Hawaii Randy's Blog

I get calls from buyers whose real estate agent told them to call me to see one of my listings.  Their agent can't make the appointment or show the property because they are at work (their real job). If that buyer finds a property they like, their agent is not qualified to write the offer.  They ...

Hawaii has some of the lowest real estate taxes in the country. Beside being in paradise and having limited amounts of land, which put pressures on the real estate values, we do have very reasonable real estate taxes.  The reason for this is that we do not fund our school system through real esta...

Toward the end of last year the Honolulu Board of REALTORS® brought in electronic lock boxes.  The Sentrilock® boxes have brought in a much needed improvement over the old mechanical boxes.  We can now monitor who and when they enter our listings.  It also allows us to create dedicated 1-day code...

Below is the latest information on the $8000 tax credit for 1`st time buyers.  There is much confusion caused by HUDs letter they sent out and pulled back.  Industry expert od top blogger Jeff Belonger has done a great job of keeping us up to date.  Please read his post below.     BUYER BEWARE of...

On Tuesday a letter was issued by HUD letting us know that the $8000 first time home buyer's credit could be used for down payments for FHA loans.  A few news stories broke out immediately following that exciting news.  At least we thought it was exciting news.  Within a couple of days the story ...

In our local news there has been a series of stories about a mortgage broker team who were committing mortgage fraud.  They were also trying to trick people out of their homes.  The wife mortgage broker’s wife set up a fake escrow company and used shill buyers to supposedly help folks refinance t...

In the last month or so, I have seen usually reliable lenders getting stacked up and unable to handle the recent surge of business with the same level of customer service as in the past. Last year things were slow and the banks were cutting back on staff.  Many brokers closed their doors and now ...

For Immediate Release April 6, 2009   Hawaii Chess Federation P.O. Box 893636 • Mililani, HI  96789 Contact:  Randy L. Prothero President (808) 384-5645 gambit7@hawaii.rr.com www.HawaiiChess.org Hawaii Chess Kids Do Well at SuperNationals Tournament A small group of youngsters representing Hawaii...

This last year has been an amazing one.  I knew that the market and the rules would be changing.  Changes would be coming and they would be dramatic.  Those expecting them are not disappointed.  Those doing business the same way they did in years past are probably not doing so well or may have al...

If you are looking to buy or sell a home you may want to ask a question of you real estate agent before making a decision on whether to work with them. Do you do this full time?  In other words is this their primary source of income? In my county and I am sure the numbers may be similar across th...