I would find it interesting that the investors on your islands don't understand this.  You must be speaking about first time buyers or foreigners.

Aloha Heath:

Even investors to Maui what a property that "cash flows" (with little to no down)???

I find there are still a lot of buyers (investor or otherwise) that haven't gotten in tune with the tightening of the mortgage industries criteria for qualification.  I love all my buyers and first thing I do is refer them to a lender so they are 100% clear on what buying on Maui entails. 

When there is a will there is a way and I try and help my buyers but I am suprised by the amount of knowledge not commonly known.

Aloha, Gina

Gina- They also need to understand MI.  With huge fluctuations based on loan type, credit score, amount of downpayment, etc, sitting down with a loan calculator is not good enough to determine price range.

Gina there are down payment programs thru FHA like the Nehemiah program that assists buyers with a 3% down payment in order to qualify for a loan to purchase. check out http://www.getdownpayment.com

Aloha Stephen:

I am aware of the FHA and Nehemiah but our buyers fresh to a Realtor don't seem to be aware.

I was only trying to make the point that we as a community need to get the word out to Buyers prior to them looking for property as this recently has become a sort of shock to the buyer that they have to put approx 3% down and can't go lower, etc.  I know every situation is different depending on credit scores, etc., but in general the public seems to have missed the shift of the lenders requiring more down.

Mahalo (thanks) for sharing your knowledge and aloha.

Aloha, Gina