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Military Relocations & Buying Real Estate in Honolulu County Hawaii

By
Real Estate Agent with Liberty Homes RS-#62825

PART 1 (MILITARY)                                                  Click here for Non-Military

 

Celeste: Century 21 Liberty Homes. This is "Sally", may I help you?

Client (Potential): Hi, my name is ______ and we recently relocated to Hawaii. I am stationed at Schofield Barracks (or Hickam AFB, or Pearl Harbor Navy Base or Kaneohe Marine Base) and  we are looking for a rental or possibly buying while I'm stationed here.                                     

 Unlike anywhere in the United States you will find that Hawaii is unlike anywhere else in the world.    (This is including their real estate transactions!)

The following tips will help you in your first steps with the home buying process

1) You know that being in the military you have your BAH *housing allowance) which you can apply towards your monthly mortgage payment.  With buying you have tax benefits at the end of the year whereas with renting you are just paying someone else's mortgage payment and get to claim nothing at the end of the year (concerning rent vs. buying)   Click on the following link for Honolulu County BAH chart:  Honolulu County BAH 2007

2) Have you talked with a local lender to see what you are qualified for?  (I mean, anyone with outstanding credit can qualify for a half a million dollar home...but you need to let the lender know what kind of monthly payments you want to stay around and there's no sense looking at something that would be out of your budget/price range) We need to see what price range you qualify for so we can specifically look at property in that price range.

3) Since you're new to the islands I can give you a few referrals for  loan officers whom I have worked with in the past. Just make sure that you only have your credit pulled once.  (If you give out your info many times your credit score goes down) My suggestion (because you're military) is to check with the loan officers regarding your VA guaranteed loan. You will still go with a local lender but you can utilize your VA benefits.  And make sure you let them know what you want to spend per month. (For condo/townhouses make sure you have the loan officer include maintenance and association fees, mo. payments for property taxes etc.)  The good thing about VA loans is that it will be a fixed rate loan and there are no pre payment penalties.  (CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR:  WHAT VA DOES FOR THE HOMEBUYING VETERAN)    Click here for Non-Military

4) When we find out the price range you are qualified for we can start looking at listings in the areas you prefer to live.  If you are unsure about the neighborhoods because you are brand new to the islands then we can look at a few properties in different areas. You may want to check out the areas schools for your children:  Oahu Public Schools or Oahu Private Schools

And....an appointment time/date to meet. 

Also, please click on the following link to get more info on:  Suggestions (Rules) while attending Open Houses in Hawaii . So often buyer's do not know that the best representation through your purchase is if you have your own agent.  (Buyer's agent) And the most likely you will pay nothing for representation as the seller's agent pays the commission. (split between seller/buyer brokerage firms) The seller's agent is the one hosting the Open House and is determined to get the best price for the seller....NOT YOU.

 

**If you have not arrived in Hawaii yet you may want to scale down on the furniture and don't expect to have loads of sq. ft. interior to accomodate all that "stuff" you've been accumulating for the past ten years.  I've learned to do a sweep of my small townhouse every six months.  If I haven't used it in 6 months it most likely should be on it's way to the shelter.  So when packing up your "valuables" you may want to take a look at it that way.

Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman (RA) ; e-PRO  

Century 21 Liberty Homes

95-221 Kipapa Drive

Mililani, Hawaii  96789

Contact:  (808) 375-1404

mailto:   celestecheeseman@hawaii.rr.com

http://www.hawaiihomesmarket.com/

 

 

Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated

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Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman  is a Realtor-Associate® and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs  she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocations, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents, Home Buyers and Sellers.

 

 © 2007-2015 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's

Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog.

All rights reserved.

     

 


 

 

Comments (7)

Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645
Great informative post!  Relocating to Hawaii, tough duty but someone has to do it.  LOL
Apr 03, 2007 09:14 AM
1SG (Ret.) David Kucic
Hawaii Military Realty, Inc. - Ewa Beach, HI
President and Owner
Sally-All of the Servicemembers that I represent for purchasing real estate in Hawaii use their VA entitlement.  As a retired Service Member, I know firsthand what you mean about the value of the BAH rates.  Most of the Service Members can own a piece of real estate and have their entire mortgage payment, maintenance fees and taxes covered by their BAH alone.  However, as you mentioned in your blog, they just have to understand that the square footage is not the same as the mainland.  Aloha!
Apr 03, 2007 09:54 AM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

Randy:  Thanks Randy...you have some really good ones too!

David:  Thanks!  Of all the service members I have had the pleasure to assist in the last few years....the "Majority" of them have used VA.  The couple that didn't were because they used it before and didn't want to pay a higher funding fee for the second one.....and the other one just wanted to go with a specific loan officer and did not want to hear what I had to suggest.  (what can you do, huh?)

And we all know their BAH is high in Hawaii (higher cost of living) and the reality is if they understand that they will be getting less on sq. ft. (put property worth more of course) than the mainland...they sure can have a piece of good property in the Aloha State!  Besides, what's better than putting their "free" housing allowance towards something they OWN rather than give that money for rent....and not have a thing to show for it.

Apr 03, 2007 11:38 AM
Mr. Jones
NA - Teutopolis, IL

VA loans can either be a Fixed or Adjustable

Apr 03, 2007 01:08 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE
And why would you suggest an Adjustable rate loan?  Why don't you write a post about VA loans...pros/cons of fixed vs. adjustable.  That might be interesting.
Apr 03, 2007 01:12 PM
Randy L. Prothero
eXp Realty - Hollister, MO
Missouri REALTOR, (808) 384-5645
Jay - I have not seen one adjustable VA yet.  Have you had any?
Apr 03, 2007 07:08 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

Randy:  I should have worded it that way....but I spoke with him yesterday and suggested he write a post...he said he's too busy. 

Apr 04, 2007 05:40 AM