PBN reported this morning that Honolulu residents are No. 1 in the use of energy-saving appliances, according to a Scarborough Research survey of 81 U.S. cities.

Forty percent of Honolulu households use "green appliances, the study found. Nationally, about a third of households use energy-saving appliances.

Next highest were Portland, Ore., (39 percent) and the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area (38 percent).

Related - Hawaii home owners love Solar Energy.  I have 18 Photovoltaic panels and 2 solar hot water panels.  See my solar energy system here.

Next week the government will stop propping up the mortgage-backed securities market.  I posted about this a few weeks ago, citing the article in the Washington Post which explains that the government is about to stop spending billions of dollars buying its own bonds.

The Treasury spent about $220 billion, and the Fed pledged $1.25 trillion, the largest foray the central bank has made into the markets since the onset of the crisis, which they brought upon themselves through the "community reinvestment act" of Carter and later Clinton.

The Fed has been printing money and funneling it to people looking to buy a house or refinance an existing mortgage.  Most certainly treasury prices will fall, and rates will go up at least a little, if not a lot, within 2 weeks from today.

Lock in your mortgage rate now.  Do it.

I have a better way to predict the real estate market than any economist on Earth.  It's more accurate than anything that a group of Ph.D.'s can come up with by crunching numbers and data. It has nothing to do with stocks, economics, currency markets, the price of oil, or the price of anything at all.  It doesn't even have to do with the inventory of homes. I have a data set that, when it's all said and done, is the only set of 'data' that matters.  This magical predictor is called - clients. 

By about this time each year, I already know who about 70% of my buyers and sellers are going to be. I've been talking to them for months, some of them years, searching for properties, finalizing moving plans, and setting dates to go home shopping. Some of them call me 2 years in advance to let me know what they are going to be doing and when.  

As of today, March 20th, I can already tell you that this year's volume will be about 50% more than last year (which by the way was a great year.) Today I have appointments set in April and May.  Today I am speaking to buyers who will be moving here late summer.  Today I also have sellers who plan to sell in the fall.  

The economists don't know these people.  Market predictors don't have my client's names and numbers, moving dates, and price ranges - but I do.  

I know the future in March of every year, and 2010 is going to be huge.  

We were (and are) in escrow on the house at 1816 Kilohi st, but the buyer is getting cold feet.  So we have put the house back on the market at a price that is $30k higher - $580k!

Why so much higher? Simple, we had tons of interest,  received multiple offers, and they were up to $580k! 

So if you missed out the first time, here it is again.  I looked through all the listings in Honolulu, and let me tell you, this is the best house for the money out there! 

I'm tired of my buyers missing out on houses they want to buy.  I'm tired of being outbid, being the 4th offer in, being the one that missed out.  

I have decided as of today, I am no longer going to be the no-pressure-buyer's agent.

From today on, if a buyer tells me they want to buy a house, I will say it up front - You need to move fast, maybe offer above asking, and do it TODAY. You need to stop delaying, stop making excuses, stop living in fear, and ACT NOW! 

• Last week a client of mine missed out on a beautiful water front house for $1.3 million. It sold that night, all cash, full price.
• 3 weeks ago a client of mine missed out on a bank owned property for $575k. She hesitated, wanted to offer below asking price (against my advice,) and the house sold for full price 3 days after we viewed it. She cried.
• This morning I found out that a house for $460k in Ocean Pointe received multiple offers above asking and sold 2 days after it came on the market.  My clients were hesitating. 
• Last month a buyer of mine waited a few days before viewing the marina front Kuapa Isle Townhouse he had been waiting for.  Nothing had been on the market for months, and the unit sold in 3 days, full price.  

I could go on and on. Every listing I have had this year has received multiple offers.  Every buyer I have worked with has missed out on multiple listings.

That's it buyers. The warning is out there.  You will act now, write an offer, probably full price, or you will miss out and you will be looking for another house. It's that simple. 

(Note - In 2003 I was one of the few real estate agents telling everyone to get out of real estate)

Yesterday I showed this beautiful house in Queens gate that is listed for $925,000.  With 4 bedrooms, a pool, and a huge master bathroom, it had everything the buyers were looking for. 

We had a nice discussion about buying a house right now.  I thought there were some great insights, which leads me to pose a question:

If you aren't buying right now, WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

• Lower interest rates? 
• A housing bubble?
• A massive economic collapse? 
• 10% unemployment?
• Home prices to fall 20% ? 
• Inflation?  (prices of houses go up too, you know)  
• Global financial chaos?
• Dozens of bank failures?
• Government takeover of Fannie Mae?

ALL OF THAT ALREADY HAPPENED! 

We literally just endured the biggest financial collapse in our generation, and Hawaii real estate prices dropped about 15-20%. Is there some other worse event that could make prices drop more?  If so, what would that be?  The collapse of giant insurance companies?  Done. 

The US Government printing billions of dollars?  Done!  Financial chaos on a global level?  DONE!!! 

Some will argue that we aren't yet at the bottom of the housing market, and I would ask those people - What horrible event will occur that hasn't already???

UPDATE: This house in Kalihi valley that I listed last Monday had about 25 showings in 1 week and is now in escrow well over the asking price of $550k.  Most of the offers were above asking, and none were very much below the price.

Before listing it, we had the house painted and cleaned, and installed new fixtures, new toilets, new lights, and some new flooring.  We also had all the rubbish removed. 

Then we had the survey done, ordered a permit package, and completed the seller's disclosure. 

Doing all the hard work up front means the sellers can now relax and wait for the closing date (read: check.)

Congrats to my sellers on getting their home sold quickly and above the asking price!

Great news for the tourism industry in Hawaii!  According to the Advertiser today, Continental Airlines will launch three new flights from Honolulu and Kahului on Maui to the West Coast starting Sunday.

The flights will be from Maui to Los Angeles and Orange County and a flight from Honolulu to Orange County.  Continental will operate the flight with a Boeing 737-800 with 160 seats.  They will start a second daily flight between Honolulu and Los Angeles on Sunday.

The new Maui-Orange County flight will operate four times a week.  Continental will use a Boeing 737-700 that seats 124 passengers on the new route and plans to increase the service to daily during the summer.

Continental also will use a Boeing 737-700 that seats 124 passengers on the route.

For about $550,000, you can buy this 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home in beautiful Launani Valley.  Actually, you can't now because some clients of mine are now under contract for it. It got listed Tuesday morning and had 2 offers by Tuesday night.

Hidden away in the hills of Mililani, this litte neighborhood, called Woodcreek, has some of the most amazing tropical views you will ever see on Oahu.  This home is right on a running creek, so when it rains you feel like you're in a tropical rain forest, because basically, you are.  With only the forrest behind this house, it's like a tropical getaway! 

Congrats to Russ and Liz on having their offer accepted on this beautiful home last night! 

Check out the view out their back yard.