Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers » Honolulu

Ossipoff Home For Sale with Expansive Kahala Views

David E. Buck, R, BIC — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:50:20 +0000

There’s a new Ossipoff listing that hit the market today on Koloa St. in Kahala. Built in 1959, it is pretty well preserved for those that are mid-century modern fans. Like many Ossipoff homes on Oahu, this one was built on a prime location.

Front entry of Ossipoff home (MLS# 1201140) with expansive views of Kahala out the back yard…

Koloa Street is a sleeper of a street in Kahala. It’s one of the few where you can get views as some of the homes are perched up on a knoll. In addition, it is seldom these days you find an Ossipoff available for sale in Kahala. There are certain neighborhoods such as Waialae Nui Ridge, Diamond Head, and Puu Panini where you can find concentrations of these homes. So much of Kahala, on the other hand, has had places knocked down to rebuild.

Well preserved mid century modern kitchen

I think this is a great opportunity. However, if this doesn’t fit your budget or location, here’s a gallery of mid-century modern homes I’ve put together you may find interesting.

Foster Tower Fee Now Available in Waikiki

Mark Buck, R — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:20:57 +0000

Foster Tower in Waikiki, the only condominium in Waikiki directly across the street from Kuhio Beach, has been a leasehold building with diminishing values until Saturday. That is when Queen Liliuokalani Trust had a meeting to announce the fee would be offered to the condominium owners. Fortunately, I was able to attend the event. The Trust has business reasons to offer the fee at this time.

View from Foster Tower #2101 (MLS# 1200467) where the fee interest is now available

By having the fee available, owners or future investors will now be able to own and finance very desirable units. Currently, there are 5 units for sale in the building with the most expensive listed at $749,000 leasehold with the fee available.

There are 4 other units listed for sale at $220,000 and below. The current owners have until May 29th to purchase with a closing date of August 30th to close. Because of some units having been combined over the years, there are many different prices in this offering. However, the typical original unit prices would vary from a low of $159,000 for a studio to $539,000 for a 2 bedroom. With the interest shown at the meeting, this promises to become a valuable resort condominium to own.

If you currently own a unit at Foster Tower and wish to purchase the fee interest, or are now considering a leasehold unit now that the fee is available, feel free to contact me for more information.

Diamond Head Home For Sale with Pool and Built in Alarm Clock

David E. Buck, R, BIC — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:00:38 +0000

Roosters in Diamond Head?

Like so many people looking to get in on New Year’s resolutions, I’ve been waking up early to squeeze in an early morning jog. One thing I don’t recall hearing in 2011 were roosters in Diamond Head…

The first time I heard them a week or two ago, I thought I was hearing something. It must have been coming from the Honolulu Zoo? Today was the 3rd of 4th time I’ve heard them now on my morning jog (when it is still dark outside). Now that I’ve honed in on the noise, it appears to be coming from the City and County’s nursery area just on the mauka (mountain) side of Kapiolani Park.

City and County of Honolulu’s Nursery View Larger Map

There’s actually a home for sale that is adjacent to the area. It’s been on the market for awhile, however, I feel it is a great value and now it appears to have its own “alarm clock” nearby…

Diamond Head home for sale (MLS# 1109847) with morning roosters nearby…

Now, how many other Realtors do you know that wake up in Diamond Head and hear roosters? This is one of many reasons to work with a local Realtor to know what’s going on in your community…

Tomorrow’s Marketing and the Mobile Agent Today with Nobu Hata

David E. Buck, R, BIC — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:03:12 +0000

Nobu Hata Speaks to Honolulu Realtors

I had the pleasure yesterday of attending a seminar hosted by the local chapter of YPN, which is the Hawaii Association of Realtors’ Young Professional Network. The title sponsor was Old Republic and the featured speaker was Nobu Hata of Edina Realty in Minnesota. Nobu is a nationally acclaimed speaker and contributing author for the National Association of Realtors’ blog.

Nobu Hata demonstrating Google’s new social aspect to search…Hawaii Life in #1 Spot

The Key Points

The topic was “Tomorrow’s Marketing and the Mobile Agent Today.” He packed in a lot of good content within the 3 hours:

Google is now factoring social into their search through Google+. A thumbnail of our own Katie Minkus’ face showed up under HawaiiLife.com as we appeared in the #1 Spot when he Googled “Hawaii Real Estate”
How much more empowered consumers are by the tools at their fingertips.
How mobile devices are making up a larger market share every day – 7 Million new cell phones were activated on Christmas Day!
The power of Google, tracking analytics and how to identify what works and what doesn’t.

What I’m pretty impressed to say, is our company is already aware of these trends and we will continue to keep up on them to stay ahead of the curve. What was exciting to see was the number of Realtors in the room with perhaps over 150 in attendance. Those that showed up see the power of internet marketing, the power of search and the power mobile devices. I saw a lot of people taking notes, which is encouraging. The question becomes, how many Realtors will actually implement some of the things he covered?

The Challenges

Not to discourage anyone, however here are some of the challenges:

He showed how it was possible to copy the HTML code off a site to copy what is working for another company. The challenge with this is Google recognizes “unique content” and that if you copy someone else’s site, you won’t get the credit. In addition, Google is always changing their algorithms, so what works today may not work tomorrow.
He recommended going to start a WordPress blog. This is a great recommendation, however unless anyone does blogging full time for a living, it will be very difficult to get the page ranking of a more established site. For instance, if I were to go write a blog post today on Diamond Head Real Estate on my own (new) site or were to write the same exact article on Hawaiilife.com, the article on our blog would actually show up. Why? because Hawaii Life has an established track record of authority with the search engines.

You know the saying that goes “if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them?” In order to overcome the hurdles above, I followed a similar path and philosophy of Neal Norman, Kauai’s top producing Realtor, Dano Sayles, Maui’s former Top Producing Coldwell Banker agent and so many other Realtors throughout Hawaii have decided to do. We joined Hawaii Life!

What other real estate firm in Hawaii do you know that has been nominated for national awards in the last few years and has cracked Pacific Business News’ Top 10 Real Estate Firms within a few short years of opening its doors? Feel free to contact me if you’re a Realtor here on Oahu and ready to take your internet marketing and presence to the next level.

Oahu Home and Condo Sales Took a Holiday in December

David E. Buck, R, BIC — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:20:21 +0000

Resales of single family homes were down 14.5% and condo sales down 6.5% in December.

Every year, we typically see a dip in volume over the Holidays. However, this year was more significant compared with December of 2010.

This Waimanalo home (MLS # 1112647) is priced at December’s median price of $605,000

Meanwhile, the median price of a single family home on Oahu was up 3.4% to $605,000, which was the highest month in 2011! The median condo price was down 5% to $300,000. We’re also noticing a similar trend to November in that both inventory and listings are down significantly on Oahu, when compared to 2010. Once again, a great reason to consider listing your property…

This Ala Moana Hotel Condo (MLS # 1110106) is listed for December’s median price of $300,000

As always, all real estate is local. To find out what is happening in your neighborhood, contact one of our great Realtors on Oahu to see what is going on in your market, and if now is the time to buy or sell.

Neighborhoods “Hot” for Sellers

Home sales on the North Shore were up 60%
Home prices in Makaha-Nanakuli were up 41.2%
Condo sales in Makaha-Nanakuli were up 111.1%
Condo prices on the North Shore were up 87.1%

Neighborhoods “Hot” for Buyers

Home sales in Kaneohe were down 50%
Home prices in Aina Haina-Kuliouou were down 52.4%
Condo sales inMakakilo were down 77.8%
Condo prices in Ala Moana-Kakaako were down 44.7%

Real Estate For Sale Near the 2012 PGA Sony Open (Oahu)

David E. Buck, R, BIC — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:40:43 +0000

Now that the PGA tour rapped up their Kapalua tournament last week on Maui, all eyes are on Oahu this week, as the Sony Open has returned to Waialae Golf Course here in Honolulu.

This home (MLS# 1112552) sits on the 12th Fairway of Waialae Golf Course

Waialae Golf Course is a private course and has been known for its challenges of playing in the wind. Fortunately, the wind has died off this week and the players should enjoy some great rounds. We’ve also experienced some phenomenal weather here lately on Oahu.

For those looking to own a piece of real estate here on Oahu to watch the Sony Open, there is only one golf course frontage home available for sale (above) this year. What’s bizarre is how low inventory is here now. There was a $3M sale in November and there were 3 available as recent as September.

View from Waialae home for sale (MLS# 1113017) that is available for $1,599,000

If you don’t have $3 Million for a home on Waialae Golf Course, there is one available (above) that has a great view for a fraction of the cost. Waialae Golf Course homes typically fetch the highest prices not just because of the Sony Open’s prestige, but because it happens to be adjacent to Oahu’s luxury neighborhood of Kahala.

If you’re a golfer and have a desire to live on a golf course on Oahu, there are several out there at much more affordable costs in other parts of the island on other courses. Here’s a sample of Oahu golf course homes I put together for you.

Hawaii Life Oahu Agents Nominated For HBR 2011 Aloha Aina Award

Sandra Sagisi Moser, RA — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:16:32 +0000

(Honolulu, Hawaii) The Honolulu Board of REALTORS® each year asks Hawaii real estate customers to nominate their Realtors for the prestigious Aloha Aiana Awards. Nominees are real estate agents who go above and beyond servicing their clients and maintaining the highest ethical standards in the real estate industry.

Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers would like to thank our clients for nominating members of our Kahala office on Oahu for the HBR 2011 Aloha Aina Award. It has been a pleasure serving you and we look forward to working with your friends and our new customers finding their dream homes in 2012.

Below, in alphabetical order, are the 2011 Aloha Aina Nominees:

David Buck, R, Broker-in-Charge of Oahu Sales

Caron Ling, R, CRS

David Hite, R

Kelly A. Lee, R

Sandra Sagisi Moser, RA

Mahalo, Hawaii Life customers, we wouldn’t have done it without you! We invite you to call on us should you need any further assistance in Hawaii real estate. Mahalo!

Honolulu Real Estate Trends For 2012 – A Honolulu Resident Realtor’s Perspective

Caron A Ling, R, CRS — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:47:28 +0000

I sent this to two clients over the past few days and thought it wise to share with you! I hope you enjoy my perspective. As for National trends, Lawrence Yun (our National Association’s chief economist) explains it best in a general way: Good Signs for the New Year. It does relate to the Hawaii market greatly, as I do see all of these items happening in our market.

Looking forward to real estate trends of 2012

My Take on Anticipated Trends in Hawaii

Apartment Buildings
Live in one, rent the rest, or just rent them all! Right now, there is very little inventory in residential as well as the apartment building arena.

Multi-Generational Homes
With rising home prices and homes becoming out of reach of “affordable” for the consumer, people are looking elsewhere in order to be able to afford to live in Hawaii. Buyers are looking for places that they can have a tenant help pay for their mortgage. I have two clients that either live for free in their home, or only pay utilities due to income from their tenants’ rent.

Another factor, is the aging parents. People are concerned for the parents who are no longer able to take care of themselves, and are moving them in with them. However, they still want to maintain their privacy and separation. A multi-generational home is a very feasible solution.

New Development Projects
With Pacifica selling most of their units, there is a series of new development projects that have come up on the market:

Waihonua
Waikiki Cove
Kamehameha Schools believe they will be developing the industrial part of Kakaako with residential units within the next 5 years, but just to be on the safe side, expect it to take 10-15 years.
There will also be a new project in Ala Moana above Nordstrom within the next 5 years.

Beautiful living room space in the one bedrooms at Waihonua; units become unrestricted January 10, 2012

There are also some small projects coming up as well. This bodes well for Oahu real estate, with the lack of inventory, it has become difficult for buyers to find homes (as you know) and buyers are compromising more on what they want in their living space (i.e. areas, space, price).

Tear Downs and Fixers
Up until now, I have seen more people looking for move-in ready. Now, I see people willing to fix their home and put in “sweat equity.” This was a major trend awhile ago, but until more recently, it hasn’t seemed like too many people were interested in putting work into their home.

Mortgage Rates
It seems that mortgage rates are on a downward movement, which means more people will be looking to purchase. Right now, only the people who can “afford” to buy are buying, which is the correction the market took due to the Mortgage Crisis in 2008. Now, more people will be able to afford to buy, but they will have to be able to pass all of the lender restrictions, which have become more and more restrictive. Those who can afford, will be able to afford a little more for the time being, so there will be more competition due to more people being able to afford certain price points, and more competition due to low interest rates and no inventory.

Canadian Buyers Happy with Oahu Condo Purchase

David E. Buck, R, BIC — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:45:45 +0000

I recently had some clients from Canada come back to town to enjoy their condo I helped them purchase earlier this year for the first time. I am pleased to say, they are very happy. While just above freezing temperatures this time of year is considered “a good day” in Canada, our sunny skies, trade winds, and temperatures between 21-27 degrees Celsius are truly paradise.

We’ve seen a trend over the past few years with the weaker U.S. dollar, Canada’s wealth of natural resources such as oil and gas and have led Canadian investment in Hawaii to surpass Japanese investment. This is a trend I don’t see changing anytime soon…

Here’s what my happy clients allowed me to share:

“Our business dealings with Hawaii Life Real Estate was a pleasant experience. Their showings of the Diamond Head area were very informative and realistic to our price range. David Buck went above and beyond as far as returning our phone calls and relieving our confusions and concerns during the process. We highly recommend Hawaii Life Real Estate to any interested parties looking for their own foothold in paradise. They made our dreams a reality.”

Darren Wilson and Stacey Clayton
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Ossipoff Homes For Sale on Oahu – Mauka and Makai

David E. Buck, R, BIC — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 02:45:12 +0000

It’s been awhile since my last article on Ossipoff homes for sale on Oahu. There are several that have come on market recently that are worth bringing to attention.

This Ossipoff home (MLS# 1113454) sits on over an acre on Makiki Heights

Unlike the majority I’ve written on the past that have been in Diamond Head and Waialae Nui Ridge, there’s a pair of listings up Mauka (in the mountains) in Makiki Heights and one Makai (on the ocean) in Lanikai. The two homes in Makiki Heights for sale are both owned by the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The one above sits on over an acre and is over 6,000 square feet under roof. The one below is on over a half acre and has over 4,000 square feet under roof.

This 2nd Makiki Heights Ossipoff home for sale (MLS# 1113452) has a pool and phenomenal view

Both of these Makiki homes offer a unique peace of history and will be well appreciated by any mid-century modern junkie such as myself. Below, you’ll find the latest Makai Ossipoff home for sale in Lanikai.

Enjoy views of the Mokulua islands from this oceanfront Ossipoff home (MLS# 1114072)

Once in a blue moon, you’ll come across an oceanfront home of his, however, they are much more rare…To get your hands on any of these three listings above, you’ll need anywhere from $3.6 to $6.8 million (asking prices). If this is out of your budget, however, and you can’t wait to own your own mid-century modern home, here’s a gallery I’ve created of other listings on the market. If you can’t find what you’re looking for there, or have a mid-century modern home you’re interested in selling, contact me for more information.

Saturday, January 07, 2012
November 2011 Median Sales Prices in Honolulu (Click Here)
Single Family Home	$ 580,000
Condominium	$ 295,000