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Honolulu, HI Real Estate News

By Barbara Abe
(East Oahu Realty)
A new forecast released by the University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization says some smaller Asian economies are leading a rebound, but that larger nations, notably the U.S. and Japan, will have less growth. "The anticipated slow pace of global growth will likely mean a sub-par recovery for Hawai'i," said the report being released today. The forecast concentrates on global economics and is a predecessor to one focusing solely on Hawai'i that will be released next month.  One positive is the stronger yen against the dollar, which might result in higher Japanese tourist spending. Experts agree that Hawaii's rebound from the economic doldrums will depend on the state's leading industry, tourism.  "Growth has also returned to the U.S. and Japan, but the depth of the decline, lost h...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
November 20th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs The Honolulu Advertiser headline reads, “Foreclosure in Isles 10th worst in nation” and its first paragraph articulates the following. “Slightly fewer home foreclosure cases in Hawai’i were begun in the third quarter compared with the second quarter, but the number of pending foreclosures and the number of delinquent mortgages that aren’t yet in foreclosure both rose.” CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE HONOLULU ADVERTISER ARTICLE As a Honolulu real estate broker, I see both good and bad news in the numbers.  My beef... 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 )
Do Your Clients Bathroom or Kitchen Cabinets Need a Face Lift? Often times a small remodeling budget precludes any cabinet updating save for a few coats of paint. If you have dowdy laminate cabinets, paint usually doesn't make the grade when trying to give an attractive update to an old kitchen or bathroom, mainly because laminate does not hold the paint very well and can peal off easily and or bubble in humid environments. The steam from your shower or boiling pot of pasta can ruin the paint job faster than you can say spaghetti carbonara. As most sellers are under a tight budget these days a cost effective alternative to cabinet replacement or painting is hardwood veneer laminate. Not only does it improve the look of old cabinets it can add quantifiable value to your property for sale...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
November 19th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 I could have told you this, but BusinessWeek did the work to confirm it (as reported in Pacific Business News). CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
November 18th, 2009 categories: Rants & Riffs During my daily work out I was thinking about things that I believe and then I thought this might make an interesting blog post.  If anything it will be cathartic for me, anyway, here goes. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
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By David Buck, Realtor-Broker
(Harcourts Island Real Estate)
Following up on a series of Where to Find Oceanfront Condos on Oahu, we work our way clockwise on Oahu from Diamond Head to Waikiki. Believe it or not, there is only 1 true oceanfront condo building in Waikiki, which is the Waikiki Shore. When you think about it, the reason why is all the prime real estate in Waikiki is taken up by the hotels.  Waikiki Shore is adjacent to the newly renovated Outrigger Reef and fronts a beautiful white sandy beach. One of the great things about the building is the maintenance fees are relatively low because the commercial spaces on the bottom floors offset some of the operating costs of the association. In addition, the 2 most recent sales sold at $1,062 and $1,598/square foot and active listings average $1,580/square foot. This is a great price for pri...
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By David Buck, Realtor-Broker
(Harcourts Island Real Estate)
Diamond Head claimed another large sale recently. This is following a trend of the high end buyers realizing some great buys in this exclusive neighborhood. 3239 Noela St. closed for $8,750,000. The 10,544 square foot home that sits on over an acre was the former home of Jack Myers a local developer that moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. He sold this back in 2000 for $9 million. I'd say close to 99% of the homes on Oahu are worth more today than they were in 2000. Someone got a good buy here!
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By David Buck, Realtor-Broker
(Harcourts Island Real Estate)
Children's Place Magazine recently wrote an article titled The 100 Best (and Worst) Places to Raise a Family and Honolulu ranked #7!I must say I'm not surprised. I was born and raised here and don't have much to complain about. Clean air, beautiful weather & the Aloha Spirit- what more could you ask for? Although our housing prices have traditionally been higher than national averages, the "price we pay to live in paradise" has been worth it.
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November 17th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 Sometimes an article about real estate comes out and it is good just the way it is.  Today’s Wall Street Journal had an excellent article in a question and answer format.  Much of it applies to Honolulu real estate and it is well worth the read! CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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November 16th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101, Rants & Riffs Because I am a Honolulu Realtor, I am happy about the extension of the tax credits for purchasing a Honolulu home as your personal residence. As a citizen of the United States, I am concerned that we could be sending part of the house sale and purchase business the way of the car sales business.  Let me explain. CLICK HERE TO REA THE ENTIRE POST.
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Google announced that O'ahu and Maui are the latest venues covered by Street View, which allows Web users to go from a map view of a spot on Oahu or Mau to zoom in and see what it looks like from ground level.  Hawai'i is the 50th state to get the Google Street View technology (the the year of its 50th anniversary of statehood). The Hawai'i images were captured this summer by a car rigged with an 8-foot-tall stalk topped with a ring of cameras.  Now you see your own house, and can rotate the image to see houses on the other side of the street. Laura Melahn, Google product marketing manager, said in the Google blog, "Being born and raised on O'ahu, I like to think we saved the best for last.  With our imagery of O'ahu and Maui, you can now take a virtual vacation to white sandy beaches, ...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
November 12th, 2009 categories: Rants & Riffs During this recession, it has seemed that Honolulu has not be hit as hard as other areas.  A Pacific Business News article confirms many things I had been assuming. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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By Douglas Fischer
(East Oahu Realty - Selling Honolulu, Hawaii Condos)
Listing Alerts - Honolulu Condos Aloha! Please view the links below for this week's Listing Alerts. Don't miss the HOT LINKS at the bottom of this newsletter for such distressed property listings as: Lender Owned Property Listings Foreclosure Property Listings Short Sale Property Listings Also, please feel free to visit our website, one of the most complete Honolulu Condominium Directories available online at www.HNLCondos.com. NEW HONOLULU CONDO LISTINGS: These condo listings are new listings that have come on the market for sale, since our last newsletter, dated November 4, 2009. ALA MOANA NEW CONDO LISTINGS DIAMOND HEAD NEW CONDO LISTINGS DOWNTOWN/CHINATOWN NEW CONDO LISTINGS KAKAAKO NEW CONDO LISTINGS KAPIOLANI NEW CONDO LISTINGS MAKIKI NEW CONDO LISTINGS - No New Listings This Week...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
November 10th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Real Estate 101 Gentry Development, Alexander and Baldwin and Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE) have just pulled the plug on developing 12,000 housing units in Waiawa (West Oahu). “Local developer Gentry Cos. lost its rights to develop Waiawa Ridge, ending the more than 20-year-old project that was expected to produce its first homes next year in the community envisioned with 10,000 to 12,000 homes.” CLICK HERE TO READ THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER ARTICLE Waiawa is located just west of Pearl City at the junction of the H1 and H2 freeways.  Given the magnitude and location of the project here are some of the losers than winners. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
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November 9th, 2009 categories: Honolulu Vintage Homes The Honolulu Advertiser is reporting that hotel occupancy rates have improved. “After 18 consecutive months of declines in the numbers of visitors staying in Hawaii hotels, September brought a small gain in hotel occupancy — up 1.6 percentage points to 64.6 percent.”CLICK HERE TO READ THE HONOLULU ADVERTISER ARTICLE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST
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By Frank Diaz http://www.hawaiihome.biz
(East Oahu Realty)
First-Time Homebuyer Credit Renewed and Extended First-Time Homebuyer Credit Extended for 2009-2010 New legislation, the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which was signed into law on Nov. 6, 2009, extends and expands the first-time homebuyer credit allowed by previous Acts. The new law: Extends deadlines for purchasing and closing on a home. Authorizes the credit for long-time homeowners buying a replacement principal residence. Raises the income limitations for homeowners claiming the credit. For the first time, long-time homeowners who buy a replacement principal residence may also claim a homebuyer credit of up to $6,500 (up to $3,250 for a married individual filing separately). They must have lived  in the same principal residence for any five-consecutive ...
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By Karla Casey
(Karla Casey (BIC), List Sotheby's International Realty, Hawaii)
Recently I had the pleasure of representing a very nice couple in the sale of their home and then represent them in the purchase of their replacement property.  A nice simultaneous closing.  As is normal with the sale of a home, I would contact the seller to inform him of the inspection date and appraisal date, etc.  Every time I would call him to let him know when we would need access to his home he would respond that he would need to check his work schedule to make sure he could have that time off.  Each time I would tell him that was my job to be there and he could stay at work. On the purchase of his new home, he was shocked that I was there with him during the inspection and I was there when the appraiser was done.  During the process, I called his lender to make sure things were o...
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By Frank Diaz http://www.hawaiihome.biz
(East Oahu Realty)
First-Time Homebuyer Credit Extended New legislation, the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, which was signed into law on Nov. 6, 2009, extends and expands the first-time homebuyer credit allowed by previous Acts. The new law: Extends deadlines for purchasing and closing on a home. Authorizes the credit for long-time homeowners buying a replacement principal residence. Raises the income limitations for homeowners claiming the credit. Under the new law, an eligible taxpayer must buy, or enter into a binding contract to buy, a principal residence on or before April 30, 2010 and close on the home by June 30, 2010. For qualifying purchases in 2010, taxpayers have the option of claiming the credit on either their 2009 or 2010 return. For the first time, long-time home...
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By Douglas Fischer
(East Oahu Realty - Selling Honolulu, Hawaii Condos)
Listing Alerts - Honolulu Condos Aloha! Please view the links below for this week's Listing Alerts. Don't miss the HOT LINKS at the bottom of this newsletter for such distressed property listings as: Lender Owned Property Listings Foreclosure Property Listings Short Sale Property Listings Also, please feel free to visit our website, one of the most complete Honolulu Condominium Directories available online at www.HNLCondos.com. NEW HONOLULU CONDO LISTINGS: These condo listings are new listings that have come on the market for sale, since our last newsletter, dated October 28, 2009. ALA MOANA NEW CONDO LISTINGS DIAMOND HEAD NEW CONDO LISTINGS DOWNTOWN/CHINATOWN NEW CONDO LISTINGS KAKAAKO NEW CONDO LISTINGS KAPIOLANI NEW CONDO LISTINGS MAKIKI NEW CONDO LISTINGS WAIKIKI NEW CONDO LISTINGS ...
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By Keahi Pelayo
(KU Realty)
November 4th, 2009 categories: Honolulu House For Sale, Honolulu Real Estate 101 As a Honolulu Realtor, I am always looking for the right home for the clients that I am working for.  In the last week, I saw two Honolulu homes come on the market that might meet the needs of two of my buyers.  It is amazing to note that both sold within days of coming in the market! One was located in Nuuanu and the other in Hawaii Kai. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST.
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