Cost is relative. If you live in Haiti, a hamburger for $3 is expensive. If you live in North Dakota, a house for $200k is expensive. There are places around the country that are just as expensive or more expensive than Hawaii.

In Alamo California, the median home price is $1,499,795. Now that seems really high for a median price. Oahu median home prices are just $600k right now. Whoa! That's cheap :)

In Franklin Lakes NJ, the median home price is $1,337,877.
Here is one I was surprised by: Lake Forest IL has a median home price of $1,186,521. What? It's more expensive to live in IL than in Oahu? Now that just doesn't make any sense at all.

Then there is some place with the goofy name Wolf Trap VA with a Median home price of $894,122.

There are several cities in Connecticut with over a million dollars median home price. In Darien, Conn, the median price is $1,464,129. Now maybe you expected some east coast and west coast areas to have sky high prices, but you would expect Arizona? There is some city in AZ called Paradise Valley with a Median home price of $2,075,930. WHAT?

It costs about 3 times as much to live in AZ than it does to live in Hawaii? What are all these people thinking living there? They should move to Oahu!

And usually when I think of Texas, I think of gigantic houses on 10 acres for about $100k. But in a place called Highland Park, the Median home price is $1,603,608. Hello? ?

The most expensive has to be CA. A Silicone valley suburb called Los Altos hills, where the Median home price is $2,371,601. And Hillsborough, CA has the highest at a Median home price of $2,606,764. They don't even allow condos and townhouses at all. None. Just gigantic houses.

So the next time you want to complain that the prices of homes in Oahu are too high, just be glad you don't live in one of the communities above. It could be way worse. Besides, you get to live in Hawaii!

Is it safe to live in Oahu? I'm asked that question frequently. People say they want a safe area. As if maybe if they don't say that, I'm going to put them in the middle of a war zone. Well safe could mean many things. To me, safe means I won't get killed or attacked. Most of Oahu is very safe in those terms, meaning I probably won't get murdered.

But Star Bulletin reported this morning that Hawaii has the highest larceny-theft rate in the country in 2006 despite an 11 percent decrease from the previous year, according to statistics the FBI released yesterday.

So maybe I'll get robbed? Hawaii had an 11.9% reduction in all property crimes in '06 but still had the fifth-highest property crime rate in the country. Hawaii also had the 6th highest motor vehicle theft rate last year despite a 15 percent drop compared with 2005.

    "Fueled by double-digit increases in robberies and aggravated assaults, a 10.1
    percent increase in violent crime hit Hawaii in 2006 compared with the previous
    year. However, the state's violent crime rate of 281.2 was the 16th lowest in
    2006. And we had the fourth-lowest murder and negligent manslaughter rate in the country last year. "

Would you rather be murdered or robbed? I guess what this says is that we have a lot of poor people who want to steal your car or wallet, but they are not the violent type. Most likely the high theft is because a lot of youth grow up very poor in Hawaii, especially in Waianae. Also a lot of the theft occurs when tourists leave valuables in their cars.

As usual, The DC was the murder capital of the country. It also had the highest rates of violent crime, robbery and aggravated assault, by wide margins over the next highest. Great, so that's what the politicians do for fun. I wonder if the stats would be any different if they just took them from the capitol.

Even though Oahu is a small island of only about 40 miles across, it can be really hard to decide where to live if you haven't lived here before. Well let me make a case for Waikele.

If you've only heard of it once or twice, then you've probably heard of it in the context of the Waikele outlet mall. It's a nice little (very little) outlet mall with some nice stores like Calvin Klein and Coach. But that's not what Waikele is all about.

Where is Waikele? It's easy to miss because there really isn't much you can see from the freeway, and there isn't anything to see other than houses and a few simple shopping centers. Waikele has great newer homes that are priced much lower than East Oahu, but without the traffic of the West side of Oahu. In fact Waikele is right about in the middle of H1, which means the middle south part of Oahu. It's 20 minutes to Mililani and 20 minutes to Down town Honolulu (without traffic.)

With great golf in the community, alot of the homes have some kind of golf course view. Waikele is a master planned project, which means the streets all make sense and look orderly, with homes on nice even sized lots. A lot of older Oahu is sort of a mish mash of homes on random sized lots with random construction. Waikele offers that nicer manicured look.

If you have to commute around the island to multiple areas, Waikele can be a great option because you can get anywhere on the island within about 30 minutes (except Hauula and Punaluu. It takes an hour to get there no matter where you are.)

I like the Lowes nearby, Home Depot only an exit away, and the nice variety of homes and condos. Waikele is harder to find in the MLS and in home searches, because technically it's in the city of Waipahu, which for the most part is kind of run down.

If you want to search Waikele, the way to do it is to search for homes built since about 1980 in Waipahu. That will give you mostly homes in Waikele, because Waipahu homes are older.

Don't forget Waikele. Great homes, great shopping, centrally located in Oahu, and good prices for homes.

Star did a great article on the average pay in Hawaii compared to other states. People talk a lot about the high cost of living here in Hawaii, but in almost every case with my clients, they are getting a nice raise to come here. So I've always thought that pay in Hawaii was more than other states overall, but today's news article confirms it.

From Star:

    Honolulu was 5 percent higher than the national average in 2006, ranking it in
    the top tier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In a comparison
    of pay in 78 metropolitan areas across the nation, Honolulu ranked No. 17 in a
    tie with Philadelphia, according to bureau economist Amar Mann. "Honolulu is
    basically in the top 20 percent, which is the highest quintile," said Mann. The
    uptick in pay, however, is counterbalanced by the higher cost of living and
    inflation here. Consumer prices for Honolulu went up 5 percent over last year,
    according to the bureau's report last month, which was more than double the 2.4
    percent gain for the entire nation."

Hawaii real estate is expensive, but it just got more affordable.  While most mainland states allow loans up to $417k at conforming rates, Hawaii has allowed up to $625,500 until this year.  Loans above those amounts were jumbo loans with rates around 6% as of last month.

This week some lenders have allowed a new maximum conforming loan amount of $793,750. Lenders can now offer that amount at about 4.5% on a 30yr fixed loan. Amazing! Homes in the $700k-$1million price range just got cheaper to buy!

It used to be that new home builders in Hawaii and just about
everywhere did NOT negotiate. If you walked in and liked their model,
you could buy a house like it, and overpay for upgrades if you were
really determined to do so .



But if you ever asked them to come down in price, or change some terms,
you were told very politely, "please sign on the line and stop asking
for anything more than we want to give you."



In over 10 years in this business, I had never seen a builder willing
to negotiate, until this month. I took a client of mine over to a
builder (let's just say, in West Oahu), and we found a beautiful large
house that had a huge lot.   My client loves gardening (like me) so
this 2000sqft+ house with 10,000+ sqft of land was perfect.  But it
seemed a little pricey.



Then just as we were looking around the model, the builder's agent
offered this up: "The developer is offering to pay all closing costs,
plus a $30k credit for upgrades, plus a 2-1 buydown on the rate.  BTW,
a 2-1 buydown means your interest rate starts out 2 percent below the
market for a year, then 1 percent below the next year, then fixed for
28 more years.



But my client, still looking for a better deal, asked for more.  After
much discussion, he was offered an additional discount on the price AND
an additional credit for upgrades.



In the end the price reductions and credits added up to about 13% of
the list price of the house. So the next time you walk into a builder's
office, put on your game face.  Get as much as you can out of the
deal.  Buyer's, it's your market. Even in the builder's office!

There are several things that led me to post an entry such as this, and I've been thinking about it for several days. This is the kind of post that can cost me a lot of credibility, but here goes.

First, on Sunday I had 50 people at an open house. It is my Aina Haina listing for $1.1million, a nice house but nothing out of the ordinary for the area. A nice pool home with 5 bedrooms and 2300sqft. I haven't had 50 people at an open house in about 4 years. Another agent in my office said he had 25 people, and the $1.2million house he is listing was in escrow last week, until the buyer found a few problems in the roof.

Also, the March stats for sales came out, and like I predicted, the number of sales jumped up significantly, while median Oahu home prices rose again to $600k. The number of listings is down again, to about 1900 homes and 2200 condos, and the number of sales was up about 20% compared to Jan and Feb.

Finally, there was this very poignant article in Forbes, which said that "The end result is that the stock market and the economy are being lifted on a sea of liquidity, giving us a V-shaped recovery. Very soon, the recession will officially end. This is not a dead-cat bounce, and it's not government spending. It's easy money, plain and simple."

The median price of Oahu single family homes rose in March from the previous month back to $600,000 for the first time this year.  Sales continued to shrink from a year earlier.

Only 188 single-family home sales closed last month which was 33 percent less while Honolulu condo sales lost 36 percent.

The median price paid for a condominium rose 2.7 percent from the prior month to $305,000, but dropped 7.4 percent drop from the prior year's $329,300.

Oahu's real estate market is weaker than last year for last month, but seems to be picking up right now.  I have several buyers in escrow and listings are getting a lot of calls and showings.

While interest rates are super low at about 4.5% and buyers perceive that the market has hit bottom.I have received a LOT of inquiries since Feb 1st.

 The market may have hit bottom in about December.  Remember that March numbers reflect buyers that went into escrow in mid to late January.  The buyers who go into escrow this month will really drive this year's market, and those numbers won't show up until the May stats are released. 

This week I had the unfortunate displeasure of working with a "discount" real estate service. They list a house with a flat fee of $3500 and claim to save you money.

While they claim to save you money, here is a perfect example of how they cost their client money this week.

My client was a buyer, living in Hawaii, and we made an offer at nearly the asking price. I faxed it over and expected to hear from the agent, since regular agents call right away when you send an offer, to go over the details and see if there is anything we need to adjust before presenting, such as closing time, special terms, etc.

This dicsount agent didn't call. FOR 3 DAYS. I left numerous messages, sent numerous emails, kept calling and calling, nothing. The receptionist said, "he will get back to you right away," to which I laughed out loud at her.

After 3 days, I get a 2 sentence email. "The seller got a full price offer. We will be declining your offer."

This is full service? If the agent had told me there were multiple offers, we would have offfered more. If the agent had counter offered, we would have accepted at least 20k higer. So this agent cost their seller at least 20k! 20k even in Hawaii goes a long way. My buyer was furious at the seller's agent.

How is that any discount? The only discount was the house! If you want to make the most money, you gotta go with full service. The discount agents just DON'T CARE about you!

For Full service Real Estate, Call me.

Advertise First, you have to advertise. In Hawaii this means putting an ad the Honolulu Advertiser, Star Bulletin and on Craigslist. Then have some very bright large signs pointing the way from the major streets, like Kalanianaole Hwy. No signs with small writing please, just big arrows and "Moving Sale". Add "huge" or "giant" or "multi family" and you're bound to get a lot of traffic. Ask permission to post signs at work, church, grocery stores and other local businesses. Tell friends.

In your ad, list popular items to attract more customers. Furniture is huge in Hawaii, and so are tools and fishing gear.Try to coordinate with neighbors and have a neighborhood sale. This really brings in the buyers! You will have people driving from the opposite end of the island for your sale! Organize

Now that you have advertised your sale, you really have to organize your stuff. First of all, the hot Hawaiian sun can make a yard sale very unpleasant, so buy or borrow some canopes so that people will stick around longer. If it's too hot, people will run back to their air conditioned cars. Just a little shade makes a big difference.

A couple weeks before your garage sale, start saving shopping bags and boxes. Make sure items are clean and neat looking. This will help you get more money for them.

Put price tage on everything. Use different colored stickers or an identification code on the tags if more than one family is involved in your sale. People in Hawaii will swarm your sale if you have advertised it well, so be ready for chaos! No time to ask, "who's stuff is this?" Have newspaper ready to wrap fragile things. Put sets of things together. Put the same types of stuff in same area: kitchen stuff, gardening stuff, clothes, toys, tools, etc... Hang clothes on a clothesline or on rack.

Doll clothing and accessories are always in demand. Dolls and stuffed toys make a hit with the kiddies and they can persuade their parents to buy something.

Set up a cashier area with calculator a secure cash box with small bills and coins to make change Make it comfortable

The weather in Hawaii can change suddenly, so be prepared. Have several large sheets of plastic handy to cover everything quickly for that sudden, unexpected rain shower.

Have some soft drinks and bottled water with ice in a cooler . Merchandise

Separate inexpensive items from more costly ones. Establish areas such as "Under $1.00," "Under $5.00," "Free with purchase of $5.00 or more," etc.

String up a clothesline to display any clothing you may have. Remember, clothing for all ages, men or women, is always in great demand. Children's clothing goes over best and especially about the time for school to start in the fall.

Set up tables to display small merchandise. Leave room between tables for a lot of shoppers to browse without being crowded.

Glasses, dishes, and cups will sell faster if you price them in sets of 6 for $1.00 instead of 15 cents each. Paperback books, magazines, records and items that have titles will sell more readily if they are marked separately. If they want them collectively, they'll ask you. Put loose game pieces in a Ziplock bag and secure to the inside of the box.

To get the best prices at your moving sale, clean and shine the objects you're selling, and display them creatively.

Make the sign overly large. Get something that's 18" x 24" or larger. Draw attention to the sign with helium filled balloons or bright colors on the sign will attract drivers' eyes.

If you put toys next to kids' clothes, the kids will play while mom shops. And the kids might ask mom to buy a toy, too! Put high demand and high priced items up high on tables so that they can be more easily seen from the street by people driving slowly by. Toys, on the other hand, should be on the ground where kids can pick them up and get attached to them. Use removable stickers to clearly mark prices.

Be creative with pricing. Things like "buy one, get one free" can work for you, too. Mark things down as the sale progresses. Don't hesitate to do something unusual. Informing your next customer that they're the 25th shopper and entitled to a 25% discount will get a conversation started and could lead to a sale. Toward the end of the day, do free giveaways. "If you buy a shirt, you get free pants."

Pricing items for a garage sale is arbitrary. It's hard to say what an item is really worth, but it's worth more in Hawaii than on the mainland. Leave room so you can make what you want even after some haggling.

Donate leftover items to charity and get a receipt for taxes. Toward the end some people might come by and offer you a hundred bucks for everything left over. If they do, take it! Don't be left with a bunch of useless junk.