Will CBS’ tropical police series, Hawaii Five-O, attract real estate investors from the continental U.S.? The show drew an estimated 13.8 million viewers in its premiere episode.

The Henry J. Kaiser Estate, (MLS# 2819133), is listed for $80 Million

While the series showcases Hawaii’s scenic beaches and warm breezy atmosphere, Portlock and other East Honolulu homes near the sparkling blue Pacific Ocean, are also featured in flash scenes. The enticing invitation to purchase properties in Hawaii should be enough bait to lure Hollywood executives, or high end buyers who are looking for second homes in paradise.

Let’s take a closer look at the Portlock neighborhood in Hawaii Kai. Take a drive through the area and you will find that it is only a hike away to the world-famed Hanauma Bay. The Bay is a spot best known for snorkeling, and an R&R location to get away from it all.

The beautiful and quiet residences at Portlock by the Bay offer some of the most exquisite oceanfront estates that will blow you away, literally. If they aren’t on the beach, the gorgeous high-end homes that overlook sparkling green and blue waters, captivate those who have great taste in island life, and peaceful living.

Portlock mansions and cozy homes range from $1.85 million to $80 million. Portlock is about 11 miles driving distance from Honolulu. Why live away from the beach in Hawaii, when you can own ocean front estates fit for a king and queen!?

This property was once a major portion of the Kaiser Estate, and was developed by industrialist and developer, Henry J. Kaiser. This luxurious estate contains nearly 5.5 acres, and is sited in the prestigious Portlock neighborhood on the East Oahu coastline.

Commanding spectacular vistas of Maunalua Bay and Diamond Head, the setting is both tropical and grand, and includes a boat harbor. Interested in viewing this Portlock mansion? Let’s “Book ‘em, Danno!” This Realtor is sure to book your showing immediately. Discover the hidden treasures of Hawaii by purchasing real estate that has not yet been discovered by the masses of the outside world.

Contact me for more information.

Related posts:

1. Mid-Century Modern Living in Hawaii Kai’s Portlock
2. Hawaii Five-O (Nalowale) Visits Portlock Real Estate
3. 10 Most Expensive Listings in Honolulu

My wife and I are currently buying our first house here. We’ve been looking for 9 years, and the right house has finally come along.

As with other buyers, it helps that interest rates are simply awesome, and that prices are way down. While people have been telling me for the past couple of years that it was the right time to buy, I didn’t agree with them.  I think that now, however, is the time, as prices are coming back to reality, and interest rates are unbelievably low.

Below I offer a couple of helpful hints for fellow buyers:

1) Get pre-qualified. Everyone thinks they can borrow so much, but until you go in and get pre-qualified with a mortgage consultant, you don’t know really how much you will qualify for. Things have changed.

2) Get set up on an automatic e-mail system with a Realtor at Hawaii Life Real Estate Services to get you the listing as soon as it hits the market. This is important because choice properties offered at the right price still sell fast, and if you don’t see them first, you may lose out.

More tips from the buyer’s perspective will follow.  In the meantime, I wish you all the best of luck, and contact me if I can help you in your search.

Related posts:

1. Borrowers Wait for Lower Mortgage Rates and Lose
2. Should I Buy Hawaii Real Estate Now or Wait? – Things to Know When Considering a Hawaii Real Estate Purchase
3. A 20 Year Kauai Market View – The Perspective From 30,000 Feet

The latest, newest, and hottest Maui Luxury Resort on the West Side.

Honua Kai—Maui’s premiere resort living.

I just recently closed on a studio unit at the Honua Kai, Hokulani Tower, unit 523 (MLS# 341243). The first night my wife and I stayed in it, we woke up to whales breaching right from our bed.

This beautiful unit not only has amazing ocean views, but is equipped with brand new, state of the art appliances and furniture including a big flat screen at the foot of the bed.

The views are amazing! I watched three different pods of whales playing while sitting on my lanai. The whales and a fresh cup of coffee; that’s a perfect way to start the morning.

My wife and I are both full time residents of Maui, but this felt like an off island vacation.

After our coffee, we headed to the cafe in the lobby to see what kind of breakfast options were available. To my surprise, there was a little bit of everything. Fresh smoothies, pastries, breakfast sandwiches, etc… Not to mention a bit of everything else you may need throughout the day. Quite convenient to say the least.

From breakfast, we walked down to check out the pools. Amazingly, Honua Kai offers pools for all ages. Adult areas for the ultimate R&R and pools equipped with waterfalls and slides for the kids or the “kid in you”. It was just as impressive as any hotel pool on the island.

Besides the breathtaking pools, the other amenities are over the top. Fitness room for the active, BBQ area nears the pools, beautiful Koi ponds, a very spacious children’s center, and most importantly the ever famous “Duke’s Restaurant”. Dukes is located along the beach front of the Honua Kai. This place is a hot spot. Definitely a great contribution to Maui. My wife and I enjoyed an amazing meal while watching the sun set and whales swim off into the night. Perfect way to end the day.

Our Honua Kai unit (MLS# 341243) is for sale and we would love to show it to you.

And to all you surfers, the famous Honolua Bay is right around the corner. Location! Location! Location!

That’s me getting shacked at Honolua Bay.

Related posts:

1. Luxury Maui Condos At Honua Kai Resort & Spa
2. Honua Kai Resort Real Estate For Sale – Kaanapali, Maui Condos For Sale
3. Honua Kai Resort Condo Sold on Maui – Buyer Testimonial

Mother Nature blessed Hawaii with a pretty solid south swell last week.  On Maui, waves were breaking everywhere from Laparouse to Mala Warf. I got a call from little super star Carissa Moore the night before the swell’s arrival. She had heard that Maalaea might wake up from a long slumber. Unfortunately, Maalaea wasn’t quite big enough, but the rest of the south shore was in full effect. After picking up Carissa from the airport the next day, we headed over to Lahaina. Puamana “Pools” was on!  We waxed up and hit the water for 3 hours of non-stop surfing.  Ian Walsh and Dusty Payne joined us and it turned into a display of raw natural talent. Between those 3 surfing, I felt like I was watching a surf movie.  I did get to throw in a turn or two, though.

Micah Nickens, DAKINE Surf Team Manager, Hawaii Life Representative

The next day the swell was still pumping so we decided to head towards Laparouse. Carissa and Dusty had not yet surfed the legendary Laparouse, so the anticipation level was high! Upon arrival, we met up with my Hookipa boys who had already put in a good long  session. The reports were all good and we were on the pursuit.

The surf was four to six feet and peeling off the “Vodoo reef”. There were only a few guys out, and all of them happen to be my close friends.  Ian was ripping from the start.  His first wave was a bomb and he opted to go right… taking a big beautiful drop and pulling right into the barrel.  Right away Ian upped the ante and the battle for best ridden wave was on! Carissa annihilated the inside sweepers, doing ten turns per wave. Dusty was surfing the lefts like it was Indonesia. Big upside-down turns right in the pocket.  Once again the line up was like watching a surf movie.  We surfed till our eyes couldn’t take the wind and salt.

Carissa also needed to catch a flight home to Kauai. On the drive to the airport, we reflected on the epic surf sessions we had. Laughing that it happen to be in the month of October.  Good times…

Related posts:

1. Jaws Surf Spot – A Spectator’s View
2. Huge Surf From Tahiti’s 2011 Billabong Pro Hits Maui Beaches in Hawaii
3. Adventures on Maui – The October Molokai Hoe Race

Year-to-Year Comparison (June 2009 vs June 2008)

• 200 Real Estate Sales took place on the Big Island in June, a 30% decrease from 260 sales in June of 2008.
• There were 96 residential sales (a 12% decrease), 77 land sales (34% decrease), 1 commercial property sold (50% decrease), 26 condominiums sold (19% decrease), and 0 businesses sold (100% decrease).
• Total Sales Volume was $67,526,250, a 17% decrease compared to June of 2008. However, residential sales volume was $51,454,500, an 18% increase. Condominium sales volume was $9,884,000, a 21% decrease.
• The Median Sale Price of residential properties on the Big Island was $294,000, an 11% decrease from 2008.  Condominium prices declined 3% to $310,500.

Year-To-Date Comparison (January – June 2009 vs January – June 2008)

• 1,111 Real Estate Sales took place on the Big Island from January through June of 2009, a 27% decrease from this same time period last year.
• There were 523 residential sales (a 17% decrease), 447 land sales (33% decrease), 4 commercial properties sold (75% decrease), 133 condominiums sold (38% decrease), and 4 business sales (50% decrease).
• Total Sales Volume was $352,236,774, a 41% decrease compared to 2008. Residential sales volume was $218,631,309, a 36% decrease. Condominium sales volume was 59,933,416, a 53% decrease.
• The Median Sale Price of residential properties on the Big Island was $285,000, an 25% decrease from 2008.  Condominium prices declined 35% to $295,000.

Related posts:

1. June 2009 Maui Real Estate Sales Statistics
2. South Maui Real Estate Statistics For June 2010
3. Oahu Real Estate Statistics

The website, www.HawaiiLife.com, is hailed as one of “10 Kick-Ass Real Estate Search Sites” by The Future of Real Estate Marketing, a blog which tracks the latest in real estate developments on the Internet. HawaiiLife.com has grown in exposure since its launch in October 2007, when it attracted 6,000 unique visitors a month. By April 2008, 60,000 people were visiting the site each month, making it one of the busiest real estate websites in the State.

“We had an enormous amount of traffic, and we got a lot of attention very quickly – not just from people who were curious about Hawaii real estate, but also from Realtors and, maybe more importantly, from sellers in the marketplace. People started asking us if they could post their houses for sale on the site” said Dave Jackson, Director of Referrals for the Company.

To help facilitate the transition to a full-service brokerage, and to manage the day-to-day operations, Hawaii Life brought on a new CEO and Principal Broker, Matt Beall. Beall has been in top 5% of Kauai’s Realtors since starting his career in 1998, and brings years of management experience having served as a Broker-In-Charge for some of Kauai’s top real estate firms.

“I’m so inspired by what we’re creating. Hawaii Life is literally a new paradigm in the way this business is done, and it’s exciting to be on the forefront of that. Our business model is already shaking things up, and our clients are as excited as we are.”

“The first house I featured on the website sold within 3 days. In our slowing market, those kinds of results don’t go unnoticed”, said Beall.

Hawaii Life Real Estate Services, LLC currently has an office on Kukui St. in Kapaa, Kauai, with plans to add more locations in the future.

Related posts:

1. HawaiiLife.com Partners With Matt Beall, R
2. Innovation! HawaiiLife in the Fast Lane
3. HawaiiLife.com Receives Top Rating for Search Interface

The move brings new listings along with several agents to the company and will allow us to leverage Hawaii’s #1 real estate website to market our new inventory.

Plans to open up full service brokerages on the islands of the Big Island, Maui and Oahu are in the works. Stay tuned…

Related posts:

1. HawaiiLife.com Grows Up
2. Innovation! HawaiiLife in the Fast Lane
3. HawaiiLife.com Receives Top Rating for Search Interface

I’d like to give a warm mahalo to the following blogs for the great information they have shared with me:

• Future of Real Estate Marketing (my favorite)
• Transparent Real Estate
• Real Estate Blog Lab (everything you need to know about blogging)
• Inman News (one of the best)
• Bigger Pockets
• Forbes

Related posts:

1. Hawaii Life at Inman Connect, and the Future of Hawaii Real Estate
2. The State of Real Estate (Marketing)
3. Hawaii Life Receives 2 Nominations for Inman News 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders

An example of syndication is your listing appearing on www.hawaiilife.com. HawaiiLife.com is an automatic syndication where any property listed with a Hawaii MLS is automatically listed on this website. But there are many other websites that require manual submission and/or a fee to list your property.

• GoogleBase (now automated in Hawaii – but GoogleBase isn’t always accurate so you should check to see if your property appears)
• Yahoo! Real Estate
• Trulia
• Zillow
• Oodle
• Lycos
• Homes.com
• BackPage
• Craigslist
• Kijiji
• HouseFront
• Local
• Hotpads
• Point 2 Homes
• FeedBurner
• eHouseAds
• DotHomes
• Technorati
• Digg
• ActiveRain
• eBay
• LiveDeal
• CLRSearch
• RealtyFeeds
• USAMLS.com
• Properazzi
• OLX
• PropBot
• Vast
• PropSmart
• RealtyFeedSearch
• Propeller
• Reddit
• Slashdot

Related posts:

1. Real Estate Website Traffic Jumps 27%
2. Rethink Real Estate “Brands” in Hawaii…
3. The State of Real Estate (Marketing)

Pick up a copy of their publication or check out their website at http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/.

Related posts:

1. HawaiiLife.com Receives Top Rating for Search Interface
2. HawaiiLife.com Grows Up
3. HawaiiLife.com Partners With Matt Beall, R