Hawaii Real Estate Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Richard Cricchio's Hawaii Real Estate Blog

The DANGER Report

The National Association of Realtors is out with a serious report about the real estate industry that insinuates that huge change is coming soon. The study, prepared by an outside consulting group, compiles information gleaned from interviews with 70 real estate industry experts and insiders. The group’s predictions for the industry were so tumultuous that the report itself is entitled, ‘The Danger Report.’ While there were sobering predictions in a number of areas, a few jumped out at me, specifically:

Real estate commissions paid by American consumers are too high.

Because ordinary real estate commissions are usually a percentage of the final sales price of the home being sold, the size of commissions consumers pay their agents has increased to stratospheric levels. Consider that a typical Oahu homeowner selling a $950,000 home and paying an ordinary broker, say, 6% commission would pay $57,000 in commission . . . and I think the point is well made!

But, beyond that, here in the United States, our real estate commission percentages are out of step with much of the rest of the world. For example, in the UK, real estate commissions average 1%-2% of the sales price; in the Netherlands, 1.5% – 2%; in Austrailia, 2% – 3%; and in Germany, 3% – 6%. Here in the USA however, commission percentages hover between 5% and 6%.

Commission sticker shock was one of the things that led me to become a Help-U-Sell Broker way back in the late 90’s. I figured if I could find a better way to do the business that saved consumers money on commissions, I’d have a winner. The Help-U-Sell Low Set Fee pricing model proved to be that better way, and today, 16+ years later, we are still saving consumers many thousands over what they’d pay an ordinary broker.

The next item that caught my attention was this (and I’ll quote the headline directly from the report):

The real estate industry is saddled with a large number of part-time, untrained, unethical and/or incompetent agents. This knowledge gap threatens the credibility of the industry.

Real estate has always been a fairly easy business to get into. It requires completion of a course of study, the passing of a State exam, and a few hundred dollars in licensing fees. But knowing how to do the business and to look out for your customers and clients in their transactions is another matter. It is something you learn through doing with expert coaching on the side, not something you learn in order to pass the real estate exam.

I am proud to say the team at Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties is full time, experienced and well able to deal with the problems that arise in any real estate transaction. . We have helped thousands of home buyers and sellers successfully navigate the difficult waters of a real estate transaction, AND we have saved them many thousands of dollars. We are education junkies and often find ourselves in classes aimed at increasing our knowledge and improving our skills.

As dark as The Danger Report seems to be, I am excited and proud of where Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties stands relative to it. We are the low cost alternative to the ordinary real estate model – a model undergoing tremendous upheaval as it works to become more like . . . well, us!

Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties is a full service real estate company that provides exceptional service while charging less than ordinary Realtors. We’ve been successfully helping buyers and sellers all over Oahu for more than 12 years and we’d be delighted to help you achieve your housing dreams. Contact us at (808) 593-8811, or visit our website.

A Banner Month For Savings!

June was a pretty good month for Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties! We helped 14 buyers and sellers realize their housing dreams. Most important, though, is that we saved home sellers almost $125,000 in commissions compared to what they might have paid an ordinary real estate agency.*

Savings is a key part of the Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties experience. Our low set fee pricing enables us to save every seller with whom we work thousands over what they might have paid for real estate services. And our sellers save without sacrificing service; we are a full-service real estate company.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here are just three of the listings that sold in June and the savings each of those sellers realized:

This home in Makakilo sold in just 14 days. It had great coast and city views and a mother-in-law suite. With 7 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, it was an updated gem!

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This Kalihi Valley home sold in just 4 days. It is on a quiet 21 home cul-de-sac, has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and a 3 car garage.

This fixer upper in Hawaii Kai’s Koko Head Terrace area has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and a large lot. It was a great opportunity and sold in just 10 days.

I am excited about our June activity and pleased as can be that we were able to save sellers so much. But I have a hint for you in July: so far this month we’ve saved sellers almost twice as much!

If you think it’s about time you started saving on high real estate commissions without giving up service, Call Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties!

*Savings are calculated by comparing actual fee paid with a typical 6% real estate commission. Real estate commissions, whether percentage or set fee are always negotiable between the seller and the real estate broker.

Appreciating Honolulu

We live on an ISLAND. Our real estate market tends to behave by its own rules because we live on an ISLAND. When trends in any direction affect marketplaces on the mainland, they may have little effect here . . . because we live on an ISLAND.

Our prices tend to be very high because buildable land is at a premium: there’s only so much of it! And our real estate market tends toward steady, though sometimes slow increases in price, brisk demand and short times on the market.

I’ve been looking at appreciation rates the last few days. I’ve looked at rates for various markets around the country and at ours here in Honolulu over the past 30 years. I’ve learned a few interesting things!

Over the past 30 years, the median price of a single family home in Honolulu has risen 176.74%! That means the $900,000 home you are enjoying today probably would have sold in the $325,000 range in 1985!

Median price has risen on average 5.89% per year over the 30 year period. If that metric holds true, it is on the likely side of possible that your $900,000 house will be worth $953,000 next year and about $1.2 million in five years.

We do have real estate downturns in Honolulu, but they tend to be shorter and milder than in other parts of the country. For example, during the last horrendous downturn (2007-2012), the median price in Honolulu fell a little more than 3%. In Southern California, prices fell 30%-45% depending on the specific market. It wasn’t just a West Coast phenomenon, either: Atlanta lost about 25%, which was typical for most metro areas on the Eastern side of the country.

There is a message here for anyone living on Oahu, or thinking about it:

If you already own a home here, congratulations! You made a wise decision and if history is any predictor, your housing investment will grow with few stumbles.

If you are renting today but have the ability to buy: what are you waiting for? Next year you will be able to buy less house than you can today (assuming you will still be able to buy at all), and if the 30 year trend continues, you’re housing investment will be gaining value every month.

If you are thinking of moving to Hawaii, don’t let our prices scare you. We actually do have nice single family homes under $600,000 and condos begin in the mid-$300,000s.

Most important: if you want to take advantage of the opportunities this wonderful ISLAND real estate market presents, get professional help! At Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties, we are expert at helping you maximize your housing investment and at finding the perfect home for your family.

AFFORDABLE Hawaii Living

A couple of posts ago in a video, I talked about the High Cost of Waiting to Buy. It was a scary article because of the topic, made even more scary by the prices I used in the examples. I was using typical prices for single family homes in and around Honolulu – which hover at $800,000 to $900,000 – and the resulting figures for down payment and monthly mortgage were correspondingly large.

I promised in that post to revisit the issue using some of the most affordable options on the island. They certainly exist, though often they are condo/townhome options.

For example, we just listed a great townhome in Ewa Beach for $435,000. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a garage and nearly 1300 square feet. It won’t last – the last home we listed in the same neighborhood sold in a matter of days – so it would probably be a good idea to get to our first open house on the property, this weekend, June 14, from 2-5.

Or, if a single family home is absolutely what you want, we also have a new listing in Kapolei for less than $600,000. It has almost 1500 square feet of living space and an ocean view!

If this still sounds too expensive to bear, how about a lovely 2 bedroom condo in Mililani. At 850 square feet, it features 2 bedrooms and 2 baths and 2 parking spots.

So you see, affordable options still exist on Oahu, but here is the thing: in these price ranges, they always sell FAST. If you want to compete for a home in this range, you need to get together with an agent and start looking now. The word ‘NOW’ is very important because the steady rise in prices we’ve been experiencing over the past several years shows no sign of slowing. If you wait another year, it is possible that homes like this may be beyond your capability.

As always, the professionals at Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties are ready to help you find and secure your dream home. You’ll find our low pressure, educational approach refreshing, comfortable and easy.

Welcome to Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties

This is our new introductory video. It tells our story in about a minute and we will be using it on our website.

The High Cost of Waiting to Buy on Oahu

Waiting to buy even a few months can have big financial implications when we’re talking about Hawaii real estate. This video takes a close look at the problem. Caution: The examples in this video are based on single family homes and 80% mortgages. I realize the numbers may frighten some buyers. Take heart. There are other housing options available, some at less than $500,000, and mortgages can be gotten with as little as 3.5% down ($0 down for Veterans). So even if you’re not ready for a near-million-dollar home, contact us. We’ll find a housing option that fits your budget!

Good News for 2015!

I was just reviewing this year’s production for Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties and was delighted with what I saw. The year is not quite four months old and we have done very well!

Since the beginning of the year – 112 days – we’ve helped 47 different buyers and sellers achieve their housing dreams. Those 47 clients constituted more than $20 million in volume. More important, the 29 home sellers in that group saved almost $410,000 over what they might have paid an ordinary broker charging, say, 6%. So far this year, our sellers have averaged more than $14,000 in savings while averaging just 40 days to complete the sale!

We have a slogan that is sometimes used in our advertising: Sell Fast – Save Thousands. It seems clear that 40 days to sell your house and $14,000+ in savings is a testament to the validity of that statement!

One of the great un-truths that ordinary real estate agents tell about Help-U-Sell is that, with our low fees, other agents won’t show our listings. Of course that’s not true – and our year to date 2015 production proves it. So far this year almost 80% of our sales involved another MLS broker bringing one of their buyer clients to the transaction.

So, if you live on Oahu, whether in Honolulu or Hawaii Kai, Kahuku, Ewa Beach, Haleiwa, or anywhere on the island,you owe it to yourself to check us out when it comes time to sell your house. Clearly, we can get the job done quickly and save you a lot of money!

Preparation For Selling: What To Do Before The Sign Goes Up

At Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties, we help people get ready to sell every day. We usually walk through the property and make suggestions about what will help it show well. That’s very important! It’s hard for homebuyers to fall in love with a house that looks . . . well . . . lived in. W make lots of suggestions, but if I could boil it down to a few important, broad categories, it would be The Five D’s:

Depersonalize. It’s important that you take remove the ‘home’ from your ‘house.’ Anything that might stand in the way of a potential buyer visualizing his or her family living there should go: family pictures, kids’ art, collectibles, toiletries and tell-tale signs of pets (toys, food, etc.).

Declutter. Crammed closets and cluttered rooms suggest a lack of storage! Go through every room and closet, dispassionately sorting into three stacks: throw-aways, things to box and go to storage, and things to donate. This step may take a week or two!

Deep clean. Whether you do it or hire it done, a top-to-bottom cleaning is what’s required. Kitchens and bathrooms come first and deserve special attention (don’t hesitate to use a toothbrush if you need to). Next tackle living and sleeping areas. And don’t forget closets and cabinets!

Detail the landscaping. Trim shrubs, edge the lawn, touch up the mulch and repair any defects in decking, fencing or the like. Wash the windows and – as a final touch – add a planter of blooming flowers.

Do the repairs. Start with deferred maintenance. A homebuyer might not spot that you’ve not changed your furnace filter in awhile, but a home inspector (who will be part of the process) will. Then move on to cosmetics: paint if necessary, clean blinds, fix leaky faucets, caulk tubs and think about upgrading lighting.

Of course, if you are thinking of selling, we at Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties would be happy to walk through and give you a more detailed, no obligation consultation.

What Percentage Do Real Estate Agents Charge?

If you are thinking of selling your Oahu home, you should watch this short video first!

Buy Hawaii Real Estate Today with Little Money Down!

In a recent survey conducted by Wells Fargo, 44% of respondents said they believed a minimum 20% down payment was required to buy a home today. 44%!! Almost all of them said they thought home ownership was a great thing and that they’d like to own, but many thought they couldn’t qualify for a mortgage.

If thoughts like this are keeping you on the sidelines and out of the housing market, it’s time to adjust your thinking!

As reported by Freddie Mac, the truth is 40% of all home buyers today are putting down LESS than 10%! Since 2010, the number of buyers financing more than 90% of the purchase price has tripled!

I can tell you that right now, here on Oahu, there are dozens of programs available to get you into a home or condo for as little as a 3% down payment. For a $400,000 condo, that’s just $12,000!

The Wells Fargo survey also indicates that many potential home buyers are staying out of the market because they believe they must have very good credit to qualify for a loan.

It is true that it is not as easy to qualify for a mortgage today as it was in 2006, when almost anybody could get a loan for almost any amount! And in the wake of the ensuing collapse of the real estate market, lenders were forced to tighten the requirements. There was a time when it was not easy to qualify.

But since 2012, lenders have slowly relaxed to the point where many working families can qualify for a mortgage. A reasonably good credit report is required – and you’d be surprised how easy it is to repair a not-so-good credit report – but certainly not credit perfection.

If you are renting a home or apartment and paying $1,800 a month or more in rent and think someday, someday, you’ll maybe buy your own home, someday may have already arrived. You really owe it to yourself to talk with an expert to find out what’s available and how to qualify.

Of course, the best experts on the island are at Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties! We’d be happy to spend an hour with you discovering what might be available in terms of financing and what that might enable you to purchase. There’s no cost or obligation and we won’t pressure you into buying anything. Call us today at (808) 593-8811 and get started on your own home ownership dream!

Thank You Oahu!

We just got word that, once again, Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties is the #1 Help-U-Sell office in the world! We finished 2014 with 177 closed transaction sides which was tops among all Help-U-Sell offices. This is the fifth year in a row that we’ve topped that ranking and we couldn’t be happier!

While we are congratulating ourselves (and receiving the congratulations of our peers), we are very aware that we owe a big debt of gratitude to you, our buying and selling clients. It is your loyalty and enthusiasm for what we do that enables us to list more, sell more and be more, year-after-year. When I analyze where our business comes from, I see the same thing over and over: the biggest source of business is our past clients and their referrals. That tells me we are doing something right.

Because we are #1, I am asked from time to time what makes us special, and why we are the best at what we do. I think it comes down to three things:

People, Systems, and Passion

Staff-wise, we are a very small office: fewer than 20 agents and office staff. That’s tiny by Hawaii standards where we have many offices with 100, 200, even 500 agents! Still our small team of agents averages more than twice as many transactions a year as the average Oahu real estate agent. Our people are both pleasant and productive, they know the business and the market and are well equipped to guide a transaction to closing, and they know how to build long lasting relationships with the people the serve. I am very proud of them.

For more than ten years, we’ve focused on effectively and efficiently organizing our operation to serve our clients. We systematize everything about our business that we can, so that things get done automatically, with a minimum of confusion and delay. Our marketing is pre-meditated, planned and organized into a system that goes on every day without fail. Our follow-up processes are systematized so that our clients remember that we are there ready to help them with their real estate needs. Our transaction management process is systematized so that nothing falls through the cracks and so that problems can be handled quickly with a minimum of hassle.

Finally, we are a passion filled company. We love what we’re doing! Every member of our team delights in getting back to business every day; it’s part of the job description. We love helping people solve their housing problems, build equity in real estate and live well. We think it is the most rewarding work one can do and we feel privileged to be doing it.

So, if your 2015 includes plans to buy or sell real estate, I hope you’ll consider working with a company that’s proven they have what it takes to be #1: Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties.