Deal – Kahana Ridge Short Sale Success Story

I’ll be very honest here – until this year, I did not ever really consider representing a buyer on a short sale property because I had heard from many well respected brokers that they were just huge headaches and a waste of time.

I’m ecstatic to say that I just closed my first short sale buyer representation transaction in less than 90 days. I have represented many buyers on REO/foreclosed/bank owned properties because on these properties you get a very quick response from the seller, and can close in a similar time frame to a normal transaction, but this is not usually the case for short sales.

8 Plumeria Place (MLS# 346604) a 3 bed/2.5 bath home in Kahana Ridge closed in 84 days = very fast for a short sale. Banks are vastly improving short sales and now are an excellent way towards obtaining home ownership at a great price.

This property was originally listed at $609,000, but I told my clients that we needed to see this home immediately because I firmly believed that I could convince the seller’s agent and the sellers to accept a market priced offer that they could take to their bank for approval. The property underwent 15 showings in the first 3 days of being on the market, so I shared with my clients that if they wanted to write an offer, we needed to do it now.

We met that very same night and pumped out a solid contract at $525,000 before the buyer’s went to their company holiday party. I presented the offer with an explanation of where we were coming from, substantiated the offer with comps, and flat out educated them why they needed to take this offer now and run to the bank with it. The seller’s did not feel there was a need for a counter offer and they signed it – we had a formal agreement with the seller.

Why was this a great buy for the Kovacs?

1. Entry level home in a great neighborhood. I shared with Peter and Stephanie that this home represented an excellent value considering that it was an entry level home in an exceptional neighborhood. My dad and business partner, Tracy Stice, taught me from a young age that it was always a wise move to be the worst house in the best neighborhood rather than the best house in a lesser neighborhood. There was nothing bad about 8 Plumeria in any way, but it illustrates this same principle as other homes in the neighborhood have sold for $200K-$300K more than this one, namely because of their size and view.
2. They could afford it and the home was turn key. I met the Kovacs at an open house in Napili at a bank owned property that I have listed that was in need of serious repair. I could immediately identify that this was not the right home for the Kovacs and encouraged them to purchase something that they could leverage their entire 20% down payment on a superior asset, which did not require an additional cash investment to bring up to their standard. Responsible leveraging – another huge key in successful real estate investing.

A couple weeks after our acceptance, I received a call from the listing agent informing me that the bank had ordered an appraisal on the property – I knew this was a great sign indicating that the bank was moving quickly on processing this short sale. In a little over 6 weeks, we had a bank acceptance on the short sale and we proceeded on closing the file.

I have to extend a huge mahalo to my clients, Peter and Stephanie Kovacs, for their patience, dedication, and passion throughout this process. I also would like to applaud Casey Fukuda, the listing agent who did an excellent job representing his clients and working Equator (bank of America’s short sale software system) so efficiently, so that we we were able to close this property as quickly as we did.

Speaking of another great short sale opportunity in Kahana Ridge:

This is the fantastic ocean view from my newest screaming deal in Kahana Ridge (MLS# 347625) which is 189 Kahana Ridge Drive (link to more photos and property details) is priced to sell today at $749,000. Ask me what this home is worth and let’s get an offer in the works to present to the bank as this property is also a short sale.

Check out a previous blog I posted about my Top 3 Deals in Kahana Ridge which contains some helpful information about the subdivision as a whole, in addition to some great buys.

Now that I’ve completed this, I am ready for anything. Are you? Let’s get to work on accomplishing that ownership dream here on Maui. Live the Maui life and contact me.

Please reach out directly to me at my below contact information, or feel free to create your own HawaiiLife.com account, where you can view all properties on the MLS and save your favorites. Just click here and you will see the tab at the very top right of the page that says Sign Up, which you can then click on and follow the steps—it is easy and rewarding.

Aloha,

Jeremy Stice, R(S)
Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers
808.281.2178
Stice@HawaiiLife.com