Archive for the 'Honolulu Real Estate 101' Category
Hawaii Distressed Property Terms
October 13th, 2008 categories: Distressed Properties, Honolulu Real Estate 101
Are you considering buying a distressed property in Honolulu? If this is your first time entering this arena, it might be helpful understand some of the terms you will run into. What follows are a few of those terms with a brief description. If more in depth information is needed, links are provided that will allow you to get deeper. Note that all of these definitions were copies from available on-line Wiki’s. Read the rest of this entry »
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Diamond Head Cutie!
October 10th, 2008 categories: Buying Honolulu Real Estate, Honolulu Real Estate 101
A friend of mine used to live in this home. In fact, the musician Henry Kapono used was a tenant downstairs. The home needed a major remodeling and last summer it was purchased by the owner of Kahala Construction.
Fabulous Diamond Head Home.
He did a fantastic job updating and modernizing the original 1951 home, then he went on to add a pool and a 1 bedroom 1 bath pool house.
New pool and pool house
At $2,580,000 this vintage home is like new and well worth a look. If you have any questions, please call me at 808-737-2093.
CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE MLS PRINT OUT.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS.
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Save Tons Of Money…Buy In The Right School District!
October 10th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101
Hawaii Real Estate Reporter has an excellent post regarding the ratings and rankings of Hawaii’s public schools. Given that our private schools are so expensive ($17,000 a year plus or minus), if you can buy a home in a good public school district you could save quite a bit of money. Below is an excerpt from the blog.
“Good standing, unconditional - 80 schools, or 29 percent
Good standing, pending - 65 schools, or 23 percent
School improvement, Year 1 - 14 schools, or 5 percent
School improvement, Year 2 - 65 schools, or 23 percent
Corrective action - 2 schools, or 1 percent
Planning for restructuring - 13 schools, or 5 percent
Restructuring - 40 schools, or 14 percent”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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Honolulu’s Wealthiest Zip Code!
October 9th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs
A recent Pacific Business News article identified the zip code area of 96821 as Hawaii’s most affluent. If you live there…CONGRATULATIONS! If you want to live there call me at 808-737-2093.
“The ZIP code that is perennially at the top of the list, 96821, is the part of East Oahu that stretches from Waialae Nui Ridge to Kuliouou, with Aina Haina and Niu Valley in between.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE PBN ARTICLE.
Tropical beauty in Maunalani Heights
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Maunalani Heights Charmer
October 9th, 2008 categories: Buying Honolulu Real Estate, Honolulu Real Estate 101
It is hard to believe this classic East Coast home can be found in Honolulu’s Maunalani Heights. It was built in 1934 and has 4 bedrooms with 3.5 bathrooms. The home can be used as a 3 bedroom 2.5 bathroom house with a separate 1 bedroom 1 bath downstairs. It has terrific views of Diamond Head, the ocean, the City of Honolulu and, at night, city lights.
Cute Maunalani home
Maunalani Heights is just above Kaimuki and very close to everything in Honolulu. Utilities are underground (unusual in town) and the rest of the neighborhood has lots similar in size (this lot is 9,394 square feet).
View from the back lanai
At $1,295,000, this is an excellent value. Call me at 808-737-2093 to see it.
CLICK HERE FOR A MLS PRINT OUT.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES.
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3 Houses On 1 Lot In Kaimuki!
October 8th, 2008 categories: Buying Honolulu Real Estate, Honolulu Real Estate 101
This property on 10th Avenue, in Kaimuki, just came on the market and is one of the better buys that I have seen in the area for sometime. It is perfect for living in one and collecting rent on the others, or use it as an investment property.
Classic 3 bedroom front house.
Here are the specifics.
Location: Kaimuki, Honolulu. Just above Kapahulu and about mile and one half from Waikiki.
Lot Size: 15,000 square feet.
House 1
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 1 with extra bath in the detached storage area
Current Rent: $1,850
House 2
Bedrooms: 2
Baths: 1
Current Rent: $1,350
House 3
Bedrooms: 2
Baths: 1
Current Rent: $1,350
Call me at 808-737-2093 if you would like to see the property.
CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE MLS PRINT OUT.
CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES.
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Attack On Property Rights
October 6th, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs
There are two goals with this blog. The first is to inform and the second is to rant. A recent Honolulu Advertiser article outlined a new law, Act 228, which adds another level of work for obtaining building permits for properties that have a home or structure 50 years or older (it applies to residential and commercial properties).
“Act 228, which took effect in July after little public input, requires that property owners submit black-and-white archival prints to the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources before county building permits can be issued for work on buildings at least 50 years old.”
This banana slug reflects what I think about this law
Essentially, if your home is 50 years or older, you must submit a full set of photos to the State’s Historic Preservation Division. The Division then decides whether or not there are any historic aspects of the structure that are historic. What happens from there is unclear as there are no written rules? The historic aspects could have to be documented, removed and/or preserved. Is it possible that a property could be too historic to allow for any further change? I don’t know, but we are dealing with government and anything could be required.
So here is the rant! Our freedoms are tied to many things and one of them is our right to private property. Hawaii already has one of the most onerous permitting processes in the Nation and this further encroaches on our right to utilize our property as we see fit. I am getting tire of Government expanding its reach into our lives. Leaving the constitutional aspects aside, there is a financial aspect that will ultimately add additional cost to housing.
“Historic Preservation is supposed to assess whether a property has historical significance, and depending on its findings can either permit work to proceed or initiate a plan to preserve, salvage or document historic features. The agency also has the power to purchase property through condemnation if an applicant and the agency disagree over preservation action.”
Let’s say a couple purchases home in Manoa that needs an addition and a complete remodel. Assume that they barrowed $500,000 and their monthly payment (PITI) is approximately $3400 per month. They close the sale and it takes 30 days to get the photos submitted to the Historic Preservation Division and they take 90 days to review and approve the photos (the Division is saying 60 days, but we’re dealing with Government…right?). Here is how the costs might break down.
4 months mortgage ($3400/mo) $13200
Archival Photographer $500
Architect (10 hours/$200 hour) $2000
Miscellaneous $500
Total To Comply With Act 228 $16,200
In my opinion this is government bureaucracy at its worse! The cost of home-ownership in Hawaii is out of control and it is not fair to place this burden on the taxpayers. Let’s hope that this law is repealed, revised and/or simplified. The following are a few of the tasty quotes from the article.
“Potentially affected are roughly 100,000 homes in the state, according to the latest Census Bureau estimate of Hawaii’s housing inventory built before 1959. Commercial and public buildings also are included.
The city Planning and Permitting Department is telling the public to expect a delay of up to two months for processing a permit if their property is 50 years old or more.
Local architect Glenn Mason, whose specialty is historic building preservation, said it’s ridiculous that any building more than 50 years old needs to be documented with archival photos before a building permit can be approved. He also said it’s unconscionable that the law is being enforced without specific rules to follow.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER ARTICLE
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Be Sure To Inspect Your New Home Too!
October 3rd, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101
West Oahu has quite a few homes, townhomes and condos that have been newly built. The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article that warns you to inspect your newly built home (in spite of the fact that it is new construction).
“Rob Ringen, a Sonora, Calif. home inspector, estimates that 80% of the repair work that new home owners have to do today can be traced directly to poor-quality materials like twisted and split framing, and short-cuts on installation, like missing flashing over windows that allows rain to leak in. And since building code inspectors are being laid off in the downturn, and remaining ones overworked, such problems often slip by. “Homeowners get it right in the neck,” says Mr. Ringen.”
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE
OTHER POSTS WORTH READING!
Honolulu Rental Rates
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
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Honolulu YTD Real Estate Statistics
October 2nd, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs
This morning’s local newspapers are doing their best to find the negative news in the recently released Honolulu Board of Realtors Statistical Report for September 2008. With all of the bad news in the last two months it is not surprising that median prices have come down. Houses and condos were both back to prices that have not been seen since 2005 ($590,000 and $296,000 respectively).
A little beauty to relax you.
Part of me (the smart-blank part of me), says 2005 was a great year. But the serious section of my brain must put this information into the context of the day and I will concur that a drop in these values is not good for those of you who are selling. However, the guys and gals at the printed media took the low hanging fruit and failed to see some significant information. Here are a few facts that are positive. Read the rest of this entry »
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Different Insurance for Luxury Homes!
October 1st, 2008 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101
$7,499,000 home for sale in Diamond Head area.
Given the number of luxury condos and homes in Honolulu, the way they are insured can have a significant impact on a future claim. Valerie Fitzgerald, of Coldwell Banker in Los Angeles, has an excellent blog post that talks about how a luxury properties should be insured differently that your normal track home. Read the rest of this entry »
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