Every now and then I get myself caught up in the emotions of buyers - huge mistake to make! So I had to give myself a reality check. I recently had a condo listed in beach resort community, first floor unit, facing the street. I had buyers come in and tell me I would never sell this unit at that price, it's on the first floor, no views, the other side of the building has the golf course, first floor units don't sell very good - you know the drill - on and on they went. I must have had a weak moment - I started to feel like maybe I really had a - looser - listing. I know better than to listen to all that - but I did. Like I said - I put my guard down at some point in the conversation. So - Then what happened ? Along comes a buyer (over the internet - Canadian) that loves the location - he had seen my blog about this property and wanted to put an offer in on it. I said well, wait a minute - how well do you know the building- he tells me he knows it inside and out. Now the Hawaii real estate market is different than most - I have many, many buyers from the mainland that buy properties sight unseen - so the last thing you want is a client to spend thousands of dollars on air travel and lodging, just too get here and be disappointed in what you have sold them - you won't stay in business long making sales like that - back to my story. So I ask him - you know this is on the street side of the complex - he says yes I know - I wouldn't have one on the golf course side, I shake my head, look at phone - I have all my bars showing - good clear signal - so I ask him why not. " Are you kidding me - it's so damn windy on that golf course - I can't even hold my newspaper still long enough to read it " " I'm lucky if my patio furniture is not at the neighbors unit when I get back every day on that side" .(this complex has a high vacation rental occupancy - so he had stayed in many of the units) Well my day got even better - I told him - you know it's on the first floor - I wouldn't have it any other way he says, I like to walk out on the grass - pick some of those Hawaiian flowers, bring them back inside! I said well - you know - there is only what we call a - peek a boo - ocean view. He asks me - have you seen what the 3rd floor units call a view - my answer - no! He tells me it is just a small sliver of blue - from 2,000 feet away - hell if I want to see the ocean - I will just stroll down there with my wife and watch the sunset, you can't get the sunset from any of the units.

So - to each his own.

After his arrival here to perform the inspection - he did run into other realtors with listing in there. He had been given some misinformation about sales in that complex - basically they told him that the first floor units were hard to sell, the upper floors were the ones that were sought after, and the upper units were worth at least a $100,000 more because of that famous view - kind of funny - my buyer got caught up in the same BS I did. I went ahead and did some of my own research, I ran all the sales in that complex for the last 2 years, and here is what I found

1 first floor sales, last 2 years = 5 @ $567,000 median price

2^nd Floor Sales, last 2 years = 7 @ $669,000 median price

3^rd Floor sales, last 2 years = 4 @ $582,000 median price

So honestly - I feel sorry for those 7 on the 2nd floor - when they could have gone up to the 3rd floor and save $90,000

I did gain a lot of trust with this client, and unfortunately as we speak the escrow is being cancelled - due to C51 - property inspection (they had found some water damage on the lower cabinets - minor - but important to the buyer). The tough part about this one, was that it was a short sale, and there was no more room for negotiation - but I am looking for another unit for him.

Bottom line is - stay on track - stay focused - and listen - but not too much.

Aloha, and have a great day

Lance Owens (RS)

(808) 936-8383

Lance@KonaHomeTeam.com

www.KonaHomeTeam.com

Aloha Kona Realty Inc.

78-6740 Alii Drive