honolulu real estate: Home Valuation Code of Conduct - 05/07/09 09:23 AM
May 7th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 As of May 1, 2009, new rules have been put in place to try to curb pressure on appraisers to arrive at higher values for properties. With all the issues arising from the sub-prime mortgage mess, at first blush, it sounds like a really good idea.  However, like most things done by the Government, this appears to be taking a shotgun to kill a fly.  CNBC reports the following.
“But don’t talk to an appraiser or a mortgage broker about it, or you’ll get an earful. Most of them claim it was crammed … (0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Key Honolulu Real Estate Indicators Going The Right Way! - 05/06/09 08:59 AM
May 6th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 The April 2009 Honolulu Board Of Realtors Monthly Statistical Report (CLICK HERE FOR A COPY) has been analyzed in a negative manner by the major media.  They seem to focus on the on April 2008 to April 2009 drop in median sales price of single family homes from $639,000 to $585,000 (an 8.5% move down).  However, when you look deeper, there are three numbers that tell me things are going to be okay.  Here they are.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: California Bell Weather For Honolulu? - 04/29/09 08:12 AM
April 29th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 Traditional wisdom says that the California real estate market is a key indicator for the Hawaii real estate market.  If this is the case, then a recent Wall Street Journal may show a coming shift in the Honolulu housing market.
“California’s housing-market slump showed hints of improvement in March, with sales of existing single-family homes increasing 64%
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Hot Honolulu Summer Market! - 04/28/09 08:01 AM
April 28th, 2009 categories: Distressed Properties, Honolulu Real Estate 101 After selling real estate for 26 years, 17 years in Honolulu, I have noticed that there are natural cycles in the market. They go something like this.  From the beginning of January to early March, the market picks up.  As tax season approaches the market slows, then beginning in May lots of property sells through the mid-August.  The market then slows as parents and kids get back into the groove of school.  The market can be slow through the end of October  Then there is usually a small bump from November … (0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Newspaper Circulation Going Down! - 04/27/09 09:23 AM
April 27th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 The Internet is shifting our world.  From the founding of our country, newspapers have been the major sources of information, but with a recent Audit Bureau of Circulations report their relevance to news delivery and, therefore, marketing is eroding .
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Honolulu Foreclosure Ranking Very Low But… - 04/23/09 09:06 AM
April 23rd, 2009 categories: Distressed Properties, Honolulu Real Estate 101 RealtyTrac is reporting that Honolulu’s ranking of 150th in foreclosures in the nation is still very low.  Note, however, that our island had one of the highest increases in the number of foreclosures.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: The Answers - 04/22/09 07:29 AM
April 22nd, 2009 categories: Distressed Properties, Honolulu Real Estate 101 If you read yesterday’s post, I committed to provide my answers to the questions you should ask the Honolulu real estate brokers you may consider hiring to sell your home.  The questions and my answers follow.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Thinking of Selling Honolulu Real Estate? - 04/21/09 07:27 AM
April 21st, 2009 categories: Distressed Properties, Honolulu Real Estate 101 The sale of a condominium or home in Honolulu is one of the largest financial transactions a person might complete in a given year!  With this in mind, the selection of the broker to handle this sale is really important.  How do you select an agent?  There are many ways to go about the process.  You can get a referral from a friend, choose the one that advertises the most, go with a national firm or consult an oracle.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Buy Honolulu Real Estate Versus Stocks? - 04/16/09 08:33 AM
April 16th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs For reasons expressed in earlier blog posts, I am a mid to long-term bull on Honolulu real estate as an investment (lack of supply, never met demand, jobs, education, etc).  Until the recent financial debacle in the stock market, many people saw it as becoming a foolproof way to invest for the long-term.  The closing of Enron and Aloha Airlines highlight that even with market declines the value of real estate in Hawaii has never gone to zero.  In other words, the value of your investment in real estate could … (0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Leverage Is Still Good! - 04/14/09 07:51 AM
April 14th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Condominiums, Honolulu Real Estate 101 One of the beauties of real estate is that you can use a few dollars to control a much larger number of dollars. For example, you buy a $300,000 FHA approved condominium and use a down payment of $9,000 (3%); you have just used $9,000 to control $300,000. This is called leverage.  What is the magic of leverage?
Let’s say your $300,000 Honolulu condominium appreciated at an average of three percent (3%) per year for the next 10 years.  The valuation of the unit would look something like this.
CLICK HERE … (0 comments)

honolulu real estate: California Shift Bodes Well For Honolulu Real Estate - 04/13/09 07:53 AM
April 13th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 It is believed that the Honolulu real estate market lags California by six months to a year.  If this is the case, then the news I have been hearing anecdotally could mean that our market could be firming sooner rather than later. My broker network in California has been telling me that sales have been brisk, prices have begun to rise and inventory is dropping.  A recent article at Forbes.com further confirms this feedback.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Disclose, Disclose, Disclose in Honolulu Real Estate - 04/09/09 08:25 AM
April 9th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 Buyer beware? Not really, a recent Realtor Journal article walked through some very good guidelines Sellers and Broker/Agents should follow regarding disclosures concerning the background and condition of a home or condominium.  Below is a modified version of the 8 rules advocated by the Realtor Journal.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Dropping Inventories Good For Real Estate? - 04/08/09 07:41 AM
April 8th, 2009 categories: Reasons To Sell The Honolulu Advertiser reported “Wholesalers cut their inventories in February by the steepest amount in more than 17 years”. This has to be good for the economy and as the economy improves the Honolulu real estate market should follow.
“The sixth straight monthly drop in wholesale inventories also can be viewed as positive in the long-term because once stockpiles have been adjusted for the economic slowdown, businesses may be able to increase orders for new goods. But in the short run, the reductions will lead to fewer orders and less production.” CLICK HERE TO … (0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Honolulu Real Estate At A Bottom? - 04/07/09 08:40 AM
April 7th, 2009 categories: Reasons To Sell Brian S. Wesbury and Robert Stein posted an article at Forbes.com entitled, “The Recovery Begins”.  Amidst the uncertainty and negativity that can be found in people and the markets, it is refreshing to find an optimistic view of the place in which we find ourselves.  They make a very good case that the Federal Reserves’ recent monetary policy is beginning to work.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Honolulu Home Remodeling Contract Tips - 04/06/09 09:12 AM
April 6th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs If you are remodeling a home in Honolulu, be sure to use licensed a licensed contractor and/or sub-contractors and be sure to have a contract that spells out the terms of service.  The Realtor Journal had a recent article that gave a good list of the items a contract should include. The National Association of the Remodeling Industry spells out the key elements that every remodeling contract should include the following.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Any Good News Is Good! - 04/03/09 07:24 AM
April 3rd, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs We have endured a great deal of bad news since the beginning of the economic mess in which we now find ourselves.  It was good to read in Pacific Business News that Hawaii has had an increase in the number of people employed by in the technology business.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: US Supreme Court Decision on Hawaiian Ceded Lands - 04/01/09 09:17 AM
April 1st, 2009 categories: Rants & Riffs A much-awaited decision on the State’s ability to sell any of the ceded lands that were grant to the State when Hawaii entered the United States in 1958 has been handed down.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Honolulu Population Growth - 03/30/09 08:06 AM
March 30th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs According to the Census Bureau, Honolulu’s population grew from 900,525 to 905,034 people from July of 2007 to the same in 2008.  Though it is a small amount of growth, it sure beats the shrinkage I hear some other states are experiencing.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
(0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Feds Move May Be Good For Honolulu Real Estate - 03/20/09 07:15 AM
March 20th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs You may have heard that the Federal Reserve has put a plan in motion to buy 1.2 trillion dollars of long-term government bonds (that would be $1,200,000,000,000?).  The Wall Street Journal has an article outlining many of the issues.
“Clearly it’s great news for homeowners looking to refinance, and for homebuyers seeking new loans. The Fed’s announcement has pushed down long-term interest rates, and that in turn has driven down mortgage rates. Rates on thirty-year fixed loans have dropped as low as 4.5% following the news. That’s a bargain by … (0 comments)

honolulu real estate: Honolulu Rental Rates Drop - 03/19/09 08:40 AM
March 18th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Reasons To Sell If you are a landlord, you may want to read this article about rental rates in Honolulu.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
(0 comments)