Mililani, HI

I have watched lenders one by one drop like flies over the last few months. I see commercials telling consumers in trouble to contact their lender, because they want to help them. I honestly do not believe it. Have you ever tried to contact a lender for a short sale packet or to discuss not being able to make the payments and the need for some relief? Fortunately I have not been in that situation, but know several folks who have. They all have a consistent story. The lender would not take their call.

I personally have avoided doing short sales as much as possible. Dealing with the delays and the non-sense from the lenders just does not seem like it is worth the trouble. Buyers I work with so far have not tried to buy one. (thank goodness)

Currently I am working on a REO sale. The bank took the home back through foreclosure and has it listed with a real estate agent. She is a very good agent in my area that I know. We put in an offer and got a verbal acceptance. It has been over 3 weeks and we still do not have documents back from the seller (bank). While waiting to get this in escrow the interest rates have gone up a little. (Bad for the buyer.)

As time passes the buyer's excitement about this property is being replaced with doubt. If rates climb again it may be replaced with moving on.

When we put in the offer, we were told we could get a response in as fast as 24 hours. They must be using the metric system. If this takes much longer, the lender will be looking for another buyer.

So if these lenders are so overwhelmed with so many properties to deal with, would it not make sense to expedite the ones they can and get them out of the way? Wouldn't logic say that they are losing even more money by their incompetence and lack of urgency?

How many more folks out there feel the same as I do? If I had my choice I would avoid dealing with the lender controlled sales. With them creating that negative environment they are causing even bigger loses. Over the last year, I have read many articles and blog posts about this problem, yet if anything the lenders have gotten worse. I guess they simply do not care.

Double Petite Filet Mignon (about two inches thick) with sauteed onions and mushrooms for the main course with lightly grilled quarter cut potatoes on the side. My wonderful mom treated the whole family to dinner for my 51st Birthday. (I got around to writing this over a week late :)

Okay, so 51 years old wasn't as exciting as the half a century mark last year but the dinner at Assagio's Ristorante Italiano in Mililani Town Hawaii was superb!

It's always an entertaining session when we go out with mom, my son and daughter. Hmmm...seems the kids always manage to get a meal off one of us LOL!

Assagio's Restaurant at the Town Center in Mililani has an interesting history:

• In 1979 Chinese Thomas Ky's family chose him as the person to go to America after struggling on the outskirts of Saigon.
• On a crammed boat of 200 people he traveled to Malaysia and then spent nine months in a camp.
• He was sent to a foster home in Statton Island, NY went to school and worked hard six days a week and fourteen hours a day to send money home to his family.
• He came to Hawaii in 1984 (six months before he was to graduate from high school) to live with a relative because he thought he would be more successful being closer to Asian traditions.
• Starting literally from scratch he became a successful owner of SEVEN Restaurants here on Oahu.

Assagio's in Mililani opened in 1994 and our family has enjoyed many a meal here. From Italian pasta dishes to linguini chicken anchovy olio to filet mignon Assagio's is fine dining at it's best. If your preference is a nice Ceasar salad it is prepared table side.

If you are ever in Mililani Town and want a relaxing atmosphere with quality food Assagio's Ristorante Italiano is definitely a mouth watering event!

Phone for reservations: (808) 625-5115

© 2008 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog. All rights reserved.

Right off the beaten path in the middle of preservation land I drove until there was a grand opening in the woods displaying a wonderful grassy area with palms, trees and floral arrangements galore. The Mililani Memorial Park & Mortuary sits on 34.94 acres of land (or 1,521,986 sq. ft. of land) and displays rolling hills high above sea level for peace and tranquility for the dearly departed.

In 1991 they proposed a bill for rezoning for the Mililani Memorial Park from AG-1 (Restricted Agricultural) to P-2 (General Preservation Distric) for the expansion of Mililani Memorial Park & Mortuary and it still is one of the more popular parks just for the tranquility that surrounds it.

Many a time I have driven up to this wonderful park just to look at the scenery from atop this private land in the middle of nowhere. The other day was such a lovely bright clear sunny day so I made the drive to catch a few shots of the beauty that surrounded it.

From rolling hills to the Waianae Mountain Range a cool breeze whisps this wide open land. Past the acreage of this huge memorial park are the woods and rolling hills that separate the peaceful grounds from the hustle and bustle of the residential and industrial areas of Waipio Gentry.

Turning slightly to the left with my camera I caught the beauty of the view to the ocean from the Mililani Memorial Park.

One thing is for certain is that we live and we die and it's what we do in between that matters.

In May of this year I went to Kauai to attend the funeral services for my aunt. It was a Buddhist ceremony and celebrated her life. If it's one thing that I believe is that it is inevitable that we as humans will pass on sooner or later.

In that respect we enjoy our lives to the fullest and accept the inevitable.

Planning ahead for the occasion is a benefit and though it may not be something everyone likes to think about it is definitely something we need to be prepared for.

Mililani Memorial Park & Mortuary says, "You cannot predict, prevent, evade or avoid or postpone this decision when it involves those you leave behind". If you are wanting more information call: (808) 677-5631. Address: 94-560 Kamehameha Hwy. Waipahu, HI 96797 (Mililani Memorial Park Road)

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© 2008 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog. All rights reserved.

Tomorrow the Division Champion Mililani High School Trojans will face private school powerhouse St. Louis Crusaders in a pre-season game at Mililani Stadium.

The JV teams take the field at 4:00pm followed by the varsity game at 7:00pm. Head Coach Darnell Arceneaux has been training the Trojans exceptionally hard and has them ready for this extremely tough opponent. We are all looking forward to an exciting season.

The season roster and schedule is posted on the team's website. http://www.MililaniFootball.com

GO TROJANS!

Scenarios:

• You the REALTOR®, you walk into a potential listing and the home has a few (hundred) too many items in the house. What do you say to the seller?
• The seller wants $75,000 more than the home is worth. Do you tell them the advice they got from their hairdresser neighbor or uncle from another town is a mile off?
• The house is dirty, messy and has a bad smell (Big Dog). Do you say lovely home, I am sure it will sell fast or do you tell it to them straight?
• The orange bathroom walls and hot pink bedroom carpet is not going to be popular among buyers. Do you say lovely choice of colors or do you talk about neutralizing?

These are among some of the basics we as REALTORS® deal with on a daily basis. If you are a professional, you need to be honest and tell them the truth up front. You also need to be diplomatic and not hurt feelings or insult anyone. You are speaking about their home. You are however an expert and they brought you in to help them, not stroke their ego.

Being professional includes preparing clients for the process ahead and keeping them informed. I tell clients I would rather tell them the truth up front and not stand in front of them three months from now making lame excuses. A true test of a professional is you ability to say no without insulting someone. Most people understand no. What really makes them angry is being mislead and later having to deal with the damages.

We are dealing with the most expensive item in their lives in most cases and we need to treat it as such.

To address clutter, I discuss making the space look as big as we can. I also talk about what they loved about the home when they bought it and discuss how we can make the home better show that to potential buyers. We also need to allow buyers to envision the home with their stuff in it. If the walls are filled with family pictures and shelves have a ton of collectables they will not be able to place themselves in there. In some cases bringing in a professional stager may be the solution. If the seller does not except my advice, they may accept it from a staging professional.

The pet question is a big one. Many pet owners are immune to the smell. I delicately discuss that many buyers do not have pets and detect the smell easily. I also mention that many buyers and/or their children have allergies to pet dander and fur. Hopefully when I begin the discussion, they pick up on it and make it easier for me.

The loud colors I handle with my famous speech about staging. I tell sellers there is two ways to stage a home. We can stage it to live in it and we can stage it to sell. Staging to sell requires that we neutralized and depersonalize. I have had a few clients resist by telling my how much they love something. In the most tactful way I can I remind them they are not going to be living here and we need to prepare it for the new owners. In most cases the sellers have gone with my suggestions and we have had a successful sale. In two cases they held their guns and the sell price was less than I felt we might have gotten, and it took longer to sell. In both cases, I gave my professional advice and then accepted the seller's decision. It is their home and their choice in the end.

If sellers are completely unreasonable are not willing to price the home within reason or make any effort to make it sellable, I then do the most professional thing I can. I do not take the listing. This is hard for most agents to do, but there are times when you will not be able to help them.

In one case where I rejected a listing, the seller respected me for doing it and agreed to my recommendations. To this day we are good friends and has not only been a repeat client, but has sent me referrals.

Good luck and good selling!