one of Oahu’s seven active military bases, then you may want to read the following 16 things to know.
1. Housing in Honolulu, compared to most of the mainland, is very, very expensive. As of this writing, the median price for houses is $539,000 and for condominiums it is $305,000.
2. Don’t compare the distance from you work location to home in the same manner as you do in other parts of the world. On a map, a neighborhood may look close to Pearl Harbor or Kaneohe Bay Marine Air Station, yet a of 17 miles that should take less than 30 minutes could end taking an hour to an hour and a half. Needless to say, traffic can be horrible. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: No Comments »
Military PCS Great For Honolulu Real Estate
February 4th, 2009 categories: For Sellers, Military
PCS stands for Permanent Change of Station. There are seven active military installations on Oahu: Naval Base Pearl Harbor; Hickam Airforce Base; Kaneohe Marine Corp Air Station; Fort Shafter Army Base; Schofield Barracks Army Base; Naval Communications Center in Wahaiwa and Lualualei Naval radio station.
Most military families PCS orders are for a term of 3 years. The honorable people that serve provide a terrific buyer pool for Oahu real estate. The ongoing long-term military presence in Hawaii is one of the main reasons I am very bullish on our real estate values. Here is why. Read the rest of this entry »
| Discussion: 1 Comment »
Friends Buying A Honolulu Duplex?
February 3rd, 2009 categories: For Buyers
A real estate agent in Minneapolis, Kari Lundin, posted a blog concerning a question from her clients regarding using FHA financing to purchase a duplex with a friend.
“The only FHA restrictions, outside of the standard set used for single family homes, is the multi-family duplex has to have two distinctive entrances; no walking through one unit to get to the other.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
This is something that can be done in Honolulu too. Two parties can take the rent they would otherwise pay and use it to own a property. Each would have a separate unit and be able to decorate and live the way they desire. I have seen this done many times and the only problem (as Kari confirms too) I have seen is when one of the owners wants to sell and the other does not. How do you avoid getting into this pickle?
DO NOT BUY A PROPERTY WITH ANY UNRELATED PERSON WITHOUT HAVING AN ATTORNEY WRITE A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (PA). The PA should anticipate disagreements and offer binding solutions for resolving them. Once the PA is in place, everyone knows how disagreements will be worked out and, it seems, all parties are much happier.
If you would like to discuss buying a property in this manner, feel free to call me at 808-737-2093 or tool free at 877-737-2093.
| Discussion: No Comments »
Newspapers Could Have Led In The Internet!
February 2nd, 2009 categories: Rants & Riffs
Brian Boero of 1000wattblog.com has insight on the jump newspapers had on controlling the internet.
“But it also reminded me that newspapers, now on the precipice of oblivion, were actually pretty quick to jump on the Internet.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
RELATED POSTS.
Newspapers Irrelevant To Real Estate Sales!
Advertiser Blows Real Estate Report
Honolulu Headlines Tell Different Stories
The Demise of a Giant!
More On The Demise Of Newspapers
The Death Nell of Printed Newspapers!
| Discussion: No Comments »
Quantitative Versus Qualitative Real Estate
February 2nd, 2009 categories: For Sellers, Rants & Riffs
I am reading a book about Warren Buffett’s life called “The Snowball”. I haven’t counted the pages, but I am on page 300 and not yet through a third of the book. It was a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law and, at first blush, I thought it might be a boring book. Nothing could be further from the truth; Mr. Buffett has led a focused and very interesting life. His initial focus on finding companies that were statistically very, very good buys served to make him a very large fortune. In his thirties, he shows his genius by his willingness to invest in companies that may not have the quantitative numbers to justify investment, but they had something that was immeasurable (qualitative) that brought current and future value to the table. How does this apply to investing in Honolulu real estate?
Certainly, there are aspects of every real estate purchase the can be quantitatively measured and placed in a spreadsheet. Things like: active, pending and sold prices; cost per square foot; capitalization rates; median prices over the last 2 years; average prices on the entire island; days on market; remaining inventory and much more. But there are other aspects that harder to get your arms around: quality trend of a neighborhood; quality of neighbors; the amount of street parking available and/or being used; community perception of an area; which areas in a community are considered good or bad; what social trends are occurring that could impact values; how much noise is present on a Saturday night after 8:00 and many more.
Both quantitative and qualitative aspects are important to any property you buy. The spreadsheet stuff is easier to find and analyze. The qualitative generally requires experience and methods for discovering elusive information. As a broker with 26 years experience in real estate, I can provide you with an endless supply of numerical information to confirm a price (many other agents can do this too). My real value lies in my understanding of the wisps of smoke that provide many of the qualitative measurements that can support the value in a decision. If I don’t have the information, I know proven ways to discover answers to questions that don’t reside in the statistical analysis.
Here are a few lessons.
1. An experienced real estate broker should bring hard and soft information that will help a client make good decisions.
2. When hiring a real estate agent, it is important to like and trust them, but be sure they can provide the necessary information to help make good informed decisions.
3. There may be value (or future value growth) that cannot be quantified with hard numbers.
4. It is important to add both types of information to your decision making process.
As always, feel free to call me at 808-737-2093 or 877-737-2093 to discuss your questions or concerns.
OTHER POSTS WORTH READING.
Loans For College Condos
The Value Of A Realtor
Realtor Code of Ethics
Determining Offering Prices
Pricing Your Home
Long Term Investment Makes Sense
Honolulu Schools
| Discussion: No Comments »
; ?>/images/MatoChiclet.gif)
