Hawaii Housing News

News, Tips and Opinions About Hawaii Real Estate and Housing

Real Estate in Your IRA: Free Seminar 10/27

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October 27 2012

Join Us at The Bishop Museum!

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If you’re interested in breaking free of the regular (and volatile) stock and bond heavy portfolio determining the future of your retirement funds, then you’re in luck. My colleague Dan Falardeau of New Direction IRA (formerly Entrust) is holding TWO FREE WORKSHOPS next Saturday 10/27/12 at The Bishop Museum. The first workshop is at 10am, the second at 12pm noon, each lasting roughly 90 minutes with time for Q&A after. Free pupus provided 🙂

Dan has also graciously asked me to co-host this event with him. Dan will be doing the majority of the presentation on all aspects of Self-Directed IRAs and then I’ll present for a bit on specific real estate questions and opportunities.

So if you’re interested in taking charge of your financial future and taking advantage of all the IRS freedoms available to you (that they don’t want you to know about), then register for one of our two FREE workshops on Saturday, October 27th and the Bishop!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

2012 Mid-Year Hawaii Housing Status

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Aloha! Ok, we’re about a month past midyear 2012 but it still works as it can take a while for those troublesome stats to kick in. What a first half of the year it’s been for housing and real estate in Hawaii. Let’s look at some key points:

  • Inventory is tightening up just about everywhere and prices have creeped up. Homeowners are in many instances holding on to properties whereas before they may have considered selling. Is this a sign that the housing bottom is behind us? Perhaps….
  • ….but others still clamor that the banks are holding back about 90% of their foreclosed inventory and we’re about to get whacked back down again, maybe sooner than we thought. Do you agree?
  • I can tell you from my own experience running my real estate investment company that many homeowners today are also choosing to turn properties into rentals to either cash flow or at least break even and wait out an expected price appreciation to sell down later on the road for more gain.
  • The controversial Oahu rail project continues on, despite calls for its removal both in and out of the mayoral race.
  • Speaking of the Honolulu race for the mayor, who do you think is the best candidate for Hawaii’s homeowners? Cayetano? Carlisle? Caldwell? (Apparently your last name needs to start with a “C” to be mayor…)
  • The banks continue to foreclosure through the courts (judicial) and Hawaii homeowners who were in mortgage default for a year or even longer (yes, it’s happened all around us) are finding out that the time has come to decide how best to move on

It’s my opinion that the temporary tightening of inventory in Hawaii is just that — temporary. Sure, the banks can’t open up the faucet on wide of their shadow inventory and flood the market — we all know that will depress the local housing market to levels possibly even lower than they were a few years ago. But they have to figure something out and that REO pipeline will stay open for, as some estimators predictor, 3 to 5 years.

But here’s thing — it’s still very much tied to JOBS. And while Hawaii’s unemployment rate is very favorable compared to those of our mainland cousins (thanks to encouraging recent tourist numbers), we’re still connected to the national system and all its wonderful nuances.

STAT TIME

Let’s look at some interesting stats courtesy of RealtyTrac…

Bar chart showing declining foreclosure activity in Hawaii for the first half of 2012As this bar chart surely shows, the key point of interest is the steady decline in properties in Preforeclosure. In case you’re not familiar with the term, “Preforeclosure” generally means homeowners who are in default but have yet to be officially foreclosed upon. In other words, they are still the homeowners on title.

To the point, I have a hard time believing that the numbers of homeowners in default went from just under 500 in January to under 100 in June — as is many times the case, stats can be deceiving and not tell the whole story. I suppose there could be a logical reason for this, some mix of increased refinancing and/or successful loan modifications (the latter unlikely). Anyone care to shed some light?

Bar chart showing most Hawaii foreclosures in the first half of the year in the 300-400K value category

In this chart we can see, unsurprisingly, that the vast majority of homes either headed for foreclosure or already past that point fall in the 300-400K category. Unfortunately, these numbers include all housing types (SFH, townhouse, condo) so making a clear inference is a bit difficult, but it would appear that most homeowners in Hawaii needing help are in the lower end of the price spectrum when compared across the state. However, interestingly enough, the high end luxury homes are represented as well — I guess some people bit off more than they could chew in the good times!

By the way — completely unrelated — but is anyone else enjoying this year’s flowers as much as me and my girlfriend??

Source: via Michael on Pinterest

Top 5 Criteria to Choosing the Right Real Estate Agent

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How to Choose a Good Realtor

Even in today’s version of the real estate industry of FSBOs and technology out the wazoo, most home sales and purchases are done the traditional way — by utilizing the services of a licensed real estate agent. Is it necessary or legally required to use a realtor to buy or sell a house in Hawaii? No, you can sell your house on your own (FSBO) or you can sell direct if you wanted to avoid paying 3-6% commissions and/or potentially lengthy listing times.

However, most people who buy and sell aren’t ‘motivated’ beyond normal levels or in a hurry to close a transaction. These folks generally operate in the retail pricing space and are content to act accordingly. This usually means working with an agent as their representation.

Let’s look at the Top 5 Reasons Why a Homebuyer or Seller Would Opt to Use a Realtor:

  1. Access to listed properties and historical data on MLS
  2. Familiarity with local contracts and other paperwork
  3. Familiarity with local specific housing or industry knowledge and trends
  4. Leveraging an agent’s time, mobility and other resources to maximize buying/selling efficiency
  5. Having someone else negotiate your purchase or sale

These are all solid reasons why using an agent might serve you well. Let’s now dig deeper…

Top 5 Criteria to Choosing the RIGHT Agent

James Bond agent

Not this type of agent....

It’s not just enough to decide that you want realtor representation. If you weren’t aware, there is no shortage of licensed agents in Hawaii, no matter which island you reside on. In fact, you probably walk by a dozen licensed agents everyday just going about your business. The young 20-something girl sitting next to you at the bus stop? Agent. The chatty guy at Starbucks ordering up a green tea latte? Agent. However, this is not to say they’re all the same.

Here’s a quick list of criteria to look for when choosing which real estate agent to hire. This is not a complete list but covers most of the big ticket items:

  1. Profession vs. Hobby. Some agents make their entire living helping others buy or sell real estate, while others use it as a supplemental source of income. Either is fine and respectable, but you’ll of course be dealing with different levels of experience. Speaking of which….
  2. Experience. Experience is important, HOWEVER it is not everything. Too much experience could actually make an agent complacent or unwilling to embrace new trends and/or technologies. Experience is great as long as it doesn’t also mean one has a closed mind (this goes for any profession).
  3. Get Geeky. There’s no way around it — technology rules the day. Can your potential agent pull up listings on their smartphone? Have documents ready to sign in the field on their new iPad? Pocket protectors aren’t required, but staying ahead of the tech curve today is a fantastic way for agents to set themselves apart from the crowd — and to provide you added value.
  4. Telling It Like It Is. How many times have you seen a house listed for sale $50,000 or even more above what you know its market value to be? Then you watch as week by week the list price is reduced until, incredibly enough (insert sarcasm), the price is dropped to market value and gets sold. Rocket science, I tell ya. Who on earth does this help? Certainly not the seller. But unless the inflated asking price was requested by the seller (which happens), then it just seems like a ploy to garner a higher commission. Don’t fall for that trap. Ask the tough questions and get someone who will tell you directly what your home is really worth.
  5. Like Me. This may sound trivial, but you should actually like the person you’re working with. After all, if you’re shopping for a new home, then you’re going to be seeing a lot of your agent, may even being driven around island. If you’re selling your house, then plan on communicating frequently with this person. You don’t need to share milk and cookies at the end of the day, but if you don’t like the realtor you hired — and no one likes everyone — then, believe me, it will just sour the entire experience.

There you have it. Have your own thoughts on the subject? Share below!

Happy Fourth of July!

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Happy Fourth of July! I have to apologize for the delay since the last post. On a personal note, I’ve been back and forth to Japan a bit for family reasons and it’s tapped the writing brakes a bit. But wow, look at what’s happened in the past month!

1) Banks Take a Hit. Many of the big banks were recently whacked by authorities and downgraded by creditors. They’re now taking one more step towards an ounce of transparency. Will it make much of a difference, these financial ‘living wills’? Some are even calling for an end to the money system as we know, although I think that idea is right up there with the upcoming Mayan doomsday. (check this out, too, for a good laugh )

2) Foreclosures Crank Up. And now here comes the word that the banks are ready to ratchet up their foreclosure process. It’s been all ‘drip’ from the inventory faucet lately but that may be changing very shortly. The banks (yes, the same banks) know that they have to get rid of these non-performing assets at some point. They can’t release them all at once because a flooded market will depress the entire housing scene. But they simply have to start moving inventory.

Another interesting point of…well….interest: Hawaii was one of the few states with an increase in foreclosure inventory, according to CoreLogic just this past Friday.

satellite image of Lanai3) The Oracle Arrives. As in Oracle founder Larry Ellison who bought just about every grain of sand and remaining pineapple on Lanai. Will he hold true to his pledge that he won’t come in and give the island a ‘digital makeover’? He doesn’t have the reputation of just letting things be, but aside from some local improvements to infrastructure and such, that’s apparently what the island residents want from their new neighbor. Let Lanai continue to be Lanai — will he?

4) SPORTS (why not): The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup for the first time — ever. A lot of my ex-Flyers are on that team (I’m a Philly boy). It only took 45 years but they did it. Sure, hockey’s not big in Hawaii but we have enough mainland imports here that probably follow the NHL. I certainly can’t be the only one (I hope). Plus, LA is about as close a hockey team as we have. And they were playing New Jersey — and no one wants to see NJ win again. Ever. No one. Ever again.

In other sports news, and speaking of Philadelphia, the Flyin’ Hawaiian, Maui’s Shane Victorino is struggling along with the rest of the Fightin’ Phils, batting only .251 as we hit the halfway point of the baseball season. Come on, Shane, let’s start rallying the boys!

Photo of Rocky Balboa

Rocky still believes...

5) USA! USA! USA! Last but most definitely not least, let’s take a moment to celebrate our country, the good ol’ USA. No country is perfect, ours included, but it’s a pretty darn good one and we should be proud to call ourselves American. Whether you agree with who’s running the ship or not from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in DC, it’s the spirit of America — the idea of it — that unites us and gives us our strength as a unified people.

Happy Fourth of July!