Hawaii Real Estate News

Oct. 12, 2011

Waikiki, Oahu: All the Places to See

Those that decide to vacation in Hawaii, usually pick Waikiki to be the area in which they spend the most of their time. And they do this simply because Waikiki is perhaps the most famous of all the Hawaiian destinations thanks to the white sand that stretches on these world famous beaches and the blue waters that accompany them to make a picture worthy scene each day. Plus, there are tons of things to do on the beaches in Waikiki, such as surfing or even enjoying a few cocktails while watching other people strut their stuff on the waves. And with warm weather all year long that averages between seventy and ninety degrees, it is always a time to be on the beach.

Those that want action are going to find that Waikiki Beach is where this is. This has been a hot spot for many years as the waters have always been surfed, but they became even more popular when Duke Kahanamoku made surfing into a sport that people wanted to be a part of and to watch. Due to the area, there are competitions that are held in this location each year, where people from all over the world come to compete.

For those that are first arriving in Oahu, they will be greeted with the traditional flower lei, which is known as the necklace of welcome to those that visit Hawaii. In fact, it is known so much that without it, it just may not feel as if the person is in Hawaii. Those that go straight to the beach are going to find that they can watch a movie on the beach during the specific show times, which is a rare and fun experience. They can also find that they can dine on the beach on those traditional dishes that are made by world famous chefs such as the pig roast that is served with other dishes for a traditional Hawaiian meal. Attending a luau is also something that the person must do as they will get to experience the traditional Hawaii that will be fun and entertaining for the entire family.

Those that are wanting to do something during the day besides the beach are going to find that they have a few other options as to where to go. They can go to Diamond Head volcano which they will have seen from the beach to begin with. And this is a great way to get some exercise as there are walking paths and so forth. Of course, there are other things to do such as museum tours and so forth that will get the blood pumping. 

There are some great restaurants in the area that they can try out. There are those that are traditional and those that are internationally known as well.

Other people may find it fun to simply walk around and shop the souvenir shops and other stores in the area to find that perfect something that is going to remind them of their trip to Hawaii for many years to come.

Once the person decides that Hawaii is where they will be vacationing, they should remember that they have many options as to what kind of lodging that they decide to use. However, one of the best is the Waikiki Banyan Rentals for many reasons. First, the rooms are going to allow them to feel as though they are right at home since they are fully furnished, with a bed, sleeper couch, kitchen, living room and so forth, plus the usual refrigerator and microwave to use. The Embassy Suites Waikiki also have a breakfast that people can choose to eat each morning while also having drinks to offer during the evening. There is a swimming pool, business and fitness center, spa and so forth on the premises, which means that the person can enjoy a relaxing day inside if they so choose.

Posted in Oahu Guide
Sept. 30, 2011

Honolulu Real Estate - Cheap Ways to Move to Hawaii

Moving to Hawaii can be expensive, but if you know how to do it you can make the move cheaply. One way to save twenty five to thirty percent on your move is to not only to make plans in advance, but you should make the move at an odd time like the middle of the month, during the winter, or mid-week.

When you are ready to move do not call just one mover and accept whatever bid they tell you. Take the time to do your research and contact at least three movers and get their bids for the move. Once you have the three bids, make sure that you compare the amount that they have quoted you, the distance they are willing to give you for the amount and the amount of weight that is included in the bid. Naturally you want to take the lowest bid, but before you do you should check their references and see if the cheapest is the best. If you do not like any of their bids or their references, look some more. This is one of the reasons that you start planning in advance and not at the last minute.

Instead of letting the movers pack your belonging, buy packing material from a discount place and do the packing yourself, but before you start your packing, go through your things and set aside the items that you can live without to help keep your moving expense down. If you want you can sell your furniture and appliances and buy them after you move because it can be quite expensive to move these items.

If you are renting some of the apartments in Hawaii come completely furnished. If you just take your personal clothes and a few items that you do not want to get rid of like family photos and rent a furnished apartment you will find yourself saving quite a bit of money.

Since it can cost over a thousand dollars to ship your car to Hawaii, you might consider selling your car and when you get to Hawaii you can buy another car. Once you arrive you can check to see if there is public transportation that you can use so you may not need to buy a car.

These are just a few of the many ways you can cut back on the expense of moving to Hawaii. The best way to save money is to take just the necessities and buy what you need once you get there.

Posted in Relocation
Sept. 29, 2011

Things to Know About Moving Your Pet to Hawaii

It is no simple task to move your cat or dog to Hawaii because there is a large amount of red tape that you have to complete to get your beloved pet there. The worst thing is the State's quarantine requirements. The law used to state that any animal that entered Hawaii needed to be quarantined between thirty and one hundred twenty days, but that has been changed. Now the law that is in effect now states that cats and dogs that meet the specific requirements before and after arriving may be eligible for a thirty day, five day, or immediate release to the family.

You have to pay strict attention to detail on the owner's part if you want to qualify for immediate release of your cat or dog. It has to be in complete order so if one thing is not in order your pet will probably have to stay for five or thirty days. You should start the process early which should be at least six or seven months before you make the move. 

Here are some of the requirements before the pet arrives in Hawaii that is needed,

· Health certificate issued by an accredited veterinarian within fourteen days prior to arrival. It must be written in English, original and no photocopy, bear original and legible name, telephone number and address of veterinarian. Certificate must include record of all vaccinations, microchip number and when it was implanted. The certificate must also have the complete description of the pet, age, sex, and any markings. The pet must also have a rabies blood test to make sure that they have responded to the rabies vaccination adequately. The vet will submit a sample of the pet's blood to a lab at the Kansas State University to be tested.

It can be quite expensive to send your pet or pets to Hawaii because you not only have the expense of getting them ready to move to Hawaii, but you also need to make sure that you have a carrier for them plus you have to pay the airfare. Most airlines will not allow you to have the pet with you on the long flight, but there is one airline that will, but you have to book early. The reason you need to book early is that they only allow so many pets on each flight.

One thing to make the move easier on both you and your pet is to find a veterinarian that is knowledgeable about the whole process of what is required to move your pet to Hawaii.

Posted in Relocation
Sept. 28, 2011

Deciding Where to Move in Hawaii

When you are considering moving to Hawaii you can move to the Main Island or chose from one of the other seven big islands. Before you make your move, you should go online and read about each of the eight main Hawaiian Islands, including Hawaii to see which would fit your needs the best. You should check out the housing prices whether you are buying or renting, what type of jobs are available on the island, whether you want to live on a particular island and commute to Hawaii where there would be a larger selection of jobs and anything else that might affect your decision.

In area Hawaii is the largest with a population of over one hundred seventy six thousand people. The second biggest island in area is Maui with a population of almost one hundred fifty five thousand people. And the third biggest island in area is Oahu with a population of over nine hundred fifty three thousand. The smallest island in area is Kaho'olawe, but there are very few people living there because of the lack of fresh water. 

Most people, when they move to Hawaii, will either settle on the main island of Hawaii, Oahu, or Maui. The island of Oahu is the island where the state capital of Hawaii is located.

On all three of these islands you can be assured of finding some type of job in the tourism industry whether it is working in one of the restaurants, bars, shopping areas as a sales clerk, selling time shares or condos, working as a life guard, and any other type of job in this industry. 

The one main difference would be the price of what you would pay for a home or apartment per month. Compared to the cost of living in most of the major cities in the United States, the cost of living is quite high. In Honolulu the cost of living is actually almost seven percent lower than in New York and almost four percent lower than in San Francisco. 

If you decide to move to Maui you will also have the opportunity to work in agriculture on some of the coffee, tropical flowers, pineapple, sugar, and macadamia nut farms. If at all possible the best way to decide where to move to in Hawaii is to take a vacation and visit the three largest islands and take notes of what is important to you in making a decision as to where you want to live when you make your move there.

Posted in Relocation
Sept. 24, 2011

Why Realtors are Indispensable in Hawaii Property Investment Deals

Investment in whatever form is a risky affair, especially in the tumultuous and unpredictable world that we are living in today. The risk levels will however differ from one form of investment to another. Investing in property for example is a very lucrative business, but has a very high risk level that investors ought to be aware of and tread carefully.

Hawaii Property investment demands lots of knowledge and expertise in the field. An investor would need to have solid skills in calculating the risk level as well as the profits margin, so as to be able to make an informed decision. So complicated and tricky is real estate investment that even seasoned investors go through so much stress before a deal is sealed. It is because of this that you might want to keep a realtor by your side if you are thinking of venturing into the real estate investment world.

A realtor, having been in the industry for a significant period of time, and having gained considerable knowledge and relevant education in the world of real estate investment, brings to the table invaluable advice on how to go about the process. This becomes all the more important if you are a first time real estate investor. You cannot afford to make any grave mistakes that will cost you your hard earned cash. Following are several reasons why realtors are indispensable in real estate investments.

Even in very developed markets, investing in real estate has always been a great challenge. One of the main reasons why you will need to deal with a realtor is because some properties in the market do not have a definite formula of designing on the value. As such, a realtor will come in handy to help in evaluating and giving you a close estimate of the real value. Pricing a property in the market can be a tough job for an investor, more so a first time investor, hence the need to have a professional by your side all the time.

Further, there are very many complex details that need to be considered. It is normal to get confused when deciding on the best property to invest in. Working with a levelheaded individual, someone who has no personal interest in the deal whatsoever, will help chart the way forward for the deal. Not only will they determine the real value of the property, they will be able to pitch for the ideal price should you decide to sell the property later on. 

A realtor interacts and works with very many people in their day to day business. What this means is that they have a large network and very many leads as well as connections. What this means to you is that he has the essential skills that you need as an investor. As such, he should always be in your team. 

Sept. 18, 2011

Moving To A New House In Hawaii

If a person is looking to move to a new house in Hawaii one of the first things that he or she should do if find a real estate agent that can help him or her with all of the things that need to be done when a person is deciding which houses to look at and subsequently buy throughout the whole house hunting process. Any person who is looking for a house is most likely going to want the help of a professional real estate agent that knows the area that the person is looking in and also knows other real estate agents that might have listings that the person is interested in looking at.

A real estate agent can definitely make the process of looking for a house to move into in Hawaii much easier and less frustrating. There are many different houses that a person can move into in the state of Hawaii. There are beach houses which will have a more airy and light feeling and seem more like a vacation house rather than a permanent living house, not to say that a person cannot live in this house permanently, but it will feel more like a vacation home than a permanent home.

There are other houses that will be more traditional style and can be moderately big or mansions that a person can choose to buy just like a house in any other state. Hawaii, although it is basically like a tropical island, can still have more traditional style houses that are found in other states in the United States of America.

Another option that a person has as a potential new living situation in Hawaii is living in a hotel. An individual can purchase a suite in a hotel and choose to live there or use that as a vacation home so that a person can use everything that a hotel has to offer.

Once a person determines which type of house he or she wants to move into on Hawaii then he or she just needs to start the moving process. The first thing that needs to be done is to find a way to get everything that he or she owns out of the old house that he or she is moving out of and into the new house that he or she is moving into in Hawaii. Moving can be a hassle, but once the process is done than a person can happily live in his or her new home in Hawaii.

Sept. 17, 2011

Building A House In Hawaii

Any person who is looking to move to Hawaii certainly has much potential housing option available. One of the available options that a person has when making the move to Hawaii is to purchase a piece of land and build his or her own house on said piece of real estate. This could be a great and exciting thing for any person to do as this individual cannot only hand pick the piece of property that he or she is going to live on, but he or she can also hand pick what the house that he or she is going to live in will look like.

Sometimes moving into a new house can be very stressful as obviously no two people think alike so if a person moves into a new house, he or she is going to have to conform his or her wishes to the layout that the previous owners of the house designed. If a person just purchases a piece of real estate and then hires an architect to design the house of his or her desires than this move can be extremely exciting and also make a person feel very involved in his or her new house.

The first thing that a person needs to do when he or she makes the decision to build a new house from scratch, is to pick out the piece of real estate that the house will eventually be built on. So a person will have to go to Hawaii and find a nice piece of property that is big enough and will be able to properly fit the house that he or she is thinking of designing and building. A person needs to decide if he or she wants to live on the water or with a water view or just in a nice neighborhood. 

If a person decides to build a new house this does not necessarily mean that he or she needs to buy just a piece of property. A person can also buy a house that is on a desirable piece of property and then just knock down the house and build the new house that he or she desires to be built on the piece of property.

A person can also renovate a house that is already on the property, the new house does not need to be completely rebuilt, and a renovation can also suffice as a means for a person to live in the perfect house that he or she desires to live in.

Sept. 14, 2011

Buying A Vacation Home In Hawaii

There are many people who love travelling and enjoy travelling to places as often as possible. Many people who travel often tend to have a favorite place that they like visit quite frequently, so for these people it actually might pay for them to invest in a vacation home of their own that they can stay at whenever they are visiting and then potentially even rent out to other vacationers when they are not going to be using the vacation home. Hawaii is definitely a hot spot for travels, not only because the weather is typically beautiful, but also because there is so much to do and see in and around Hawaii and it is truly gorgeous natural scenery that many think is unparalleled.

For the avid traveller who is thinking seriously about investing in a vacation home in Hawaii, the first thing that he or she should think about is where exactly on Hawaii he or she would like this vacation home to be. If this individual is an avid traveller and has been to Hawaii many times, then he or she probably has a favorite place in Hawaii that he or she might want to look for a house in.

If this person is considering renting out the house to tourists when he or she is not using the vacation home as a means to supplement the cost of owning the vacation home, then he or she is also going to have to consider where more people will be attracted to visit on top of his or her own considerations of where he or she would most like to have a vacation home.

Another thing that might also be a good idea for a person who loves Hawaii is to invest in a vacation home, but with someone else so that the cost goes does. Homes in Hawaii can be very expensive, as they can be everywhere in the country, so a person definitely needs to consider if the initial cost will end up being worth it in the long run, with money saved on hotels and renting another person's house or even if purchasing a vacation home in Hawaii is a possibility given his or her personal financial situation.

A vacation home in Hawaii can be a great thing to have and can bring immense fun and entertainment as well as a feeling of comfort to any person who purchases one and then gets to use his or her very own home when travelling to the beautiful Hawaii.

Sept. 14, 2011

Families Buying A House In Hawaii

Any person who has ever been house hunting knows that it can definitely be one of the more daunting processes. There are so many different things that need to be considered when moving to a new place, and one of the most important is where the new location will be. There are definitely a ton of different things that need to go into this decision and most of them will depend on the particular person and his or her or the families wants and needs for a home. If a person is considering moving to Hawaii with his or her family there are a lot of different things that this individual needs to consider when looking for the perfect house for the family.

First of all a person needs to know what areas will be the most kid friendly when moving in with his or her family. This individual is going to want to ensure that the children will be happy, as this new home will be where they are growing up. So any couple should check around and see blocks that a lot of children live on so that their kids will easily make new friends and quickly feel comfortable and confident in their new home and new town.

A couple with children is also going to want to consider what school district they are moving into once they enter a new house. They are going to ensure that either they feel comfortable sending their children to the local public school that their new house falls under. If a couple likes a house and the area, but not necessarily the public school district, then before moving into the house or even purchasing it the couple should ensure that there is a private school that they approve of and would be willing to send their children to in or around the area of the new house.

A family should also ensure that the house that they are looking at is big enough and the right style and design for the family. Some houses are simply not designed for children and can actually have set ups that are dangerous for children, which can be both inside and outside the house. Being that Hawaii is a beautiful place, there will probably be a lot of focus on the backyard. As such, a couple with small children may not want to be too close to the water or have a pool as a means to ensure that their children will not be anywhere near harms way in their own backyard.

Sept. 12, 2011

Hawaii Rent to Own Pitfalls for Buyers

Many people do not like the idea of living in an apartment, paying rent to a landlord and having nothing to show for it but cannot afford the money to start the process of owning their own home. If this is the case, there is an option that can make you a homeowner much faster, which is called rent to own. Unfortunately rent to own options do have pitfalls that can affect a buyer. The buyer does need to be aware of before they enter into a rent to own contract.

One thing that a buyer should do is to check the credit report of the seller to make sure that the seller is not in any type of financial trouble such as having a huge amount of debt that is outstanding or in any type of financial trouble. If the credit report gives the seller a satisfactory check mark the buyer should still be watching for any signs that the seller may be having any type of financial distress after signing the contract. Some of the signs could include receiving phone calls from bill collectors or any type of notices that are sent to the house that look suspicious.

Before you enter into a Hawaii rent to own contract, the buyer should also realize that the seller might lose the house while you are living in the house. The seller could lose the house if they cannot make the mortgage payment, they do not pay the property taxes and a tax judgment is put on the house, or if the sellers suddenly go through a divorce or get sued. What this means to the buyer is that if the seller loses the house for any reason the buyer also loses the option to buy the house, loses all the money that they have paid into the house, and will have to move. The only exception would be if the home went into foreclosure and the bank takes it over, the bank may consider selling the house to the buyer.

Before you sign the rent to own contract, you should read it over very carefully or let your attorney do it so it is clear on just who is responsible for which type of repairs and maintenance so there is no question later on if something needs to be repaired or some type of maintenance needs to be done. The buyer should also make sure if they can make any type of improvements or changes to the house while they are in the rent to own contract.