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Know Your Hawaii Neighborhoods

January 31, 2011 by Michael Borger

I was reading a well-written article this morning about how national numbers and metrics are by and large meaningless when it comes to trends in real estate and housing. The editor made a good point. How much does activity in Michigan or Tennessee affect your business in Hawaii or California? Yes, there are some markets that are going through similar situations — high foreclosure rates and unemployment, falling prices, etc. — and it’s useful to keep your eye on the nation as a whole, but using averages of such large areas or disparate populations is a recipe for decision-making disaster.

What really matters is knowing YOUR area and, I’d say, this is even more true at smaller geographic scales. In Hawaii, this means understanding what’s going at both an island level and within islands. So if you want to get into flips, you need to know that there are few buyers right now in the Hilo area on the Big Island which means you may need to factor backward from a heavily discounted ARV (after repair value). There’s just not much keeping people employed there right now outside of UH-Hilo. If you’re on Maui, you’re aware of how many short sales there are on the Valley Isle, especially in the Kihei area. I remember walking around Lahaina this past December and being shocked how few people were walking the waterfront – clearly the local economy there has some bouncing back to do.

Let’s look at Oahu. If you’re analyzing properties for your investment portfolio, whether for flips or long-term passive income, you better understand the different characteristics of towns around the island. I know quite a few local investors who don’t look at properties in the Waianae or Waimanalo areas because of the smaller buyers pool. If you’re looking for a quick flip, you might want to take this into consideration. You’ll either have to discount your price, offer other incentives or expect a longer days on market (DOM) when it’s time to sell. Of course, this is when having a ready-to-go buyers list is also helpful.

If you’re a landlord looking for more cash flow properties, then you might want to focus on the smaller condo units of neighborhoods like Kalihi and parts of Ewa and Waipahu and avoid places with lots of single-familiy homes like Kapahulu and Aina Haina. Cash flow is a tough gig right now in Honolulu, but there are people doing it, especially with low prices requiring a smaller financing amount to take down.

Other criteria you should use to compare neighborhoods include:

  • Average driving distance to centers of employment (the reason some investors avoid North Shore or the stretch between Kahuku and Kaneohe).
  • Number of sales in the past 6 months (get a sense of recent activity — are people buying there?).
  • Number of short sales on the market — there are a lot right now in the stretch from Pearl City to Ewa and Makakilo, much more so than in Honolulu town.
  • Planned changes in neighborhood development or activity — new Disney resort? Rail connections? Stores closing down? Influx of new visitors from certain countries – China? Korea? Remember, like attracts like. Any news like this can be strong indicators of changes in property values around the corner.

Obviously this is just scratching the surface, but the point here is to understand your market at the micro / neighborhood level or risk being stuck with properties or watching your ROI shrink to disappointing levels. So get out and drive your neighborhoods, spend some time there in the local Starbucks, get a sense of the local demographic, talk to other investors — whatever you need to do. It’s too easy to get in the trap of simply looking at listings on an MLS and throwing out offers without really understanding that you’re not just buying a house — you’re buying a house as part of a neighborhood.

Filed Under: Buying & Selling, Hawaii, Market Analysis Tagged With: buyers list, Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalihi, Kapahulu, Kihei, Lahaina, market activity Hawaii, short sale, Waipahu

Stop Foreclosure in Hawaii

September 3, 2010 by Michael Borger

How many homeowners in America today are underwater and facing foreclosure? Last I checked, it was in the millions. What does this mean for you? It means you are not alone in your hardship.

There is no longer a stigma associated with foreclosure. Instead, the American people, myself included, know that sometimes life kicks us in the gut and it’s okay to ask for a little help. There is help for you during this time of need. All you have to do is ask. Let me tell you how it works.

Avoid Foreclosure By Selling Your Hawaii House for Cash

A foreclosure is going to have a long lasting affect on your credit. It could take up to 10 years before you are able to buy a home again, not to mention the costs of everything else going up because of bad credit.

Selling your home to an investor for cash can mitigate the effects of your financial hardship. There are no realtor commissions involved so you can get more out of your sale. You don’t have to put your home on the market and let potential buyers stomp around your house. Selling your home to an investor is fast, easy, and will give you the relief you need to avoid a foreclosure.

Even if your home needs repairs or isn’t in the greatest condition, that’s not a problem. You don’t have to spend time marketing your home, keeping it in showing condition or allowing strangers inside.

Getting Started With Selling Your Hawaii House For Cash

First of all, visit the website: Sell Your Hawaii House for Cash. Just enter your name and contact information and we will be in touch immediately about how we can help you. This isn’t some late night infomercial. We are a real company with real solutions here in Hawaii.

Once you’ve decided you’re interested in our offer, we can move very quickly to get you out of your home and on with your life. Unlike traditional real estate transactions that are dependent on bank approval, we can finalize a transaction in days, not weeks.

You won’t have to worry about a potential buyer not qualifying for a loan causing you to go into foreclosure. We have guaranteed funds available today. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Take action now and get out from under the pressures of a foreclosure.

Work With an Investor to Negotiate Your Short Sale

Some investors, like me and my partners, are experienced at negotiating short sales for homeowners facing foreclosure. Instead of just listing it on the MLS and hoping someone comes along and scoops it up while the bank continues on its path of taking your home, we have unique and extremely effective, proactive methods of getting the banks to agree to a short sale instead of the foreclosure, all at no cost to the homeowner. This is often the best option for keeping that foreclosure off your credit history and moving on with your life. Remember, it’s very costly for the banks to foreclosure — investors trained in this process can help the banks see that a short sale is often in their best interest.

Remember, until the day your house gets sold at auction:

You Still Have Options!

Filed Under: Foreclosures, Hawaii Tagged With: attorney, Avoid foreclosure Hawaii, Cash Buyer, Deed-in-lieu, Free Foreclosure Help, Hawaii, Honolulu, Investor, loan modification, Oahu, Stop foreclosure Hawaii

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