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Honolulu, HI Real Estate News

September 17th, 2009 categories: Honolulu House For Sale Perfect for extended family living!  3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms upstairs and a separate 1 bedroom 1 bathroom downstairs (it cannot be rented). This home is listed for sale by another real estate firm.  Here are the details. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
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September 16th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs Pacific Business News reported that Honolulu has the 20th strongest performing economy in the United States. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
September 15th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Condominiums, Honolulu House For Sale As a Honolulu Realtor, I have almost immediate access to the most recently listed homes and condos.  For clarity, these listings are offered by other real estate firms and I have not yet seen them (they are too new), but on paper they look like good opportunities. If any of them catch your eye just click on it and a PDF of the MLS fact sheet will be available. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
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By Kimo Stowell, REALTOR Associate® RS-76763 - Honolulu Hawai'i
(HI Pro Realty LLC RB-21531 )
  Celebrating Hawaii's Famous Chiefs from ancient times: Hawaii has many myths and legends surrounding it's ancient rulers or Ali'i. One such famous Chief was Umi the peasant King of Hawai'i. Born to the unwed union of a commoner of exceptional beauty and the legendary King Liloa of the big island, Umi rose from obscurity to become one of the most renowned kings in Hawaiian history. Great of stature and skilled in the martial arts Umi was said to have introduced himself to his Royal father, Liloa by jumping over the palace walls, tossing aside the spears of the palace guards and landing in his fathers lap anouncing that he was his fathers long lost child. Such breach of protocol would have placed Umi in mortal danger had not the King recognized the Malo(loin cloth) and ivory and shell n...
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September 14th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs As a Honolulu Realtor that is in the core Honolulu real estate market everyday, I am sensing that it would like to start moving up!  Because the banking industry has instituted very tight lending and appraising guidelines, the market has been held back from a quick and stronger recovery. Here is why.
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By David Buck, Realtor-Broker
(Harcourts Island Real Estate)
Just beyond Waikiki at the base of Diamond Head is  Honolulu's "Gold Coast". The Gold Coast is the last strip of buildings at the end of Kalakaua Ave. across from Kapiolani Park. Unlike the "hustle & bustle" of Waikiki, the Gold Coast is a little more quiet. The buildings consist of: A few hotels such as The New Otani, The Diamond Head Beach Hotel (individually owned as condos) and The Lotus at Diamond Head (formerly a "W" hotel) Private Clubs such as the Elk's Club and the Outrigger Canoe Club The best oceanfront condos and co-ops on Oahu, the majority of which are now Fee Simple outside of San Souci, The Diamond Head Beach Hotel and a few units in 3003 Kalakaua Ave which are Leasehold. Right out the front doors of these building offer great swimming, diving and surfing breaks such as ...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
September 11th, 2009 categories: Honolulu House For Sale It is not often that I walk into a property and wonder to myself, “Why hasn’t this property sold?” That happened this past Wednesday when I visited this well presented Honolulu home.  Located in one of Honolulu’s most desirable neighborhoods, Manoa, you could live in the upstairs and rent out the downstairs.  Or if you have extended family, you could live together with both parts of the family having quite a bit of privacy.  Here are the salient points concerning the house.
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
September 10th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Condominiums Part of being a successful Honolulu Realtor is staying on top of the available inventory (homes and condos for sale).  This involves seeing properties that are listed for sale in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and, time permitting, homes that are being sold for sale by owner (FSBO).  This week I had the good fortune to see a condo offered by the owner, in a centrally located and well thought of building. The following are the details of the unit.
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
September 9th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Honolulu Vintage Homes The age of Honolulu’s existing housing stock means that it is not unusual to see an older home being torn down to make way for a new one.  Typically, heavy equipment is brought to the site and the old home is literally torn apart piece by piece and placed in a huge trash bin. The waste is then sent to the Waimanalo Gulch dump and our precious available land-fill is decreased by one the size of one trashed house.  Pacific Business News recently featured a cool company called Re-Use Hawaii.  CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.  
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By David Buck, Realtor-Broker
(Harcourts Island Real Estate)
It was less than a week ago that  I posted about a development on the west side not going through. Well, the state just approved Kamehameha Schools 29 acre development proposal in Kakaako. Unlike the displacement of farmlands in the Ewa Beach scenario, this is a "re-development" of an area that has traditionally been "industrial" in the corridor between Waikiki and Downtown Honolulu. Kakaako is already the home to several luxury condos such as Hokua, Nauru & Hawaiki Towers, Koolani, Keola Lai and other newer projects like Moana Pacific, 909 Kapiolani, The Vanguard Lofts and Moana Vista (being built). It also boasts the two largest shopping complexes in the state of Hawaii with Ala Moana Shopping Center and Victoria Ward Centers, both owned by General Growth. There's also great outdoor a...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
September 8th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 A recent Honolulu Advertiser article notes that Hawaii’s life expectancy has been pegged as the longest in the United States. “Yesterday’s report did not list life expectancy by state, but a 2007 report said Hawai’i was No. 1 with a life expectancy of 81.3 years. That report was done by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.”CLICK HERE TO READ THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER ARTICLE Are you thinking, “Keahi, what does that have to do with buying Honolulu real estate?”  Here are a few relationships.
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By Frank Diaz http://www.hawaiihome.biz
(East Oahu Realty)
Homeowners Mortgage Interest Tax Breaks September 7th, 2009 Homeowners Get Mortgage Interest Federal Tax Breaks On Income Homeowner’s now qualify for a number of tax breaks, some new, some old. Here is a partial list: Mortgage Interest Income Tax Break You can deduct the interest on up to one million dollars of home mortgage debt, whether it is used to purchase a first or a second home. You can also deduct the interest on up to $100,000 of home equity debt, even if you don’t use the money for home improvements. Federal Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency Include Solar Energy Systems including Solar Water Heating, and Photovoltaic Systems. Geothermal Heat Pump tax credits. Small Wind Energy Systems Residential Windows, Doors, and Skylights 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit The maximum...
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By Hawaii homes
(Century 21 iProperties Hawaii)
Moana's sales office is closed and the salespeople have been instructed to turn in their keys.  After much hope with the planned purchase of the property by OliverMcMillan has fallen through.   The project is scheduled to be auctioned on September 25, 2009. For buyers who signed up with Moana Vista, their funds are held in escrow.  We expect them to receive full refunds of their deposits. Keep an eye on the newspapers and TV news for more information about Moana Vista  in the coming days. Aloha, Mike
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By Douglas Fischer
(East Oahu Realty - Selling Honolulu, Hawaii Condos)
This Popular Central Waikiki Condo building, located at 2121 Ala Wai Blvd, offers a great location, simple amenities and cool mountain and canal views. This mixed Fee Simple and Leasehold condominium building is a 42 story high-rise with 211 units located on the Ala Wai Canal.  It was originally built as a hotel, but now has been converted to condominiums. All units are two bedroom/one bath.  All units face the Ala Wai Canal and mountains, but some ocean views can be seen from common areas on the higher floors.  Amenities include a swimming pool, sauna, barbecue grill and recreation area.     Building Details:   Units: 211 Year Built: 1979 Elementary School: Jefferson Studios: 0 Stories: 42 Middle School: Washington 1 bdrm/1 ba: 0 Elevators: 3 High School: McKinley 2 bdrm/1 ba: 211 Uni...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
September 4th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs If you are a buyer waiting for the Honolulu home market to bottom out, then you may not want to wait much longer.  Wednesday and Thursday’s posts pay a great deal of attention to how low core Honolulu’s inventory has become and, as a result, I am surprised that there is not more momentum in the real estate market.  If the factors suppressing more market exuberance disappeared, then I the Honolulu market could turn on a dime.  Here is what to watch. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
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By Frank Diaz http://www.hawaiihome.biz
(East Oahu Realty)
The Well-Being Index will be a daily measure determining factors that impact well-being. Gallup.com’s also has a “State of the States” that series reveals state-by-state differences in political party affiliation, consumer confidence, well-being, and more, based on U.S. daily tracking data collected between January and June 2009. To view those surveys, click here. Hawaii and Utah topped the nation, with West Virginia and Kentuck maintaining their status with the lowest well-being. The Well-Being Index score for the nation and for each state is an average of six sub-indexes, which individually examine life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors, and access to basic necessities. The January through June 2009 aggregate includes more than 170,000 ...
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September 3rd, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs Here we go again!  The Honolulu Board of Realtors issues it’s monthly statistical report and the local newspapers read the runes and tell us what they think is really going on. Below are the headlines and a little of what each paper printed.
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September 2nd, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs In past posts I have made a distinction between the core of Honolulu’s real estate market and the rest of the island of Oahu.  Furthermore, for many reasons (see past post), as a Honolulu Realtor I believe that this core area will out perform the other parts of the island in appreciation.  Every month the Honolulu Board of Realtors publishes its statistical analysis for the island of Oahu and in general things look good. Overall we have seen remaining inventory of single-family homes drop to 1,624, this number compares with July and August of 2005 (1,604 and 1,658 homes respectively).  Condominium inventory is down to 2,140 from 2,494 in January 2009.  Note that at the end of July 2008 there were 2,753 Oahu condos f...
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September 1st, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs As Honolulu Realtor, I can’t say that our market has not experienced a decline from the highs of 2005 and 2006.  However, it seems core Honolulu houses and condos have fair better than the neighbor islands and other parts of the United States.  Today’s Honolulu Advertiser is reporting that Oahu has the highest hotel occupancy rate of “the top 10 competitive international island destinations”, this may mean that Waikiki’s hoteliers have had to cut back less than the neighbor islands (Maui, Kauai, the Big Island and Molokai). CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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August 31st, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 For the right seller of a Honolulu home or condo, owner financing can offer an excellent way to earn a good return the equity in your home and get your it sold.  The Wall Street Journal had a recent article that talked about whether or not a seller should consider financing a person who file bankruptcy in the last few years. The author spoke with two attorneys and I was surprised at their support for considering making the loan. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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