Michael's Blog

I opened this morning's paper and read the headlines: "Struggling owners lost homes to scams". The thing that surprised me, as I read the article, is that it took so long for the criminals to get busted. As a realtor, I often tell anyone who will listen that they need to be on the lookout for sca...

From the years 1992 through 1995, it seemed there were sevaral seperate time periods when there would be a sudden blossoming in various neighborhoods of those signs. "WE BUY HOUSES! 555-5555" Usually, they would sprout up in the neighborhood soon after one of the "SEMINARS" had passed through. Af...

Home Sales Sink As "Market Continues to Slide Away". That's the front page lead in to an article in "Hawai'i's Business Today, a business section insert in the Honolulu Advertiser, my local morning paper. The article is captioned with the header, "Prices to keep Falling, Analysts say." Then of co...

Of course, this is a situation that can be wrought with dangers. Disgruntled tenants can sabotage the efforts to sell the property by any number of means. Landlords must be aware of and follow the letter of the law pertaining to the local Landlord-Tenant Code in giving proper notice to the tenant...

When you sell a condominium or townhouse, one of the standard contingencies is that the Seller must provide copies of all of the Associations Condominium Documents. That can include a whole list of documents including, but not limited to, House Rules, By-laws, Covenants, Declarations, Insurance S...

NO, I WILL NOT DISCOUNT MY FEE! IF YOU WANT THE SERVICES OF THE LOWEST BIDDER, FIND ANOTHER AGENT! I just had to get that off of my chest! Now, let me say that I do not mean to disparage the Discount Broker. It is a legitimate business model, and as we saw when the markt was booming, it proved t...

I just thought it might be interesting to look at a post I had placed on AR almost a year and a half ago, back on December 21, 2006. At that time it was just good for a laugh, as we were enjoying the high times of a booming market. In those heady days, which are quickly receding into the distant ...

It's hard to believe how fast time flies. When I first moved to Mililani, back in 1977, I was a young 26 year old, enjoying life as a freewheeling mortorcylce salesman. Mililani was the first Planned Community in Hawaii, and it was planted "way out" in the pineapple and sugar cane fields in what ...

All the while that we are hearing the dire news about the mortgage meltdown, the subprime mess, the crisis  of foreclosures, and on and on, how many of us are looking ahead to the rebound? I think this is a timely question, because NOW is the time to plan for it. Sure, the problems will continue ...

More good news for first time Homebuyers! The Hawai'i Housing Finance Development Corp. (HHFDC) has announced that they will provide $20 million in credits for first time homebuyers. Anyone who has not been a homeowner for the past tree years and wants to own now, is considered a first time homeb...