Real Estate Information

Kailua's very popular Farmer's Market brings hundreds of residents and visitors out on Thursday nights. It's about to get even more entertaining.

Starting Thursday, June 3, local Kailua and Waimanalo halau hula will be performing at the Kainalu Plaza fountain courtyard (near California Pizza Kitchen) on first, third and fifth Thursdays.

Mahalo nui to kumu hula Charlani Kalama, Mapuana de Silva, Chinky Mahoe, Kaanohi Aipa, Wanda Akiu, Ada Enos, Lehua Carvalho, Ku Souza and Donna Sylvester for this wonderful cultural gift to the community. Hurrah for Harold K.L.Castle Foundation and Kaneohe Ranch Management Ltd. for sponsoring the FREE shows.

Farmer's Market is every Thursday from 5 to 7 PM (except major holidays) on the ground level of the parking structure behind Longs. The hula performances will be from 6 to 7 PM on first, third and fifth Thursdays.

A buyer client of mine is in escrow to purchase a uniquely beautiful oceanfront half acre with a run-down house that he plans to transform. It is, without doubt, the prettiest piece of land I've ever sold. But he's getting a lot of kickback from well-meaning family and friends, particularly because the list price was, essentially, non-negotiable.

A lot of buyers believe that one should never pay full list price. They feel like they've scored if they can get the property for, say, 5 or 10% off list.

If the property were priced at market value, a 5 or 10% discount would be a score. And there are occasionally sellers sufficiently motivated to sell for a below-market price.

There are also sellers who price their property 10 or 20 or 30% ABOVE market value. These are the misguided sellers who believe "we can always bring the price down if it doesn't sell." Okay, that may be true, but the longer you sit on the market over-priced, the staler your listing gets, the more people wonder what the heck's wrong with your property, the lower your ultimate sale price. Inevitably, your final sale price in this scenario will be lower than you'd have gotten if you listed at market to start with. (I know sellers find that hard to believe, so I bring tons of examples to show them.)

When buyers insist on offering 10-20% under list hoping to end up 5-10% under market, I ask these questions: 

1. What if the list price is 30% over market and you get it for 10% off list? Have you scored?

2. What if list price is intentionally priced below market to get a quick sale...and maybe multiple offers?

When the property is exceptional and well-priced and seller is inflexible on price, the only question to ask is, "Do you want this property?"

It's like when a long-anticipated new car hits the market (Toyota's Hybrid Highlander comes to mind) ... you want it, you pay the price. Unlike cars, real estate is not going to be cheaper later. A truly unique property is not likely to be available again any time soon.  

According to a study just released, Honolulu real estate is "overvalued" by 14%, which earns us the #13 position on the Most Overvalued list.

The report noted that of the 52 markets considered "extremely overvalued" five years ago, only three — including Honolulu — have seen price declines of less than 10 percent through the end of last year.

So what to make of this? The report, by IHS Global Insight and PNC Financial Services Group, seems to hint that prices "should" tumble--that they SHOULD have tumbled quite a bit more than they have. But price declines here have been modest, particularly compared with California, Nevada and Florida. Our fourth quarter median sale price was holding at $587,800.

There are some similarities in the markets in Honolulu, San Francisco and Manhattan. The areas are tiny, desirability is huge, and while prices may have softened slightly they've been remarkably stable in a tumultuous economy.

Overvalued or highly prized? I think the latter.

Heard a great line from finance guru Dave Ramsey the other day:

Buying stuff you don't really need with money you don't really have to impress people you don't really like is a really bad financial plan!

You can find more "pearls" at his website: www.DaveRamsey.com

January 2010 sales figures are up markedly over January last year. Honolulu Board of Realtors reports single family home sales volume was up a stunning 32.8% while median sale price was up 10.8% to  $597,500.

Condo sales numbers were even more impressive, up 42.8% over the previous year, although prices softened 2% to a median $299,000.

First time home buyer credits up to $8,000 are still available as are "repeat" buyer credits up to $6,500, but to qualify buyers MUST be in escrow by April 30.

Interest rates are still hovering around 5%. For folks who've been on the fence about buying, there's a lot of incentive to jump now rather than wait for higher prices, higher interest, and no more generous refunds Uncle Sam.

Here's a great new resource for information about protecting, maintaining, and enhancing your investment in your home www.HouseLogic.com .

Brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS, the web site offers help on virtually any question involving caring for and improving your home, your yard, even your neighborhood. For everything from Additions to Zoning, this is fast becoming the go-to site for homeowners.

You can create your own file of projects and clippings to personalize the site. What's on your to-do list this weekend? Remodeling? Doing your taxes? Organizing the garage? Srucing up the yard? Appliance shopping? Take a look at www.HouseLogic.com for help and inspiration.

I've had the ability to blog on this site for most of 2 years. Always fully intended to air news and insights about Oahu real estate, Hawaiian music, living in Hawaii, local events and attractions, maybe even do a little vlogging. Inertia and the distraction of daily demands kept me from launching this thing, despite the nudging of colleagues and a stack of brilliant ideas for posts scribbled on odd bits of paper.  Procrastination ruled...until today.

Today my email contained a note from a visitor to my web site who was dismayed that my blog was identical to those she'd seen on many other real estate sites. She asked, "Isn't there some realtor code of ethics?  It is clearly called plagiarism in academia." Wow.

I was less than thrilled with the bland writing style of the purchased content bearing my by-line, but never considered it plagiarism or an ethical issue. NONETHELESS, someone out there was annoyed enough about that store-bought blog with my by-line on it to complain about it. Point taken! And mahalo to the writer for kicking me out of my inertia!  

I’m often asked if this is a good time to buy a home.  Some clients are concerned that home prices may fall further than they have already.  They are assuming that the best course of action is to wait for the bottom in the market and then buy.  The problem with this approach is that you don’t know where the bottom is until you see it in the rear view mirror, meaning until you’ve missed it!

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability.  Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows.  Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates go up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life.  It’s important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial “comfort zone.”  To that end, it may be more important to lock in today’s relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give me a call if I can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today’s market.