Over on AlohaLiving.com, the Hawaii MLS, I recently blogged about "why foreclosures aren't selling" here on the Big Island of Hawaii. I pointed out a situation I'd recently encountered looking at properties in Waikoloa Village with my client. We'd narrowed down to a half-dozen choices in the Ki
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03/27/2009
On Tuesday the agents in our office were invited to preview a labor of love that has taken shape on 50 oceanfront acres makai of Kapaau in North Kohala: the Hawaii Island Retreat at Ahu Pohaku Ho'omaluhia. Long-time North Kohala residents Jeanne Sunderland (founder of the "Spa Without Walls" at
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03/26/2009
You might notice the subtitle of my Hawaii Island Real Estate Blog includes the phrase "mostly makai". After aloha and mahalo, the next Hawaiian words you should learn if you are looking at real estate on the Big Island of Hawaii are makai and mauka. Makai means “towards the ocean” and mauka mea
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03/25/2009
Although the renovated rooms at the Mauna Kea Hotel on Hawaii's Big Island have been sold out since the soft opening at Christmas time, the official Grand Open Celebration is this coming weekend. The famous hotel was badly damaged in the October 2006 earthquake, but the catastrophe turned out to
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03/21/2009
This is the perfect addendum to my most recent post on AlohaLiving.com!I was on the phone with a mitigator at Countrywide, discussing 2 of the listings I have that they are the lender on. I was trying to be sly and find out what the BPO had come in at (they wouldn't tell me, so I was trying to a
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03/17/2009
We've moved to Hawaii and must sell our beloved home in Litchfield County, CT--an easy two-hour drive from Manhattan to a little bit of country paradise. Imagine a sun-filled treehouse nesctled into the woods. Four bedrooms, three full baths and a powder room. Sun pours through a skylight that i
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03/14/2009
Do you know what a locavore is? Ever try making your meals only with products grown or raised within 100 miles of your home? The Big Island may be the most ideal place on the planet for a locavore to live. Here in North Kohala, I do most of my shopping at Takata Store, which is conveniently lo
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02/20/2009
I've been getting calls and email the past 24 hours from owners at my favorite Kohala Coast (Waikoloa Beach Resort) condominium community, Hali'i Kai. It seems one of the owners tried to refinance, and was told by their Mainland lender that their rate would not be the quoted 5% but rather 8.25%
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02/19/2009
Worried about whether you will be bothered by VOG in your new Big Island home? The Hawaii Department of Health has just created a website for residents and visitors to check vog levels. The new site tracks sulfur dioxide levels in five locations: two sites right at Volcanoes National Park (whic
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02/01/2009
Prior to the earthquake of October 2006, two of the most popular activities for tourists (and locals wanting to show off cultural and natural wonders of Kohala) were Flumin' the Ditch and Hummer Safari. When water stopped flowing in the awesome Kohala Ditch due to earthquake damage, Flumin' th
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01/23/2009
