I just got a call from a client that has owned a house for 25 years.  He plans to sell next year and asked what he should do - leave the house has is or do some remodeling and then sell?

The answer is almost always to do some inexpensive remodeling. If the house is in the median range between $500k and $1 million, you will almost always get more money by spending some money. That's because buyers want to get paid for their time if they have to remodel a house after they buy it. They don't just add the cost of the work and subtract from the market.

But another important factor is the time it takes to sell.  A home that is in good condition will usually sell faster. A home that need a lot of work may never sell at all.   Listings that sell fast also usually get near full price, or in today's market, even over asking price. 

My client and I discussed some inexpensive things he could do to his house.  Here they are in no particular order. 

• Replace his 25 yr old carpet with bamboo flooring. It's cheap at under $1 a foot, and it's sustainable. Bamboo grows fast. For a 1500sqft house, you could install it yourself and spend very little money.
• Paint.  Inside and outside can be painted for a few thousand, and can make or break a buyer's willingness to purchase.
• Replace his bathroom vanities for a few hundred dollars each.  Even a cheap, off the shelf vanity for $300 can make the house seem a lot nicer. This vanity to the right is $199 at home depot.
• Replace his kitchen counters and cabinet doors with off the shelf non custom products for about $3000 total.
• Replace all the doorknobs, fixtures, switches, outlet covers, etc.  25 years ago, those things were ugly.  Now you can buy them online for a few bucks each.  

At this point a seller has spent well under $20k, and the house is transformed.  The list price can probably go up by $50k, and the house will sell in a few days instead of a few months. 

Bottom line - spend the money to make your house look nice, but don't overspend on it.  

Congratulations to Rick and Pat on the purchase of this beautiful ocean view property at the top of Hahaione.  With over 4000 square feet and 6 bedrooms, this awesome house has plenty of space for their soon coming wedding party.  This property borders the preservation land above Hahaione, so you have no neighbors in the back, and acres of tree lined forrest to enjoy. Check out the view from the living room!

There is even a detached cottage for their daughter to live in, with its own kitchenette, full bath, and separate laundry.  I was very happy to  deliver their keys this week as they move in to their great new home! 

Via PBN: Wahoo's Fish Taco will open a second location on Oahu by the end of the year in the Kahala Korner building near Kahala Mall. The previous tenant, The Green Door, moved out of the space in 2009.

Owner Noel Pietsch told PBN that the second Wahoo's will have a full bar and is anticipating hiring approximately 40 people.

I first tried Wahoo's fish tacos in the late 80's in California.  Great tacos, and really great rice and beans.

In the past few years, Oahu has gotten many mainland retailers to setup shop here.  Whole Foods, Target, Victoria Secret, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Taco Del Mar. 

All we need now is In-N-Out.  Anyone?  A little help here? 

For the third year in a row, Hawaii led the nation in number of millionaires per capita, with 6.9 percent of resident millionaires, according to an annual ranking by the Phoenix Affluent Marketing Service released today.

The survey defines a millionaire household as one with $1 million or more in investable or liquid assets. It does not include retirement plans and real estate.

Why do we have so many millionaires?  One simple answer:  It's the nicest place to live in America. Perfect weather all year, white sand beaches, warm water. 

Millionaires can live wherever they want, so many come to Hawaii.

Read More at Star.

There are a lot of angry people on Oahu, but none of them work for Castle & Cooke Homes. The Advertiser reported today that C&C won state approval for the new Koa Ridge community between Mililani and Waipio.  Right now that is all agricultural land. 

The State Land Use Commission approved the project with 3,500 homes, a hotel, medical campus and commercial space by reclassifying 576 acres from agricultural to urban use.  The first homes could be built around the end of 2012. 

There are already people voicing their anger about it in the comments to the article that announced it.  There is a very broad feeling on Oahu that the island is already over crowded, shown especially in the freeway traffic on H1 going West in the afternoons. 

This new project will make traffic worse, but more importantly, will permanently remove a large area of agricultural land.  50 years ago, Oahu was thriving with ag, but now there are far fewer working farms left. And Schuller homes wants to destroy some more ag land in Kapolei.

Will it ever end? Will it ever be enough? Does Oahu's population need to be capped at some point before we run out of land and water completely? 

Have you ever put your address into Zillow's search bar to see what it thinks your home is worth?  If you need a laugh, or you want to be confused, go ahead. 

This morning I saw a blog post about Zillow's home value estimates, so I decided to look up my neighborhood.  Zillow shows the value a house near me at $1,010,000.  Try it - the address is 217 Nenue st, 96821.  The problem is, that house sold in January of this year for $897,000, which is also shown right above the value. 

So Zillow thinks the market here has risen 12.59 percent in the last 8 months? Actually, it doesn't.

Another house in the same neighborhood, just 2 streets away that sold for $810,000 in May is showing a current Zillow estimated value of only $815,500, not even 2 percent. 

Even stranger, a house on Hind Iuka Dr that sold on June 30th is showing a drop in value of $8500 over the past 2 months.  It sold for $1,125,000. 

Bottom line - you cannot trust Zillow for property value estimates are not consistent in Hawaii.

I know each of these properties well, and I can tell you that in order to get a real market value, it takes a human being with understanding of condition, location, and quality. 

Last night we watched the premier of Hawaii 5-0, hoping above anything else that it would portray the beauty of living in Hawaii.  Within a few minutes the show featured aeriel shots of Diamond Head, Makaha, Black Point, Waikiki, and the North Shore.

At one point, there was a helicopter fly by right over my house, and we realized that the house mainly used on the show is just across the road from us. 

While we laughed at the fact that "Pipeline" was actually Waimea bay, and also that at one point a car was shown as driving with the ocean on the wrong side of the car (on the right side going North in Waianae), we were glad that the show featured many great shots of the island in all its beauty. 

I'm sure that sometime this winter when the snow is falling in Ohio and New York, somebody is going to be watching Hawaii 5-0 and realize it's 75 and sunny in Hawaii.  That person is going to finally realize that they could be living in perfect weather all year, never seeing another snow shovel for the rest of their lives.  If that person has some money (the median price on Oahu about $600k dollars) they'll be buying some nice Oahu real estate. 

 While the show is a little racey for my very conservative Christian values, I'm glad that millions around the world will have Hawaii on their minds once a week.  Even if only a few of them move here, it's good for our economy.

(By the way, my wife will be on next week's show, a scene in an elevator in which she plays a tourist mom.) 

A 100-kilowatt wind turbine won't be built anytime soon, though the Hawaii Water Service Co. has been trying for a while.  Hawaii County zoning ordinances require a use permit, which took six months to secure, planning department approval, which is ongoing, and a building permit, which is expected to take another four to six months.

There are four wind farms on Maui and the Big Island, and four more in development. About 9 percent of Maui's energy comes from wind and about 12 percent of the Big Island's supply.

From PBN: "First Wind is planning to expand the 30 megawatt Kaheawa Power Project on West Maui by 21 megawatts, and San Diego-based Sempra Generation hopes to begin a 22-megawatt wind farm at Ulupalakua Ranch in upcountry Maui. The Kauai Electric Utility Cooperative has signed an agreement with UPC Kauai Wind Power for a 10.5-megawatt to 15-megawatt project, and Oahu has its own plans for wind on the North Shore. Boston-based First Wind has broken ground on a 30-megawatt project in Kahuku, but the biggest plans for powering Hawaii's most populous island with wind energy are intended for Molokai and Lanai...

But the permitting process has strangled businesses hoping to take advantage of Hawaii's abundant wind resources.  Once approved, it takes only one to three days to put up a wind turbine.  It's a three- to four-year process to get a project moving before you can even start putting a spade in the ground,” said Karl Stahlkopf, a partner at Kairos Energy Capital, a Honolulu merchant bank specializing in renewable-energy projects. Formerly, project developers could engage in bilateral negotiations with Hawaiian Electric."

Hello?  This is ridiculous!

Hawaiian Electric hopes to lay a $1 billion cable between Oahu and two neighbor islands that will pull 400 megawatts from proposed wind farms on Molokai and Lanai. If successful, the wind energy could provide 20 percent of Oahu's annual energy needs.