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2011 Hawaii Tourism Authority Visitor Statistics Infograph

Justin Britt — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:47:59 +0000

Brought to you by Title Guaranty.

Visiting the Islands? Check out our Hawaii vacation rentals.

Zero Down Home Loans Available

Sharon Gerber, Senior Loan Officer — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:45:00 +0000

USDA/Rural Housing Loans Offer 100% Financing on Hawaii Homes

Many people are unaware that there is still 100% financing available. There are definitely eligibility requirements for the property and the borrower. To find out if you are eligible, this website is an excellent resource: http://www.eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do

As an example, the whole island of Kauai is considered rural. This does not mean that every property on Kauai is eligible for this loan, but does broaden the liklihood that a property would be eligible. Condos are also eligible as long as they are already on an approved government list, such as VA or FHA.

Income eligibility is a key piece as well. The income guidelines are generous. I recently closed a USDA/RH loan for a single borrower that makes just under $50,000 per year.

For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact me.

Where Does Hawaii’s Act 48 Go This Year (2012)?

Ron Margolis, RA, ABR — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:11:36 +0000

In 2011, the Hawaii Legislature passed Act 48, a lengthy bill intended to reform the foreclosure process in Hawaii. From the day the law passed, non-judicial foreclosure, the preferred methods for mainland banks to rapidly foreclosure on distressed homeowners, was killed. There have been no non-judicial foreclosures since May 5th when the law passed.

When combing my Google Alerts tonight, I saw that Rep. Herkes, the Chair of the Consumer and Commerce Committee, had submitted an editorial piece to the Star Advertiser, Hawaii’s largest newspaper, and Star-Advertiser would not print it. I think Rep. Herkes makes some excellent points, so let me share his perspective and comments and add a few thoughts of my own further down the page:

Last Thursday, this paper (referring to the Star Advertiser) reprinted old news about Act 48. We already knew the foreclosure rate dropped 50%-60%. We already knew the banks are foreclosing through the courts to avoid penalties for fouling up the new non-judicial process. We can only speculate why the repeat messaging and why this paper is so intent on spinning Act 48 as a failure. Their editorial last Monday provides some clues. Its title, “Reform law to let lenders, borrowers settle homes fairly” presumes Act 48 isn’t “fair” to lenders. What they’re really talking about is a loss of privilege. In light of all the illegality, we were obligated to limit their license to self-police.

Remember – almost half the other states disallow non-judicial foreclosures. Banks only started foreclosing non-judicially in Hawaii after a law was passed in 1998. But there’s a twist to the legislative history – which this paper aptly explained in 2010: the 1998 law was so defective, it went unused – only to revive an arcane law from 1874. The Star Bulletin reported the 1874 law was created to drive Native Hawaiians off their land. Title insurers resigned to work with that law and helped lenders develop a non-judicial “practice” that was palatable to them.

After the economy tanked, the mainland banks became desperate for capital and our so-called “law” made Hawaii a perfect target. Act 48 stopped the hemorrhaging under the 1874 law and fixed the 1998 law the banks pushed so hard for just fourteen years ago. That’s all the time it took for lenders to consider the 1874 fast-track their right. How rude of us. Here’s another strange statement from the editorial: “While delinquent homeowners might have been helped by the resulting sharp decline in foreclosures, the change in recent months could prolong the negative effects on the housing market.” Huh?

Let me break down the cause and effect. Act 48 guarantees third-party oversight in owner-occupant foreclosures – in court or dispute resolution. No more free rides on the 1874 express. The new express train requires banks to show their legal standing to foreclose – or they’re thrown off. That frightening prospect resulted in the sharp decline of foreclosure activity. By slowing down the rate of wrongful, fraudulent, and avoidable foreclosures, we’ve stopped a flood of inventory from dragging down home prices and keeping folks from going further underwater. I doubt Hawaii’s homeowners view this as a “negative.” In fact, that is a “negative” our Federal Reserve is trying to achieve. The prestigious Council of State Governments also recommended that states enact their own Act 48.

Simply asserting there are “negative effects on the housing market” without explaining what they are is an insult to readers. Ironically, the editorial was printed the same day Paul Brewbaker lectured the legislature on Hawaii’s economy. He spoke at length about Hawaii’s housing market, emphasizing that Oahu’s prices are slowly stabilizing and that neighbor island prices are tracking the market on the mainland. He didn’t mention any “negative effects” specifically created by Hawaii’s Act 48. There are more colossal market forces at play.

I have grown tired of arguments that rely on fabrications and baseless doomsday scenarios. We cannot ignore the rule of law because someone affected (a realtor, banker, mortgage broker?) claims it’s bad for business. Resolution to this crisis cannot rest solely on the simpleton’s question to troubled homeowners, “did you pay your mortgage?” We also need to be asking the banks, “did you cheat?”

Pay attention this legislative session. We’re going to apply what we’ve learned from Act 48′s shake-out – and do what is best for Hawaii’s people.

I’m glad to read Rep Herkes comment. He understands well that the banks have been negligent, abusive, and disrespectful to American homeowners and he’d like them to be held accountable. One thing I do not understand in his column though, Rep. Herkes implies 3rd party oversight in judicial foreclosures. Has MFDR process defined in Act 48 been applied to the judicial proceedings? Have the judges in all our counties attended any seminars or workshops from the nations foreclosure defense and fraud experts to learn what exactly to look for when the proceedings come their way?

The judicial system appears (I cannot be sure) to be moving slower than ever with an ever growing load of judicial proceedings. On my little island of Kauai, all 300 plus non-judicial proceedings were cancelled and all are slowly beginning again in the courts. Yes, we’ve slowed down the banks a lot, but I thought the law’s intention was to help Hawaiian homeowners stay in their homes for good. By placing leverage on the banks, the banks would need to be more reasonable with homeowners. I can testify that this is not and may not happen. This law is just buying a lot of time for homeowners and sometimes free time. Modifications have NOT gotten any better.

In fact, it’s well known that if the owner of the note has heavy insurance on the secured trust where the loan is setting, the loan will NOT be modified. It’s not in the financial interest of the noteholder to do so. Kudos to Rep Herkes and his peers for their efforts, but it’s going to take more than Act 48 to keep Hawaiian homeowners in their homes that have lost 30-50 per cent of their value since 2008.

And as far as the market is concerned, the Oahu market is very different from the neighbor islands. As long as there are a large amount of pending foreclosures and some shadow inventory (those homes already foreclosed on, but the banks are still reviewing if they did the process properly and have not released the properties for sale), the market won’t recover.

I’ve seen reports that we won’t return to 2006 prices til 2023. Yes, the market is at the bottom, and it’s probably a deep and wide trough that will be here for several years to come. Act 48 WILL NOT help our real estate market to recovery. That’s my 2 cents.

President Obama Promises Homeowners Relief to the Tune of $3,000/Year

Justin Britt — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:17:56 +0000

It’s time to “…give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.”

If you didn’t watch Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address it was powerful. By the end of the address, Obama had the majority of the Republican party giving a standing ovation—I think that says a lot. It even had this hybrid Democrat/Republican feeling like I should be paying more taxes…ouch.

As it pertains to the real estate industry here in Hawaii, I’d like to share an excerpt from Obama speaking on the housing crisis:

“…millions of innocent Americans who’ve seen their home values decline. And while government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief.

And that’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low rates. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks. A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won’t add to the deficit and will give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.”

Decoding what Obama is Saying?

Does this mean the cost of the refi will fall on the banks, not the government or the homeowners?
How much easier will this make it for homeowners to refinance?

If you have any insight, or thoughts, please comment below. Personally, I agree with Obama that the banks owe the taxpayers for bailing them out—and the time to repay the favor is now.

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.

Big Island is Hawaii’s Most Affordable Island for Homes and Condos

Pat Strausse, RB — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:54:59 +0000

The Hawaii Association of Realtors (HAR) just released a statewide recap of 2011 sales for all the Realtor boards around Hawaii. This analysis lists out average sales prices for homes and condos. The Big Island of Hawaii leads all the other islands with both the lowest priced homes at just $242,500 and condos at an average price of $225,900.

This home (MLS# 250786) listed at just $249,000 is an example of the great real estate values on the Big Island.

HAR 2011 Stats by Island

There really is a home for anyone and everyone here on the Big Island. You will find an incredible variety of homes on the Big Island ranging from sub $100,000 homes on an acre in the Puna and Kau districts up to multimillion dolllar oceanfront estates in Kukio on the west coast. There is the same type of variety found in condos, although the vast majority of condos are found on the west side of the island in either Kona, Waikoloa or the resorts.

Oh, and the Big Island also has the most extreme scenery found in Hawaii, with the only actively flowing volcano to the common sight of snow capped mountains. Where else can you ski atop Mauna Kea in the morning, surf in the afternoon and then finish the day by viewing one of our awesome sunsets from your lanai!

I love the Big Island! Aloha.

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%

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

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

Ewa Beach Iroquois Point Project Changes Direction

Benjy Gilholm, RA — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:30:29 +0000

What looked like a promising, affordable housing conversion has slowed to a halt. Developer Mr. Peter Savio is now second in line for his greatly anticipated purchase, rehab, and release of some 1,450 homes in the Ewa Beach location.

According to Pacific Business News, developer Peter Savio has rejected the counter offer restrictions for the $330 Million dollar purchase of 1,450 1960′s era subdivision homes. He now stands in second place, while developer Hunt Development Group negotiates with new prospects.

Insiders say the 2-3 bedrooms were to be sold for around the $200K price point range. This sure would be a nice opportunity for many medium to low income families to make a first time purchase here on Oahu.

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!