Maui Real Estate Information

The Best homes… 

When looking at homes, location is important so look for desirable and emerging neighborhoods with great streets, great schools, great neighbors, great view, great city, great privacy, and great access. Homes that are in a neighborhood that are in transition may be undervalued and good deals. A home in a small cove brings higher value than a home on a busy street, next to a busy mall or one a valley. Trees will bring value as well as better zoning or larger lots. If you want to find homes on Maui, please sign up to receive automatic email notifications of all homes for sale and any price changes on the same day at www.mauihomefinders.com Choose your area and price range! It is free to you as I own and run the site from Maui!

If you’re looking for rainbows on Maui, the most vivid afternoon ones seem to be near Hailiimaile which is below Makawao town in the upcountry area of Maui. On Baldwin Avenue there is a tiny park called “Rainbow Park ” which is full of Shower and Rainbow Trees that bloom several times a year. These trees also dot the most spectacular morning drive down Baldwin towards Paia where there dozens of these colorful trees framing the incredible views over the sugar cane fields of central Maui and the North Shore. There are also many rainbows between Pukalani coming down the Haleakala Highway in the early morning commute. What is at the end of the rainbow???... Maui! Lucky we live Maui.

The State has been widening the beginning of the Haleakala Highway heading towards Kula which captivates my 4 year old son. Large earth movers, back hoes, and oversized bulldozers peak his curiosity. The workers are currently busting up the old Kula highway which reminded me of the 2 hour road trip that used to connect Kahului to Kula, whereas today it is only takes 20 minutes! Kula, which I call “God’s Country” is the favored ownership due to it’s superior mild and cool climate with mid-day cloud cover, rolling green hills dotted with vegetable and flower farms and purple Jacaranda trees. There is nothing like the morning and sunset views across five islands. Everyone loves Kula and how it inspires the soul. There is nothing like loving life and living Maui in Kula… 

  

The November 2007 numbers for sold homes to date show an increase of 8% in home sales on Maui, a 5% drop of condo sales and an 11% drop on land sales.

The median home price is 10% lower than a year ago, the condos are up 6% in median price and the median land price is down 17%

The months it will take to sell the current inventory is the absorption rate and that number is 18 months for Upcountry Maui, 16 months for West Maui, 13 months for South Maui and 10 months for Central Maui.

I just got off the phone with Laird Hamilton who was out tow surfing yesterday on the outer reef of Baldwin Beach Park in Paia, Maui on the biggest swell we have seen in years. He was riding a 75 foot face when he fell and after a great scare and a lot of breath, his towing partner, Brett Lickel immediately picked Laird up on the jet ski and gunned the engine to race away from another monster approaching. Apparently, there was so much white water that the jet ski didn’t move fast enough for the massive white water engulfed the both of them and together with jet ski and tow boards, they tumbled like ragged dolls in the biggest washing machine imaginable. Brett’s calf muscle was split in two down to his ankle from a fin of a tow board and the ski was nowhere to be seen. Laird removed his wetsuit and tied it around Brett’s leg to stop the bleeding. Laird left Brett and had to swim a mile to retrieve the jet ski and returned to complete the rescue. They raced to Baldwin beach and got Brett to an awaiting ambulance. Brett is at home recuperating with 70 staples in his leg. I told Laird that he would be my first pick to save me but that he would have a bathing suit under his wetsuit next time… 

It has been 50 years since I drove through Paia Town with my Dad who visited patients in the Plantation Camps for 1$ a house call. Today, when I walk down the streets of Paia near my office I see a young, hip water sports group, older hippies, occasional movie stars and tourists shopping the many unique shops in this former sugar plantation town turned world class windsurfing and kiting mecca. The plantation is now closed but the thousands of acres still surround the town and beaches.  It is one of those secret spots of great fun and good living on Maui with so much nearby.

September 28, 2007

What I hope to do is help you understand some of the best investment vehicles in light of today’s market. Before I do this, I want to talk about how your investment mindset was created. How were you influenced in the way you think about spending your money and investing?

"A penny saved is a penny earned!"  Isn't this a post-depression mindset that many boomers were brought up with?  Many of our parents were the savers of the 50's and have suffered since they feared debt and therefore resisited leverage.

The irony here is that those who chased financial security by paying everything with cash and not leveraging into growth opportunities perpetuated the financial insecurity they feared.........more to come..

Maui Real Estate

Search for Maui homes on Fred's site:

www.MauiHomeFinders.com

September 13, 2007

This is a true saga about my experience with obtaining one of those zero percent interest credit cards.  I know - you are wondering why I would subject myself to this - but I wanted to try. 

The card arrived in the mail - I was very excited - I wanted to use it right away, as I am remodeling and am short of money, so the idea of free money hooked me!  I activated this card and then had questions about how to use the checks that came with the card.  Forty minutes later and six phone transfers, I discovered that the zero percent interest rate was only for purchases charged to the credit card and were refered to in the Finance Charge section as the "Actual Annual Percentage Rate," which is the zero percent interest rate.  Cash advances were referred to as "Nominal Annual Percentage Rate," and would be charged at a rate of 23.24%.  Checks written on the card would be charged at a rate of 4.99%, but if I wanted some zero percent cash and wrote it to myself, I would be charged 23.24%.    Who's on First???? 

So, the moral of the story is, that zero doesn't mean zero.  Be careful.  Especially if you are taking a cash advance at 23.24%!  It took forty minutes and six operators to finally discover that zero didn't mean zero.

Your Maui Investment Connection,

Fred

    Growing up on Maui was a little boring and we didn't know how good we had it. Imagine my brothers and I driving out to surf Honolua Bay with "Two girls for every Boy" blasting on the radio ( we may not have seen a girl for a week or more ), and not passing another surfboard on the road. Imagine surfing the perfection without anyone else there! I even drove from Kihei to Puunene without passing a car. I guess I really start showing my age when I mention riding a train to Haiku and back to Kahului.

    We were blessed with the perfection that Maui still boasts today. Year round warm weather, sunny skies, a clear warm ocean, beautiful beaches, gorgeous mountains and tropical tradewinds to cool us down. Tourism, which increased 4.7% this past year is based on these same natural resources. None of these resouces are changing and what other vacation destination can compete with Maui?  I guess this is why Maui was voted the #1 Island in the world for 10 years in a row.

    Although our real estate market is softening, we are on the tip of the iceberg of retiring baby boomers who have a strong desire to retire in a warmer climate. Their move to the islands has been happening and it should continue as they are also the wealthiest retirees ever.

    Are you dreaming about moving here? Go to www.MauiHomefinders.com and I will send you you new properties and every price reduction on the same day they are listed ... I own and operate this site as a free service to help you.

Don't forget your sunscreen!

 

January 11, 2007

The winter weather is treating us nicely on Maui with balmy skies and continuous waves. Each cycle of waves that hit the islands are created by huge low depressions in the Pacific Northwest. About the same time Hawaii receives the waves, the west coast gets the low pressure sweeping in from the NW bringing rain and snow.

December through April is the season for the highest of waves and it is these same conditions in the winter that motivate many travelers to come to Hawaii. We had another record year for tourist visits and Maui is still the # 1 destination in the world...or so say the signs overhead near the baggage claim in the airport.

Our real estate market on Maui is shifting with unit volumes sliding in housing sales down 23% and condominium sales down 39%. We expected this turnaround when interest rates were going up this past year and they have now leveled.

Maui is still No Ka Oi, "The Best" island in the world with all that it has to offer year round. There is still strong interest in buying and some have put their purchases on hold or remaining more selective. If you are moving here, I would suggest that you strongly consider coming now while the selection of homes has increased and the Sellers are negotiating while rates are still good. After all, how much difference is what you pay today going to make in 10 or 20 years of holding on to it?

Hurry over, the weather is great and the surf is up.

Love Life. Live Maui.

Fred