Help-U-Sell Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Richard Cricchio's Hawaii Real Estate Blog

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!

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.

*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.

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!

The Truth About Help-U-Sell

There are many misconceptions about Help-U-Sell. In this short video, we debunk the five biggest ones. Enjoy!

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.

How We Un-Bundle Fees to Save You Money

Un-Bundling is a term often applied to service industries. We un-bundle services so that consumers may pick and choose what they want without having to pay for extras. Your cable bill is an example: you may choose only to purchase the television option or you may take the full bundle: phone, TV and Intenet.

But today, instead of talking about un-bundling services, I want to talk about un-bundling fees, because that’s what we do at Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties.

You see, when you agree to list your home for sale with an ordinary real estate company, you are agreeing to a bundled fee. It is a fee designed to compensate multiple entities whether they are involved in the sale or not. That 5% or 6% or even 7% commission you are agreeing to pay (the one that seems so very high) is designed to compensate not one, but four different people: your listing agent, and his or her office, the selling agent (the one who comes in with the buyer) and his or her office. That’s four commissions.

When you list your $600,000 home with your friend who works for Acme Real Estate and agree to pay 5% of the sale price as commission (he gave you a deal because, after all, you are friends), that does not mean he is going to pocket $30,000 when the home sells. It means he will get part, his office will get part, an outside agent who works with the buyer will get part and so will that agent’s office. AND, you’ll be paying that full $30,000 whether an outside agent or broker is involved or not!

At Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties, we think four commissions is too much to pay! So we un-bundle the fee.

If there is no outside broker or agent involved in the sale, we don’t charge you as if there was. Even after we put a listing in the MLS, even after it is shown by agents from all over the area, if the buyer is not brought in by an outside agent and office, our sellers don’t pay the un-bundled fees to those outsiders. We charge based on how the house actually sells, not on some arbitrary, one-size-fits- all system.

This kind of un-bundling makes sense for consumers. They pay for the services that actually produce a sale – not for those that don’t – and the end result is that they save thousands over what an ordinary broker would charge.

So the choice is yours. If you need to sell, you can agree to pay four commissions no matter how your house actually sells, or you can call Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties and never pay full commission again! It’s a great system!

Pricing to Sell

Nobody markets like we do.

When you list with Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties, your home is presented to potential buyers everywhere. It will be in the MLS, in the local media, and all over the Internet – not just this website or that website but virtually every website buyers go to when looking for homes for sale, including our competitors’ websites!

Like I said – Nobody markets like we do.

But, marketing alone will not cause your home to sell. It takes a lot more. The home has to be in a location buyers find desirable (by the way: all locations are desirable to some buyers, it’s just that some are more desirable to more buyers than others). It has to be a style and floorplan that is workable for most families; and it has to be in good shape.

However, the single most important factor that makes a home marketable is price. In fact, one of the questions we are most often asked is how to price your home for sale. You have to hit the market with a proper price – which means one within the range of fair market value at the time of listing.

It does NOT mean a price that is too low. A price below market value tells buyers to be careful; there must be something terribly wrong with this house! And a price that is too high says your are not serious about selling.

It means a proper price. We work with our Seller Clients to establish a proper price by first looking at the neighborhood. We want to know the highest price for which a home in the neighborhood might sell and the lowest. In essence: we establish the boundaries of the neighborhood ballpark. Then we use comparable sales data to decide where, within that neighborhood range, the specific house falls: is it at the top of the range or closer to the bottom. We also consider the sellers’ objectives: are they wanting to move quickly or do they have months?

Ultimately, a proper price on a well-marketed home means a successful sale within the sellers’ time-frame; and isn’t that what every home seller wants?

Here is a short video about pricing that puts the concept of ‘Proper Pricing’ into perspective: