5 Reasons to Own:

1. Tax Breaks Tax laws favor home ownership. Mortgage interest, property tax and some of your closing costs are fully deductible for income tax purposes.

2. Build Equity Hawaii has some of the highest rents in the nation. Rent will always go up. A fixed mortgage, however, will stay the same every year and allow you to build equity ownership interest in your home.  

3. Capital Gains Exclusion You can exclude up to $250,000 or $500,000 for a married couple, of profit from capital gains, every 24 months, as long as you’ve lived in the home for two of the last five years.

4. Appreciation In the last 30 years, Hawaii’s real estate prices have substantially decreased only during one period in the early 1990s.  Many homeowners view their home as the best investment they have made.

5. Pride of Ownership Owning your own home provides security and stability. Unlike renters, owners are able to make improvements to their home. It’s can also be an excellent hedge against inflation!   



5 Things a Real Estate Agent Should Provide:

One Find homes that BEST meet your search criteria

Two Assist in getting the best financing

Three Make sure you pay the BEST price

Four Help you avoid costly mistakes

Five Make sure you are well informed to make the best decision


Closing Cost to Expect:

Lender fees include charges for loan processing, underwriting, preparation and establishing an escrow account.

Third party fees include charges for insurance, title search, and other inspections such as termites

Government fees include deed recording and state and local mortgage taxes

Escrow and interest fees include homeowner’s insurance, loan interest, real estate taxes, and occasionally private mortgage insurance (PMI).

 
 

With a finite supply of land, a tourist driven economy, and an influx of military spending, Hawaii continues to be a unique real estate market. Lower interest rates and a large inventory of homes for sale, have made Hawaii a very attractive market for buyers.

For most people, buying a home is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. The home buying process can be lengthy and exhausting. A good agent should guide you through the entire home buying process and provide you with all the information and resources possible, so you can make the best decisions.

I have designed this five step home buying process which has proven to be thorough and efficient:   

Step 1: Get Pre-Approved Working with a mortgage banker or mortgage broker is the first step in the home buying process. In any real estate transaction which will entail financing, the lender is the one who ultimately makes it happen. Know your credit rating and straighten out any errors beforehand. Getting "pre-approved" early on will give you the edge in a competitive market and presents yourself to a seller as a serious buyer who is ready, willing and able to buy now. 

Step 2: Buyer’s Consultation Looking for the perfect home can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Effective communication is key. There’s an enormous amount of properties out there and the more information I get, the better equipped I will be to find the perfect place in the least amount of time.

Step 3: Showing Properties Now the fun begins! Based on your feedback, I will select properties that best fit your criteria and start scheduling showing appointments. I will keep you informed of new listings as they come on the market.    

Step 4: Submit an Offer When you have selected a property you are interested in, the first thing I do is to run a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of recent sales within the last six months for all comparable properties. Studying recent sales is the best way to determine a fair offer price and to insure you do not pay more than what the property is actually worth. The way the offer is written and presented is a key factor in getting it accepted. I have been in situations where my offer was not the highest priced offer, but was the one that got accepted. In multiple offer situations, buyers may have only one chance to give it their best shot!

Step 5: Opening Escrow When your offer is accepted, escrow will be opened and the countdown to closing begins. A timeline with specific time frames and deadlines will start. It is important to meet every deadline and if a buyer misses a key deadline, they could be in default and their initial deposit could be forfeited. I will explain the entire escrow process and make sure all time frames are met. The escrow process can be smooth, or, sometimes rocky. There are instances when things don’t always happen as planned. These are times when you need the advice of a seasoned real estate agent to guide you and prevent potential minefields.    


 

From the 2007 National Association of Realtors (NAR) Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey

  


The two most important expectations buyers have of their real estate agent is: helping them find the right house and negotiating sales terms and price.