Growing up on Kahului Harbor in the 50’s provided me a great water experience with the ocean at our doorstep with fishing, surfing, diving and swimming. A couple tsunamis were a bit unnerving as we evacuated one evening from what is now canoe storage to see Puunene Ave waist deep in water rushing in like a river..I even rode a train to Haiku from Kahului. My first swimming coach was Benny Castor in Puunene where we heard his stories of swimming upstream in the irrigation ditches for workout and we were lucky to have a pool although there were no gutters so it was bouncy. There were two pools in Puunene and one near Kanaha that we called Naska…and now only the Kahului pool remains. I remember Benny’s dedication and sense of humor when he once asked me if I brought a lantern in on that last  repeat as it had taken so long to complete.

At Hawaii Prep Academy coach Gerry Damon made a makeshift pool in the ocean at Kawaihae Harbor on the Big Island with 60 gallon drums, plywood and telephone poles. The pool was constructed and moored in the Harbor and I used to sneak out of school at 4 am with coach Damon who parked the car with the motor running and lights on one end of the pool. I would light a lantern and hang it on the other end to see the turns. I swam alone in the early morning and one day I had too many box jellyfish stings to continue. Of course, picking up lobsters out of the pool was a special event.

It was during a 50 day swim trip with coach Souichi Sakamoto to the mainland one summer at the age of 16 where I met Mark Spitz who encouraged me to come and swim in Santa Clara. Our trip from SF to NY and back to LA was by greyhound bus and cost $99 for as many stops in 50 days while we stopped for swim meets and stayed with swimming families.

I left HPA for the summer before my senior year upon the encouragement of coach Damon who said that if I swam my senior year with Spitz, that I would go to a better college than if I stayed and got straight “A”s at HPA. We only had trained 3 months a year in Hawaii and it was now meant starting double workouts at Santa Clara 6 days a week year round with the best of the best.  The workouts totalled about 5,000 to 6,000 meters a day in short interval training with 4 large poolside clocks on the four corners of the pool so you knew every split. The pool was 50 meters long and we split the team to each end and started both ends with the fastest first with 5 seconds between each person swiming to the right side of each lane. Every repeat was by the clock A typical workout might be 4 x 400 meters (30 sec rest), 8 x 200 meters (15 sec rest), 16 x 50 meters (10 seconds rest), This was the first of two workouts each summer day and I was so tired having come from a 6 months layoff  while watching my teammates set world records in workout. It was awe inspiring.

We moved to our 25 yard pool during the swim season at Santa Clara High School coached by George Haines and our high school team was truly remarkable with incredible depth and  talent. By the end of my senior year this high school team owned 9 of 11 national high school records. One day we were doing 40 X 100 yard repeats with 15 seconds rest and I swam next to 16 year old Mark Spitz the number one high school swimmer in the US who could negative split which means he swam the second 50 faster than the first. I judged how well I was doing by how large the bubbles were next to me as he swam at least two body lengths faster than I could for the each first 20 repeats.

I decided to swim the next 20 repeats with Mitch Ivey, the number one high school backstroker in the nation. Again, I was in his bubbles and after the first set of 10 repeats we had a 5 minute rest where Mitch remarked  “You have the worst backstroke that I have ever seen…you are bobbing and weaving and hitting the lane lines” I clenched my fist underwater and took several deep breaths to keep my composure and replied “Mitch, you have the prettiest backstroke that I have ever seen and what do I have to do to look like you?” He said to get out of the pool and he would show me.

Mitch bunched up a towel and instructed me to throw it down at the pool deck to show my stroke to him. Standing there, I raised the towel and threw it down to the deck landing the towel 6 feet to the side of my stance. He said the proper stroke was to land the towel next to the baby toe so it took a lot of upper body twist to put one shoulder over my nose while my stoke elbow would tuck well behind my back with the wrist just clearing or grazing the hip. I had been swimming with a flat body and straight arm stoke which was inefficient.

We jumped back in the pool for the last 10 repeats and I stood up after the first one and watched Mitch finish. I did it again and again going about 5 seconds faster than my last set of 10 beating Mitch each repeat. Frustrated with my instant success, Mitch challenged me to race the 40^th repeat and I swam my fastest time ever beating him to the wall again. The coach, George Haines put us together the next weekend where I beat Mitch in  dual meet setting the high school 100 yard backstroke record at 54 seconds (I was second to Aaron Picadura in Hawaii at 57.4 seconds the year before). So coach Haines had a meeting with me to tell me that he was going to take me to the indoor nationals in two weeks with Spitz.

A few days before the nationals, I had dinner with the Spitz family where Mark and his dad were talking for an hour about winning 6 events but could only enter 3 and I was just thinking how lucky I was to be here with my idol and experiencing this moment and what would my friends back in Hawaii think? Arnold, Mark’s dad leaned across that table and finally asked me how I was going to do. I said that my recent time had placed me in 9^th in the nation but if I could swim a half a second faster, maybe I could get a 3^rd place.. Arnold said he didn’t understand what I was saying so I repeated myself. He replied that he still did not understand so I explained in more detail for the 3^rd time. Arnold raised his voice to me at said, “There is no such thing as 2^nd through 6^th place and that there is only one winnner in the pool and all the rest are losers”. He raised his fist and slammed it down on the dinner table shaking silverware and plates and screamed “AND DON”T YOU EVER FORGET THAT!!!” I melted in my seat as my own dad would have been thrilled with whatever the outcom.

Oh well, from my humble beginnings, I thought I was being head strong for saying that I could possibly get a 3^rd place…Boy, had I underestimated Mr. Spitz and I was in a daze for 3 days with all this information. First the stroke tip with Mitch Ivey, then the emotional schooling with Mr. Spitz who helped me believe I could win. A few days later I awakened from a dream that I had just won the 100 yard backstroke in the nationals that I was about to attend.

Fortunately, I won the 100 yard backstroke in the Indoor Nationals that next week with a time of 52.6 and within the next 2 weeks I had 25 scholarship offers to attend colleges wherever I wanted to attend. Since Stanford wanted a financial statement, Dad said that his financials were none of their business and said that he would pay for it and to let the scholarship go to someone who needed it as he was proud to pay for me. I attended Stanford and won 3 more NCAA titles and after graduating as team captain of Stanford swimming and a BA in Economics. Some of the greatest swimming tips came from Don Scholander who said to swim freestyle with a very high elbow and from Mark Spitz who said that you want to lead your freestyle stroke with your index finger pulling towards your belly button. If you put those two together…who knows what might happen.

I sold real estate for 8 years all over the island until my closest brother Jim died in a traffic accident and I decided a fun change was in the works as Jim would also have approved. I opened Sailboards Maui in 1980 where Jim and I had lived (where the new Mercedes dealership is located) where along with Mike Waltze, Bill King and Jimmy Lewis we helped the pioneering of windsurfing with other Maui and international friends and started the first windsurfing waveriding and racing contests on the island. I felt that I could either make this business work or I could find a windsurfing sponsorship along the way. It felt like we were pioneering the sport and one day Mike Waltze put footstraps and a sail and rode all my small surfboards. This was incredible as we had started the sport riding big plastic 12 foot boards and now we were making our own wave boards with Jimmy Lewis which we rode in the waves of Hookipa daily.

Working with Barry Spanier,Geof Borne at Maui Sails along with Demitri Milovich a carbon fiber wing mast was developed and equiped with the latest sails. I found sponsorship with the sport’s inventor, Hoyle Schwietzer and son Matt Schweitzer and then with Neil Pryde Sails who developed the wing mast. I entered a speed contest in 1983 in Weymouth England where I broke the world speed record with this Maui Sail and board built by Jimmy Lewis at Sailboards Maui.  This opened another sporting career with sponsorship to travel to speed events and trade shows and give talks around the world for the next 8 years.

I returned to the real estate world in 1990 here on Maui and since have opened my own company, Fred Haywood Realty where we market and sell property across Maui. Although property sales are currently slow across the nation, I continue working as a national real estate speaker and trainer where I have applied the same work habits and moral ethics I learned from these coaches, friends and family that have inspired me in following my dreams…

View Maui properties:  www.MauiHomeFinders.com

This zoning was originally put in place to assist farming families help pay their mortgages with farming income. However, this was back in the late 60’s when two acres cost under $10,000 while today they can range well over $500,000 so the ability to do farming and pay the mortgage remains a myth with today’s pricing.

During the Dot Com bubble of the 1990’s, we experienced many cash buyers flying in to the island and to buy what they felt was under priced land and homes. This buying fever did not stop when the their bubble burst in 2000 because after 911 the interest rates were lowered to all time lows which increased the demand and price increases a few years more. However, the biggest boom came may have come with the creative financing which may have been well intended but caused what may have been the biggest jump in demand and extended the growth of prices until 2006.

Today, Haiku is starting to dry out so that folks can get back to things that are important, like mowing the grass and enjoying fresh cut flowers, rainbows and meandering streams through there enchanting gardens. Haiku remains one of Maui’s best kept secrets.

If you want to view some Haiku property or anywhere else, just click on www.Mauihomefinders.com and we will forward email listings to your inbox.

1. The first born son.

 2. The second wife.

 3. The 3^rd real estate broker.

Free Evaluations from Fred at www.Mauihomecomparison.com

This reminds me of my coldest experience in Maui back 50 years ago when my Mom took all the kids up to see the snow at the top of Haleakala. We all jumped out of the car to play and take pictures and it was then that I realized that my bare feet just didn’t do well in the snow… although Mom did get a picture. I guess I will never get used to cold weather but I do love heavenly Kula and it just may be the best piece of I ever bought! If you want to find a beautiful Maui property from Kula to Lahaina or Wailea, just come to www.Mauihomefinders.com and sign in to receive listings and every price change on the same day it is posted in our Maui MLS for Realtors… Be the first to know…

Why would you tell your broker that you need to list at 10% more to negotiate, or that you have to sell for more because of bills…this only helps your well priced neighborhood homes sell. Would you go to your doctor if you weren’t sick? Right now there are many financially upside down folks that need to sell and are indeed pricing aggressively.

So, please don’t list to sit…list to sell. Take the medicine of your Realtor’s suggestion on pricing because his experience and wisdom is what is important to you and your future. To find price reductions on , sign in at www.Mauihomefinders.com This system will send you all the listings and every price reduction on the same day posted. It is absolutely free to you and I own and operate it.

It is no wonder why many of the top tow surfers have purchased their nearby. If you want to look and see , go to www.MauiHomeFinders.com or www.FredHaywood.com and sign up now. Put your price range, area and criteria and I will forward you listings with all price changes and new listings coming to you on the same day they appear!

Multifamily offer opportunity for high cash flow while investing in homes will offer the most stability. It is best to be in the largest market where you find average-priced properties. This is where you will find the majority of renters and buyers. has mostly single family and condominium sales. If you want to be notified of great home deals here on Maui on the same day they are listed or have a price change, go to www.Mauihomefinders.com and sign in for free updates.

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!

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.

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

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

    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!