Tips for Hiring an Architect in Hawaii

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Today, we talk about selecting an architectural style for a recently purchased lot.

• Select a style and type of house prior to hiring an architect. Most architects prefer to work in one style.
• Browse online and in magazines for styles that would compliment your lot. These examples can provide you with the features. When you find those examples, research the architect that build those houses. Are they in your area? Are they accessible?
• Look at three architects before picking one. What happens in the beginning is crucial to the end result.

Thanks so much! I look forward to talking with you soon.

Are You Planning on Building a New Home in Oahu?

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Today, I want to talk about some of the things involved in building your own home. There are many people involved in the process and there are many factors that can make it difficult.

The first thing to decide is where you want to live. There are a lot of things that go into it. Deciding on a lot is key, and the best way to do that is to go online. Often times, you'll find a property that is in bad shape that you can tear down and rebuild on the lot.

Another huge decision you need to make is how much you can afford to spend on the lot. When you buy a run-down property to knock down and build a beautiful home in its place, you have to ensure you have the funds to make it happen before you begin the process. A good rule to keep in mind is that the purchase price of the lot should be 1/5 to 1/4 of the amount that you're going to spend on the house. So, if you buy a $1 million lot, you want to put a $5 million house on it. Establish your budget accordingly!

If you have any questions about building a new home in Oahu, don't hesitate to reach out to me. I've helped many people build the home of their dreams and would love to do the same for you!

Financing Your New Construction Home

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After you've found the lot of your dreams, the next step is determining how you're going to purchase it and finance the building procedure.

First, go to your local banker and talk about your plan. Typically you want to buy the lot or the tear-down house with cash, and then finance the build and convert that loan into a permanent mortgage. This way, you don't have to deal with double-billing.

Again, you're looking to determine what your build cost will be. At that point, you need to hire an architect, lay out what you want, and how much you want to spend. Typically, architects charge between 10% and 20% of the build cost. Included in the architect's services is management of the general contractor and builder to make sure everything is done according to plan.

At that point, your architect will help you find a builder. If you have any other questions about the new construction process, please give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

Can We Help You Find Your Perfect Lot?

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Aloha! After listening to my last two videos on buying and building a home, you know it takes a while to find that perfect lot, perfect architect/builder, and all the other details that go into it. A smart thing to do if you are in this situation is hiring a real estate agent, who essentially works for free on this end. That’s because their commission is actually paid by the seller of the property for helping you find the perfect lot.

He or she often has contacts and knows about properties that are maybe a little off the beaten path or in secret locations in a given area. When it comes to the type of agent you should hire, we recommend looking for a CRS real estate agent, which is the highest designation you can get. It stands for certified residential specialist, and they do broker price opinions as well as regular sales.

When someone comes to me, if I don’t have a home that I’m working with a developer on, we do searches in the local area to find something appropriate. If you’re looking to find a lot here on Oahu, your best bet is visiting your friendly broker or agent, like myself. If you have any questions for me or about my team, feel free to give us a call or send us an email any time.

Make Your Home an Investment

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Lately, a lot of people have been asking me if your personal residence is an investment. It's a difficult question, but I will answer it in today's video. 

Generally speaking, the answer is no. However, if you rent your residence or rent out rooms to boarders, your residence would be considered an investment. An investment has a revenue stream, which would be the rent you collect. 




All investments of personal property are valued by their revenue stream and by the appreciation of property in direct location to it. Your home's price can be affected positively or negatively by things such as imminent domain or freeways. 

The thing to remember about your home is that's just what it is: your home. The best way to look at your home is as a place to live, and maintain, and enjoy.

If you have any other questions about real estate, please send me an email or give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you.

What's the Most Important Part of Real Estate?

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People commonly say that real estate is always about location, location, location. I have to say that this is quite true, especially here in Hawaii. 

The value of your home will always be related in some way to the location of your home. Most people in Hawaii want to be close to the water, so this determines the value of the homes on this island. 

Location should always be a major consideration when you go to purchase a home. You could find a home in a beautiful location, but that location might be far away from an airport or a grocery store. In that instance, you have quite the decision to make.

You could buy an expensive home right on the ocean that's far from the necessities of modern life, or you could purchase a less expensive home that's closer to the necessities that you need but further away from the luxuries that you desire (the ocean). 

There are a lot of pros and cons to different locations around Hawaii. Different neighborhoods have different amenities, and the lifestyles change from one location to another.

If you need help deciding a nice place to live, please don't hesitate to contact me, I would love to point you in the direction of a nice home!

3 Ways to Prepare Your Arizona or Hawaii Home for Sale

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The first thing that I recommend doing when you've decided to sell your home is to get an inspection done on it. Being proactive is important when it comes to repairs, and buyers will appreciate this when you go to sell. Knowing the condition that your home is in is also helpful when you sell it. 

The second thing that I recommend is to start cleaning out closets and storing things in your garage, or you can even get a storage unit if you think that's necessary. Declutter your home as well as you can. Ideally, your home should look like it was built yesterday when you show it to buyers. 

To prepare for showings and open houses, I recommend taking the advice of David Knox. I can send you a link to an excellent video where he gives advice on how you can improve the look of your home to get top dollar when you sell it. 

If you have any further questions about how to improve the look of your home, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would love to come out to your property and give you pointers on how to stage it in order to sell for top dollar!

How to Keep Your Home From Depreciating

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Real estate is always a pretty safe investment, but appreciation is not a guarantee. Today, I cover a few ways you can prevent your home from losing value!

A good way to think about homeownership is this: homes depreciate, but the land those homes are on appreciates. In order to ensure your home depreciates at a sustainable level, it's crucial to maintain your house in a better condition each year. That means doing little things, like making repairs, improvements, additions, and other things. The goal is to keep your home as close to new as possible. 

You can't change the location of your home, but you can change the value of the home itself by making the right renovations and fixups. If you have any questions about keeping your home in great condition, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to hear from you! 

Four Reasons Your Home Might Fail to Sell

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Today, I want to briefly discuss why your home is failing to sell! This is a topic I've discussed often with people around Oahu, so I want to share 4 reasons homes fail to sell:

1. Priced wrong
2. Not neat inside
3. Lack of exposure
4. Lack of marketing

It's really as simple as these four reasons, and they are all things that I can help you with! Give me a call or shoot me a quick email for the real estate assistance you deserve. You won't regret it!

What's the Easiest Way to Build Your Net Worth?

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Today, I want to discuss the topic of net worth!

Net worth is what you own minus what you owe. For most of us, it's a lifetime project. For example, if you owned a condo that was worth $100,000 and you only owed $90,000, the net worth of that asset would be $10,000! 

When building net worth, you have the advantage of leverage when investing in real estate, which is the primary reason it's used to grow estates quickly. Stocks and bonds are other assets that can help grow your net worth. Generally, personal property (like cars) tends to depreciate in value, while real property (your home or condominium) tends to appreciate.  

Building net worth with the advantage of leverage is the way most millionaires begin their development. If you have questions about how you can begin building your net worth, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, give me a call. I would love to help you reach the financial success you've always wanted! 

Scottsdale Arizona Property

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Today, I want to talk briefly about a beautiful property at 7117 East Rancho Drive MLS #5271516. 

The 2-bedroom/2-bathroom condominium located in Optima at Camelview, at the corner of Scottsdale Road and Camelback Road, is located on the ground level. It's surrounded by a lush landscape and has all the benefits of a contemporary lifestyle. 

The property includes 2 car spaces and a storage area located underneath the unit in the parking garage. There are two indoor pools and two outdoor pools, so swimming is always an option, regardless of the weather. There are two spas on the property, a dry cleaning service, and a meeting room that's available by appointment.

The Optima at Camelview is adjacent to Fashion Square and is only one block from Old Town Scottsdale, with its multiple art galleries, restaurants, and theaters.

Give me a call at (480) 231.0782 if you or anyone you know is interested in this beautiful property. It's listed at $663,000 and occupancy is on the close of escrow! I look forward to hearing from you soon! 

Oahu Real Estate Market Statistics April 2015

Are You Missing out on the Benefits of 1031 Exchanges?

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Hello, and welcome back! Today, I have a few quick tips on 1031 Exchanges.

If you're an investor, you need to take advantage of 1031 Exchanges when they're appropriate. In order to do this, seek the advice of your CPA to see whether or not you should use one. 

In a 1031 Exchange, when you buy a property that's worth more than the one you're selling, the amount of profit that you're taking from the sale of your first property is considered "boot". The amount you need to spend on your new property must be at least the amount of the original investment and the "boot". For example, if you buy a $1 million property and you are able to sell it for $2 million, you have $1 million in "boot". You can then turn to purchase a new $2 million home using the untaxed $1 million "boot" as an investment. 

You have 45 days to identify the property you want to invest in after the initial sale if you want to qualify for a 1031 Exchange. If you have any questions about this type of investing, or if you have real estate needs of any kind, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to give you a hand! 

Buying and Selling Real Estate in Hawaii

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Today I'll be discussing how to buy or sell a home in Hawaii. The rules are different than what you would find in the states, and this is due to the rule of King Kamehameha. Originally, he owned all the land in Hawaii. He leased parcels of land to people around the Island, and eventually these lands were purchased. 

This purchased land is called fee-simple land. We now have fee-simple land with condominiums and homes, but there is also leased land around the islands that have properties on them. 

There is also home land, which is still technically owned by the monarchy and managed by the state of Hawaii. This land is all leased, and it must be owned by native Hawaiians. These people can sell their homes on the land, but they cannot sell the land itself. 

The same thing goes for condos in Waikiki. Sometimes a person will own the land and the property on it, and sometimes a person will only own the condominium. 

Sometimes this is confusing for home buyers and sellers on the island. Hopefully this has cleared things up a bit, as it sometimes creates problems for us in our transactions. 

Looking to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar?

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Today I'm going to be doling out some tips for you about how you can take the right steps towards selling your home for top dollar. This year appears to be a particularly good year to sell, so be sure to listen up. 

Find a good brokerage with excellent marketing plans. This is essential to selling for top dollar. You will need a firm with strong marketing skills, and the ability to take photographs and videos of your home to be put online and posted on several different websites. You'll want someone who can market your home to the widest audience possible, in order for you to find the most qualified buyers. 

In Hawaii, most homes are listed between $700,000-$2,000,000. A two million dollar home will obviously need to be marketed differently than a $700K home would be, and your real estate agent should know the difference between what it takes to sell those two very different properties. 

Pricing a home correctly is also a very critical step in the process. If your home is not priced correctly from the beginning, it will have no chance at selling well. A competitive price requires researching the market and leveraging other homes against yours to bring in multiple offers and increase your sale price. 

We pride ourselves on pricing homes correctly at Fathom Realty, and we would love to do a comparative analysis on yours to put you in a great position to sell for top dollar. Please contact us at any time, we would be happy to speak with you!

What's the Secret to Selling in Oahu?

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With the busy spring real estate season creeping up on us, there's no better time to talk about pricing your home to sell. 

Why do some homes receive multiple offers and sell for higher than their listing price? It's because they are priced to market! Putting the right value on your home is the only way to get multiple offers and sell your home at a higher value. It's all about being competitive - your listing price needs to be below the price of the nicest home you're competing with, but also above the prices of some of the homes you're competing with that aren't in as great of condition as yours is.

In general, you want your home to be priced attractively to draw in as many buyers as possible. If people find a good value in your home, you'll get lots of offers.

If you have any questions about how you can generate multiple offers and get top dollar for your home, give me a call or shoot me an email. I would love to help you accomplish your selling goals! 

How we helped Coreen sell her home with our sound advice

"I sold my home at more than we started at! I had put a lot of money into a unit and then decided that I needed more space. I asked Tish to look at it, and even though it wasn't the best time for selling in our area, he was confident we could move it.  Tish had a plan, but I wanted to give this couple a chance to purchase my home. Unfortunately, they couldn't get qualified, although if they had followed Tish’s advice, they probably could have. His advice is very sound. He tells you exactly where you should be. I don’t think I've ever had a Realtor who was as well prepared as he was.  I was extremely pleased."

What You Don't Know About VA Loans Might Surprise You!

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Have you ever heard of a VA loan before? If not, you may be in for a pleasant surprise.

Back in the day, when I was serving in the military, a VA loan could only be used once. Today, however, that has changed. Every two years, active and past members of the military can apply for a loan with nothing down. The only requirement is that you live in the house for two years - after that, you can apply for another loan and do what you want. 

This program provides a great investment opportunity here in Hawaii. If you're interested in obtaining a VA loan, or want to discuss your options, don't hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email.

I would love to help out a fellow service member! 

Thanks, and make it a great day!