In my market I continue to see agents and brokers obtain new listings by a list at any price strategy. More times than not the listing price is too optimistic and the property sits on the MLS until there is a drop in price. This move may get a little attention, but heady buyers now know the seller is over priced from the start and is willing to sell for less. The question now is just how much less? Phase two is to reduce and drop again. This strategy is really hard on the seller and the listing agent, and quite frankly I do not want my client calling me several times a week to get a update on their listing activity.

Why not list at a price that the market will bear and create your own sellers market and get your listing into escrow in a matter of weeks and not months? My most recent sales were two new homes built to sell to local working people in our island community. I was given the co listing by my broker and started marketing the houses that day. I began holding open houses on the weekends and to my surprise only a few people were coming to look at our beautiful new homes. I sent out email blasts, advertised in the trade papers and talked to many homeowners in the neighborhood. After about three weeks (these homes were on the mls for 150 days before my involvement) and not any offers, I sat down with my broker and told him what I was hearing. He and our seller listened and we reduced the price of both houses to an amount that people were willing to pay. This strategy worked and we closed both homes in less than sixty days of reducing the price, and both houses had multiple offers submitted.

Most sellers want to tell us what their home or property is worth and they have that right. We as agents have the knowledge of telling them just what it is worth, and we should exercise that right.

Aloha

Every time a opportunity arises in our office to do another agents open house I take it. I realize the odds are against a sale of that property on that day, but I see the glass as half full of potential new clients walking through the door of my fellow agents open house. It is true that most people are as we say "just kicking the tires" when they go to a open house. They may not be able to afford a home like the one you are showing that day, but you never know what tomorrow may bring. Here is a typical example of you never know. A broker within my office had a very exclusive ocean front listing and just put a sign in the sand and sat back and waited for calls. The owner was very motivated to sell his piece of vacant land so that he could buy a nicer piece of property on the water just a quarter mile up the beach. Several months passed and there had been no offers and this was not what the owner wanted to hear. So my broker with a little coaxing went to his vacant lot on the beach and did open houses. He opened the gate and set up a tent at the high tide line, filled a cooler with mixed beverages, (mostly adult) put out a few lawn chairs and sat back. He met some wonderful people that first day but no serious buyers. The next day he returned at the same time and set up the same way. After spending most of the day answering questions for passing tourists a man appeared wearing only swim shorts, t-shirt and a ball cap. He was friendly and his questions were direct and to the point. He said that he had seen this same lot for sale four years earlier and wondered what the price was in 07 compared to 03. He was amused when my broker said it was selling for less now that it sold for in 03.

The two walked the property and mister X was informed that the previous owner had approved plans for building a beach house and they would be included in the sale. Mister X thanked my broker for his time and assistance, shook his hand and said I will have my lawyer call you. He walked back out onto the beach and was never seen by my broker again.

Here's the good news. The lawyer called and a offered was made and accepted the very next day. Escrow closed in 20 day's for 6.75 million cash.

In our business you just never know who the buyer will be. More on open houses coming later.

" The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital...the ease or difficulty experienced by new venture in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy." John F. Kennedy 1963

If the leading Democratic contenders for President are endorsing higher capital gain taxes on stock ownership might they also want to raise the same tax on real estate? They all seem to think that you can raise taxes, and no one's behavoir or investment choices will change. JFK knew better.

i'M LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD BUYERS! Sellers are letting go of some of the most fantastic properties on Kauai. These estate listings are limited and do not come onto the market very often. The answer as to why these properties are being sold now in a slow market is privy information of the owners, however these listing will sell and represent great value in the future. Recent escrow openings show that high end investors are looking very seriously at Kauai's North Shore.

Visit this link http://www.hawaiiinformation.com/FeaturedListings/featListg.asp?mlsNo=201414&featListgId=16 for one of our many exclusive listings on the garden island of Kauai. Aloha Nui Loa.

Within a democracy we have a government by the people. We elect our officials who best represent our wants and needs within our society. Our system is one where the majority rules. What happens when our system stops working in our best interest and and we no longer have a say in the well being of our communities?

The demand for growth and development is everywhere. We all have our local concerns about the changes that are coming, but are we doing all we can to make sure that this new growth is going to be the solution and not the problem down the road. I live on Kauai and we have always been an agro based community. Hawaii's very first sugar cane plantation was built in Koloa town on our south shore right after the civil war ended. The demand in the northern states was so high after the war that the sugar barons turned to Kauai to make their fortunes. Taro, coffee, and many tropical fruits have flourished here for many centuries.

Now our farms, ranches, and empty land are disappearing and we are sitting back watching it happen. I first came to Hawaii in 1964 and fell in love with her people, their culture, and the respect everyone had for the land. With over development the land is no longer respected and the culture of a lifestyle known by the many local residents will be lost in the near future. This may sound strange but I care more about us preserving Kauai than I do about selling the homes and condominiums that are coming. Enough is enough!