Kapolei, HI

Saturday February 28th marked the last day existing owners were able to complete their reservations and have their priority on the owners list. As such, it was absolutely wild around the sales office! At 4:30 pm on Saturday when I left with my clients I believe there were 10 people in the office who were waiting to meet with the marketing staff. I was both startled by the crowd and glad that we were time stamped with the last of our reservations. With the unofficial tally estimated between owners and new purchasers combined at 70+ including my last three, the marketing staff is well on their way to having over 200 reservations by the Sale Event in June.

Those are impressive numbers for a sale event that was started at the end of January and was promoted from the ground up by the marketing staff of the Beach Villas at Ko Olina. With 120 units available and 70 reservations already in place, it is turning into quite a successful promotion considering there is still quite a bit of time until the sale event on June 6th and 7th.

If you have been curious about the units or would be interested in seeing some more pictures of the Villas, I have posted some pics on Flickr that were taken on my last tour on Saturday. Special thanks to Bobby for taking the pictures! Here is the link:
Pictures on Flickr

If you are from out of town and would like some pictures taken of a particular unit, the surrounding area or if you have any questions about the Sale Event itself or how a particular unit is looking on availability, please don't hesitate to contact me and I'll see if I can't answer your questions. Ask Michael

It seems that the heaviest interest in the first 70 reservations has been in the lower priced units with good availability still predicted in the more exclusive units. For instance, of the 5 premium Beach Tower units with unobstructed views of Lagoon #2, it's guestimated that there are 3 buyers for those units currently registered. With the last published price at $2.8MM for these units and the anticipation of Sale event prices below $2 Million, it's a good time to throw your hat in the ring if you are interested in picking up one of only fourteen of these premium and exclusive Villas.

There are also 5 penthouse units still available on the Ocean Tower in both 2 and 3 bedroom models that seem to have a predicted availabilty at this time. With the arrangement of this tower's elevator, there are several pairs of units from the 7th floor up that might be available where the elevator would stop at the foyer between the two units, one a 2 bedroom and one a 3 bedroom unit. This would give one a feeling of owning the floor and if privacy and/or security are one of your interests, a combination like this would be as good as you could hope for. These units have views of the mountains and golf course out of the bedroom windows and lanais. These units overlook the pools and ocean from the front lanai, kitchen and main living area.

It's an exciting event, a unique product and potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase these units at roughly half of their initial pricing. All it takes to secure your place for the sale event is a $50,000 refundable deposit. If the unit you hoped for is unavailable or if the pricing isn't as attractive as you had hoped at least you had the opportunity to say no. I can say, that of the people I've worked with who have placed deposits, they wished they had done it sooner versus later as the list continues to grow and the earlier their reservation is time stamped, the greater choice they will have of the units to choose from.

If you have the time and the interest, give me a call at (808) 225-3660 and see if these are what you've been looking for. Remember that Hawaii is 5 hours earlier than the East Coast if you're reading this over your morning coffee. It's not that I won't answer the phone, it's just that it may take me a few minutes to wake up : ) . On the other hand, if it's late where you are, it's probably early where I am and I'm just waiting to say hello.

Centex sent out a press release on Feb 26th, 2009 announcing their final sales event at the Beach Villa's at Ko Olina to the general public.

Note the fine print:

Editor's notes: Please note that Centex reserves the right to (i) cancel, modify or postpone the Sales Event, (ii) continue to sell villas prior to the Sales Event, (iii) adjust the villa inventory and prices available at the Sales Event, and (iv) to provide priority reservations for current villa owners, Centex employees and others. This does not constitute an offer in any state where prior registration is required. Project Broker- Centex Homes dba Centex Destination Properties.

So there is always the possibility that Centex could cancel the sale if there is not enough demand. I wonder what would happen then?

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Please allow me to represent you as your buyers agent on selection day. There is no cost to you and your purchase price is exactly the same. What you select and how much you pay will make a big difference in your profitability; both from an appreciation standpoint and if renting, covering expenses. Afterwards, we can also work together to "get heads in beds".

(All of the thoughts expressed in this blog are my own personal opinion, they are no guarantee that you will achieve similar results, it's just me sharing my own experiences and what has happened in my own situation. I cannot know what will happen in the future.)

Today's Dallas Morning News was touting Mexico as being a great place for baby boomer migration. Before I purchased at the Beach Villas, we also looked long and hard at Mexico as one of our options. So what made us choose Hawaii?

1 - It is the United States of America.

2 - No other place in the world is like Hawaii, not just the physical part like the beaches but the people and the "Aloha" spirit that is shared with visitors and residents alike.

3 - The ongoing drug violence in Mexico – more than 6,200 people killed last year. When the Chief of Police in Rosarito and other high ranking officials were beheaded with their heads placed on the sand at the beach, we decided no.

The article continues to mention that 78 million American baby boomers are racing toward retirement, Mexican and American investors are betting that in the coming years tens of thousands of them will look at Mexico as a potential home.

I would venture to say that some of those 78 million Americans will choose Hawaii in the good old USofA and that's a good thing for anyone purchasing Real Estate here in Hawaii.

Dallas Morning News Article

Aloha,

Alfred--

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Please allow me to represent you as your buyers agent on selection day. There is no cost to you and your purchase price is exactly the same. What you select and how much you pay will make a big difference in your profitability; both from an appreciation standpoint and if renting, covering expenses. Afterwards, we can also work together to "get heads in beds".

(All of the thoughts expressed in this blog are my own personal opinion, they are no guarantee that you will achieve similar results, it's just me sharing my own experiences and what has happened in my own situation. I cannot know what will happen in the future.)

Now that the shouting is over and the new Stimulus law has been passed, I think many of us are wondering what it all means. As REALTORs I think it's very likely that we will receive many benefits from legislation that is at least partially concerned with improving the housing market.

Just being knowledgeable and knowing where to send our friends and clients to look is often the best approach. Real estate 101 tells us that we are not tax experts and we always give the caveat to not rely on us for tax advice, but it's always nice to have a source for them to go to for their own information.

Below, you will find a link that I think is a good source of those basic parts of the Stimulus plan. There are a lot of moving parts in this program and I think one for us to be sure to mention is the First Time Home Buyer program.

The first-time Home buyer credit for eligible buyer is a tax credit equal to up 10 percent of the purchase price but can not exceed $8,000. The time frame of the purchase needs to have occurred between January 1st, 2009 and December 31st, 2009. I can already see the closings that have to get closed between Christmas and New Years next year or the client loses an $8,000 tax credit!

This should not be confused with last years which required repayment over 15 years. This one doesn't require repayment and that's a big change. One must give and take though. This one does phase out for individuals with incomes over $75,000 or for married couples with incomes of over $150,000 who file their taxes jointly. There is also a forfeiture of the credit if you sell the house within 3 years.

Now, as I write this, I get to call a client of mine who is scheduled to close and tell him that I think he may be entitled to an $8,000 tax credit without repayment. I will of course tell him to check with his tax consultant, but I can certainly put him on the trail. These are the types of things that give me sheer joy in the business. Mortgage Certificates, tax credits, tax deferred exchanges... I love being able to make people aware of savings that they might not have been aware of. It is my favorite definition of value added services.

Here's the link to the New York Times article,http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/your-money/13money.html?_r=1

I hope you get to make some "good news" calls!

Did I mention that I am not a tax consultant, I do not play one on TV and you should not rely on any of the above as any form of tax advice and should of course seek the assistance of a tax professional!

My take is they are in trouble but need to dump inventory and make cash immediately to stay afloat. I would say that they will achieve that as there is no negative comments on the wires in that respect.

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Please allow me to represent you as your buyers agent on selection day. There is no cost to you and your purchase price is exactly the same. What you select and how much you pay will make a big difference in your profitability; both from an appreciation standpoint and if renting, covering expenses. Afterwards, we can also work together to "get heads in beds".

(All of the thoughts expressed in this blog are my own personal opinion, they are no guarantee that you will achieve similar results, it's just me sharing my own experiences and what has happened in my own situation. I cannot know what will happen in the future.)