Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers » Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

Mauna Kea Resort Valentine’s Day Dining Options

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:45:05 +0000

Valentine’s Day is special…some people love it, some people hate it, some are indifferent…for me, I’m glad it gives us dining choices!

Manta at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

The menu for Manta at the Mauna Kea Beach Resort for Valentine’s Day 2012 looks de-lish!

One of the things about living on an island in a more “remote” area such as Puako Beach, is that the dining choices are limited. Most of the choices are outstanding – don’t get me wrong – it’s just that there are only so many of them. So when a hotel like the Mauna Kea offers a different menu on a special occasion like Valentine’s Day, well… it’s hard not to make ressies!

The Coast Grille

The Coast Grille is where you’re most likely to find @Daveminkus and I. We’ve been fortunate to have been out dining a lot lately, and the simpler menu at the Coast Grille seems most appealing at the moment. And how do you pass up an entire meal accompanied by champagne??

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Big Island’s Kohala Coast!

Superbowl Sunday XLVI at the Mauna Kea Hotel

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:48:11 +0000

Hawaii may be the furthest state from the two East Coast teams playing in the Superbowl this Sunday, but we still love our football!

On the Big Island and looking for a great place to watch the game this Sunday? Try the Mauna Kea Hotel’s restaurant: Number 3. Although the menu above looks like fairly standard “pub” fare, I can guarantee these dishes will be anything but “standard.”

Mauna Kea Resort, the “Grande Dame” of the Big Island’s Kohala Coast, doesn’t do anything ordinary – everything they produce is over the top in terms of quality, presentation, service, and taste. This will be no “ordinary” afternoon of football watching! It’s the Superbowl – and the Mauna Kea Hotel is, without a doubt, a super place to enjoy America’s favorite game. Go New York! And New England!

Protected: Big Island ROCKS! January, 2012, All Pau

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:33:07 +0000

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Protected: Big Island ROCKS! Day 26 of 2012 and I’ve Been to the Beach 18 Times…

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:28:26 +0000

Chinese New Year Celebration at the Mauna Kea

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:00:48 +0000

Although I was born and raised in the culturally diverse California Bay Area, Chinese New Year’s was not a celebration that figured into my life – until I moved to Hawaii.

Like other holidays in Hawaii – Chinese New Year celebrations are fun, loud, and full of food!

Last Monday I had to laugh while explaining to a client that here in Hawaii we take holidays “very seriously” because of course holidays in Hawaii are anything but serious. What they are is the perfect reason to stop working and start celebrating! Or at least, try to take a half day off, or an earlier than usual pau hana. Or go camping for a three day weekend! Lucky we live Hawaii.

It wouldn’t be the Big Island if we didn’t talk about—and eat a lot of—food for Chinese New Years. With limited Chinese food choices on the leeward side of the Big Island, for dim sum you must fly to Chinatown on Oahu, and the best Chinese New Years food on island is at my former business partner and owner of Lava Rock Realty, LLC, Peggy Yuan,R(B) ‘s house. That being said, I’m thinking the menu at the Manta and Pavilion Wine Bar at the Mauna Kea resort is looking tasty.

If you apply for a permit from the county, you can blow off your extra fireworks on Chinese New Years—always a favorite at my house. This was our picnic table on January 1, 2012 after an evening of New Year’s fireworks!

Chinese New Year celebrations are fun for many reasons – typically there is at least one “dancing dragon” who will enter restaurants, dance down the street, and sometimes in a parade. With this being the Year of the Dragon, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing some extra special and extra energetic dragons this year!

Last Friday night at Beach 69 in Wailea Bay, next to Puako, we had a Hawaii Life and Friends New Year’s Beach Party! It was gorgeous!! Huge mahalos to everyone for joining us and special kudos go to Annie Mendoza,R(S) and Jene’ Green, R(S), who both resembled dancing dragons during their charades stints. Hilarious! (ps – I have video!)

Perhaps my favorite thing about Chinese New Years is that it feels like I get a “Do-Over” – another opportunity to restart the new year. Life and work and family and the rush of the holidays means my New Year begins several weeks into the actual new year. My yoga teacher has been gone and returns next week. So this is perfect timing for a DO OVER! Believe me, I have some big “resolutions” – aka: goals – for 2012, and it’s time to get, ahem… fire breathing…

If the dragon is a representation of strength and wisdom, I’d say we’re in good shape to be tracking with the Chinese Year of the Dragon. Strength and Wisdom to you in 2012.

Protected: Big Island ROCKS! January 2012 – DOM: 12

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:23:35 +0000

Margaret Reynolds, R(B) Joins Hawaii Life as Broker-in-Charge, Kailua-Kona

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:45:29 +0000

It’s an honor and pleasure to announce Margaret Reynolds, R(B) has joined Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers on the beautiful Big Island of Hawaii as Broker-in-Charge, Kailua-Kona.

When you ask anyone around “Kona Town” about Margaret Reynolds – especially REALTORS – the responses typically include something along the lines of, “I LOVE Margaret! She’s the best! She’s so ethical, and kind, and calm. She really helped me a lot during this transaction when she taught me…” More than one of Margaret’s colleagues tells me that they flat out won’t go after her expired listings because they have “too much respect for her to do that.” This is not just respect for her real estate sales stats, which are impressive.

Margaret Reynolds Real Estate Stats (2011)

Most sold transactions in the $700K+ market in Kona Town by one agent: 6 = 10%
Over $12M in sales volume
Top producing agent for residential sales in Kailua-Kona town, excluding condos. (Including condos, she was #2 in sales volume. #1 was a team specializing in condos).

About Margaret Reynolds, R(B)

What’s noteworthy is the enormous amount of respect Margaret has gained from her peers simply by being Margaret. She wakes up every morning determined to be the best person she can be that day. Her attitude is positive and her presence is calming. She volunteers her time, makes time for her family, and she always has a smile to give and a great story to tell. I’m not exaggerating – no one has a bad word to say about Margaret. That’s impressive in an industry where negotiation often feels personal, and in a small town where everyone knows everyone.

Margaret also brings a vast background experience in pharmaceutical sales, education, and development, which the Hawaii Life Big Island Team is excited to learn more about. She looks forward to coaching and supporting Hawaii Life Brokers and Agents to take their businesses to the next level. And she’s quietly determined to make Hawaii Life Big Island #1 in every residential market on island.

Welcome to Hawaii Life Big Island, Margaret. It’s a thrill to have you on board!

Protected: Big Island ROCKS – Update #1

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:43:01 +0000

Groth Wine Dinner at the Mauna Kea Resort

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:21:10 +0000

Living on the Big Island’s Kohala Coast definitely has its perks! Right “down the street” from Puako Beach (where the Hawaii Life office is located next to the General Store) is the Mauna Kea Resort. Widely perceived as the “Grande Dame” of the Kohala Coast, this resort neighborhood is as good as it gets and rivals any and all high-end areas on all the islands of Hawaii. Not only does the Mauna Kea Resort have some incredible property for sale, but they also offer special events, such as Winemaker Dinners at the Manta Restaurant.

Not only do I happen to love Groth wines (Napa/Sonoma was my “backyard playground” in my “previous life”), but the food at Manta is consistently outstanding. There are some very intriguing items on this menu, such as Sangria Caviar (yum!) and Burata cheese, which is something rarely seen on the Big Island. And Manta strives to use all local, organic ingredients when at all possible. For example, the quail eggs paired with the 2007 Chardonnay are sourced from Manalulu Farms on the Hamakua Coast. I’m making my reservations soon – hope to see you there!!

Truth in Advertising – The Most Powerful Search in Hawaii?

Katie Minkus, R(BIC) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 04:07:20 +0000

One of the many reasons that I am honored and proud to lead the Big Island team for Hawaii Life is that we are committed to telling the truth about ourselves and our technology, in our advertising and to our clients and customers. In doing a bit of market research, I stumbled across some interesting information about another brokerage that really made me giggle—and then more seriously consider the importance of “Truth in Advertising.”

What made me laugh is that someone is advertising that they run “the most powerful search in Hawaii” (referring to searching for listings on their website). It’s no secret that real estate agents can use cryptic marketing messages…“Top Producer,” “Unbelievable Value,” and now… “Most Powerful.”

“Powerful” is a relative adjective. So, I turned to facts and figures by logging into my account at compete.com and checking out the analytics. After finding 10 other real estate websites in Hawaii with higher traffic numbers and lower worldwide rankings (lower is better in website rankings), I stopped looking. It was clear to me that this particular brokerage is seriously deluding not just the general public, but themselves, their agents, clients, and customers about the actual “power” of their website.

The National Association of Realtors is a unique organization in that we “police” our own members and have a comprehensive Code of Ethics by which we are to practice our business. Standard of Practice 12-10 specifically states that “REALTORS obligation to present a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public includes the URLs and domain names they use, and prohibits REALTORS from…deceptively using metatags, keywords, or other devices/methods to direct, drive, or divert Internet traffic, or to otherwise mislead consumers.”

The reality is that it doesn’t matter how “powerful” your website search is, what matters is how many people are looking at your website. This is sales 101—the more eyeballs you have looking at your product, the quicker it will sell, and for a higher price.

Let me put this another way: you can spend a lot of money on a killer TV advertisement, but if you run it at 2a.m. instead of during the Superbowl, how “powerful” is the ad, really? What are the real-world results for the sellers who hire you to market and sell their property? Any Broker can list a property for sale on the MLS. Very few of them have the “power” to sell those properties. Hawaii Life does. That’s our “Truth in Advertising.” And our sellers are giggling—all the way to the escrow closing table.