December 30th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
OK - Here’s the recent headline news on a day long power outage that hit Honolulu and the entire island of Oahu this past week.
Almost all of Oahu had electrical power restored Saturday after a power failure blacked out the island’s population of about 900,000 and thousands of holiday visitors, including President-elect Barack Obama and his family
Residents had been urged to just stay home after the lights went out during a thunderstorm Friday evening. The Hawaiian Electric Company was investigating the cause.
I’m a little concerned the likely cause could well have been a disgruntled republican interfering with Obama’s holiday visit. No - most likely it was the thunderstorm passing over the island.
Some of the inconveniences suffered island wide as a result of the one day power outage. The average indoor-outdoor temperature immediately prior to the outage was around 80 degrees. As a result of the outage, huge savings on power usage was thrust upon all Oahu households resulting in an average indoor-outdoor temperature of around 80 degrees. Instead of cooking outdoors on barbeques and gas grills on the lanai, at the park, or on the beach, Oahu residents toughed it out through a day of cooking outdoors on the barbeque or gas grill. Island wide, many parks that serve as shelters for the homeless were made available as shelters for all. However, most slept through the night in their homes with no blankets or top sheets pretty much as they usually do on a night with power. In fact, keeping items cold was the most challenging effort of the day for most residents.
Given this scenario, it was not surprising to learn Obama turned down a fourth generator offered to him by Mayor Mufi Hannemann of Honolulu who said three generators had been installed earlier for Mr. Obama’s use at a rented compound on Kailua Beach. Mr. Obama stated he didn’t need anything, was grateful for the offer, and was going to put his own family to bed.
December 17th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
Shore Bird’s unusual claim to fame is its dinnertime cook-your-own entrees if you wish. Your waiter brings you your selected ready to grill main course of fresh fish, chicken, steak or ribs, and tells you exactly how to cook it the way you like. You then grill on the giant grill pictured above in their lanai. For those diners who like to be served instead, delicious dishes fill the reasonably priced menu. There is a fixin’s station and good size award winning salad bar to make the meal complete. The restaurant is right on the beach with somewhat limited seats to the outside. Open from 7AM to 10PM – also served is a nice beachfront breakfast buffet .featuring fruits, pastries, scrambled eggs, sausage, corned beef hash, hot potatoes, carved ham/roast beef, fresh fruit and cereals. Popular with families, this Waikiki restaurant offers an indoor/outdoor ambiance that allows the enjoyment of pleasant weather while dining. There is valet parking that is free if you dine at the Shore Bird. Average meal cost $20 or less. ShoreBird Beach Broiler in the newly remodeled Outrigger Reef Hotel – 2169 Kalia Road – on the beach in Waikiki. 808-922-2887
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visa,mastercard,amex
December 16th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
By Peter Boylan
Honolulu Advertiser Staff Writer
Homeowners may see lower tax bills in 2009 if city doesn’t raise rate.
The value of residential property on O’ahu has decreased slightly for the second time in seven years, meaning some homeowners could receive lower tax bills next year barring a last-minute rate raise by the city.
Honolulu officials began mailing out property assessment notices yesterday, but it will be well into the new year before the City Council approves the tax rates.
Excluding new inventory and construction, the value of O’ahu’s residential property dropped to $155.3 billion from $157.5 billion the previous year, according to the city.
More than 283,000 O’ahu property owners will receive their 2009 real property assessment notices this week, including about 5,000 assessment notices that will be sent by e-mail.
Gary Kurokawa, who heads the city’s Real Property Assessment Division, said O’ahu residential property has experienced some loss of value, but it pales in comparison to declines experienced in comparable Mainland jurisdictions.
“If you look at urban Honolulu (where most of the property value is), the drop is not that significant,” Kurokawa said. “We’re seeing a decline, but not anywhere close to what the West Coast is seeing.”
The total gross assessed valuation for all real property on O’ahu increased slightly from $190.7 billion to $191.1 billion, a gain of 0.2 percent, according to a city news release.
The addition of new inventory and construction and renovations to existing properties helped to offset the decrease in residential property values.
Hotel and resort property values decreased by 0.1 percent, while commercial and industrial properties rose in value by 4.3 percent and 9.3 percent, respectively.
City Council Chairman Todd K. Apo said because nonresidential property values increased, the city might still see a slight increase in property tax revenue.
Apo also said the council and the administration will work hard to avoid raising property tax rates.
“The reality is the city faces a number of unavoidable cost increases. There are set union raises and a general cost increase for some goods,” Apo said. “There is going to be a need to find additional (budget) reductions or savings. The administration and the council are going to have to look hard at where in the budget can be cut.”
Percentage changes represent broad totals, and the actual change in the assessed value of a particular property could be more or less than the islandwide figures.
The assessment notice is not a tax bill, but a notification of what the city has determined to be a property’s value.
The assessment notice also includes information on exemptions.
The standard homeowner exemption is $80,000 and increases to $120,000 for homeowners age 65 and older. The exemption amount is deducted from a property’s value, which reduces the tax for the property.
The tax bills will be mailed on July 20 with the first-half installment due on Aug. 20 and the second-half installment due on Feb. 20, 2010, according to the city.
HOW TO APPEAL
Owners who want to challenge their assessments have until Jan. 15, 2009, to file an appeal with the city’s Board of Review or the state Tax Appeal Court.
For more information on appeals, go to honolulupropertytax.com or contact the Treasury Division at 768-3980.
Find more information on Honolulu and Hawaiian Island real estate from Honolulu Real Estate Undressed .
December 14th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
New Construction - Kaneohe Bay View Home - Kaneohe
By: Hugh Yonamine - Senior Mortgage Consultant - Pacific Home Finance
While the mortgage market continues to generate a lot of chatter in both the media and in Washington, interest rates are currently near or at all-time lows. If you or anyone you know are looking to take advantage of these low rates, let me explain why now is the time to act.Lately there has been talk about the 4.5% 30-year fixed rate mortgage. Will it become a reality though? Right now, no one really knows. Homeowners who could benefit from a lower interest rate need to know that even if 4.5% becomes a reality from Washington’s actions, it would only be available to home buyers, not homeowners seeking to better their rate. If you need to refinance, you will be left out.
You also may have heard about Hope for Homeowners, which is a program approved by legislators to help distressed homeowners. However, regardless of its best intentions, the program has not been embraced by investors, and it is not available to many it could help.
The bottom line is, the Fed announced recently that they are going to buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed securities. This has already driven rates to historical lows. In January, the SEC is meeting and information may be released that could have a significant bearing on rates, potentially for the worse.
Waiting to obtain the best rate is only possible for those with loan applications already in process. Interest rates are incredibly volatile and fluctuations that used to take months are now occurring in just days or even hours. If you don’t have an application in process, you could lose out.
We are already seeing lender backlog due to low interest rates. In 2003, with rates at these same low levels, we saw some lenders taking up to 90 days to close a loan.
Home loan rates are currently in the mid- to low-5% range. Home values are currently at 2003-2004 levels, coming down significantly from their high point. If you–or friends and family members you know–are contemplating seeking financing, now is the time to act.
With a first time home buyer tax credit of up to $7,500 and low or no money down programs available for many people today, now is a great time to buy a home.
Contact the Honolulu Real Estate Undressed Team for assistance in locating a great Hawaiian Island property with prices at or below 2003 - 2004 levels. Let the mortgage consultants at Pacific Home Finanace handle your financing at todays record low rates.
December 13th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
Beach sand works just as well as snow when it comes to landing Santa’s sleigh in the Land of Aloha.
OK - you do have to import real snow if you must dive into some on a warm island day. It’s a lot of fun, but short lived. So make that angel quick as you can. If you want the look of falling snow - well you just have to simulate that in a bubble on the lawn in front of your home in Hawaii. If snow is in short supply for that snow man you can’t resist creating - there’s nothing wrong with making one out of sand on the beach. Lighting a Christmas tree can be interesting in the islands. Often you see a typical evergreen tree nestled between coconut trees. Or, if you can’t find a traditional Christmas tree, running lights up and around any palm tree works just fine. What’s most important is Santa always shows up for some Aloha Spirit.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year~ Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau’oli Makahiki Hou - from your Honolulu Undressed Team in Hawaii.
P.S. It’s not advised to leave milk & cookies out for Santa. Mo beta to leave him a note to check the fridge.
December 3rd, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
- Honolulu Bank Towers
Hawaii may just be the safest place to buy real estate with available local bank financing. Hawaii banks remain strong and profitable. Home prices have held steady compared to mainland markets. There is only so much available real estate in the islands. Now is an opportunistic time to buy and own a piece of the Aloha State, says Judy Gervin of Honolulu Real Estate Undressed - East Oahu Realty.
The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
HONOLULU: Take a quick stroll among the palm trees and commercial towers in Honolulu’s financial district and major U.S. banks like Washington Mutual, Bank of America and Wachovia are nowhere to be found.
The dominant players here are Bank of Hawaii, American Savings Bank, Central Pacific Bank and First Hawaiian Bank, as they have been for decades. And unlike some of their larger, mainland counterparts who have been drowning in a sea of red ink, island institutions continue to post strong, even record, profits. And so far, they have withstood the mortgage meltdown in the U.S.
“We’re the luckiest bank in the world,” said Allan Landon, chairman and chief executive of Bank of Hawaii.
It wasn’t all luck. The four banks are weathering the financial storm by avoiding subprime lending, maintaining their conservative practices and keeping in mind the region’s long-lasting economic downturn in the 1990s. That’s when the Japanese financial bubble burst and so did all the frenzied, speculative buying by international investors that inflated real estate prices in Hawaii.
“They’ve seen these cycles, so they understand that being old-fashioned or being conservative may not be sexy, but over the long term, it’s proved to be a sound business practice,” said Gary Fujitani, executive director of the Hawaii Bankers Association.
For the past two months, the banking industry has been pummeled by forces not seen since the Depression of the 1930s. Some of the biggest and most powerful banking companies in the country — with names such as Washington Mutual, Wachovia and National City — have disappeared, swallowed by larger companies in an effort to avoid a total collapse. Others continue to struggle. Just last week, Citigroup said it would eliminate 53,000 jobs, as its shares plunged and analysts speculated that it will have to be broken up or sold.
It’s not complete doom and gloom, though. Some banks are showing financial resiliency and the ability to churn out profits. They include Paramus, New Jersey-based Hudson City Bancorp, which reported a 64 percent jump in net income for the third quarter, and Kansas City, Missouri-based UMB Financial Corp., whose profits edged up 1 percent to $21.8 million.
Perhaps nowhere is the success as widespread as it is in the Aloha State. These banks did what successful financial institutions have done for decades: Pay close attention to the balance sheet and lend to people who can pay you back. It’s a roadmap, experts say, that could be used to help the rest of the industry save itself.
“Sound underwriting never goes out of fashion,” said Diane Casey-Landry, chief operating officer of the American Bankers Association, who added that prudent lending standards are now being more widely adopted.
“Real banking, in a sense, is back,” she said. “The underwriting that was being done by some of the non-banks and new players in the market, was not the underwriting banks were doing. Banks have always had a higher standard.”
Banks and other lenders that purchased or made bad mortgages by the billions got away from the fundamentals. Not so in Hawaii.
“The bottom line is, we’re a pretty conservative lot,” Landon said. “We’ve got enough people who’ve been around to remember when banks got in trouble before, and that’s not a fun place to be.”
Landon said he could never find out how to make money on the new products that were being offered over the past several years.
“I can’t think of an interest rate you can charge to make up for losing your principal,” he said.
Not only are the banks here conservative, so are many borrowers. They largely stayed away from risky mortgages from outside lenders that underwrote mortgages with very little down, changing rates and no income verification.
“You have a combination of good banks and a little more conservative culture. You put those two together and we’re a little better off,” said Tim Schools, president of American Savings Bank, who estimated that 90 percent of his companies mortgages were traditional 15- and 30-year products.
Also, many home buyers purchased properties with the intention of living there for a long time. There wasn’t as much “flipping” or speculative buying as in other sunshine states such as California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida.
“I think there’s a different perspective of a home,” Fujitani said.
Exotic and subprime mortgages do exist here, but the percentages are small since they were only offered by outside lenders, some of which have closed shop. This may have helped shield island residents from the array of mortgages and products that were readily available in other states.
Despite their small presence, out-of-state lenders own the bulk of foreclosures in Hawaii, according to the state Division of Financial Institutions. While isle foreclosures have been rising at a brisk pace, they are still much lower than the national average.
There are nine FDIC-insured, Hawaii-based financial institutions, and all of them are considered well capitalized. The big four, which owns more than 90 percent of the state’s $27 billion in deposits, reported impressive third-quarter earnings, especially in this financial climate:
_ American Savings, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, earned $15.4 million, up 31.6 percent from a year ago.
_ First Hawaiian, owned by France’s BNP Paribas, reported record profits of $55.4 million, up 6 percent.
_ Central Pacific returned to a profit of $3 million after heavy second quarter losses relating to its exposure in California.
_ Bank of Hawaii earned $47.4 million, down slightly from the $47.8 million a year ago.
In another show of confidence, Territorial Saving Bank announced last week it would go public in the first quarter of 2009, despite the economy. For the first nine months this year, the company earned $6.5 million, up 33 percent from the year-earlier period.
The 24-branch company said it remains “strong” and wants to expand. It also noted it does not need a handout from the U.S. Treasury.
Hawaii isn’t the only place where banks are thriving. There are about 8,400 banks nationally and the vast majority are smaller community banks that never made or acquired risky loans, according to the Hawaii Bankers Association.
“The media paints us with a broad brush, but we’re not (the same),” Fujitani said. “There’s just handful of banks that are in crisis.”
Karen Tyson, spokeswoman for the Independent Community Bankers of America, said most of her trade group’s 5,000 members are in good shape.
“Community banks are bright spot in the storm … They operate with safe, sound businesses practices and commonsense lending and underwriting standards and they continue to do that,” she said.
Eric Mais, head of the finance department at the University of Hawaii, said Hawaii banks required larger down payments and were more rigorous in verifying income and credit worthiness than other lenders.
Also, home prices, while on the decline, have remained relatively stable. In Hawaii, where a modest 1,500-square-foot (139 sq. meter) home can cost $600,000 or more, buyers may be more hesitant to default since they generally have invested more.
“Twenty percent on $600,000 is a lot different from 20 percent on a $200,000 house,” Mais said.
Hawaii banks mainly compete in the local market and Pacific territories, such as Guam. Central Pacific, however, got into California and paid for it, losing $146.3 million in the second quarter. The losses were related to loans made to homebuilders that were affected by the subprime collapse. The bank has since aggressively cut its residential construction portfolio in California.
“Even in the past year, while we were experiencing our credit challenges in California, we continue to perform in the Hawaii market,” said Dean Hirata, the bank’s vice chairman and chief financial officer.
While some major banks offer mortgages and commercial loans in Hawaii, they do not have branches that accept deposits, a key to profitability. Bank of America was the last and it abandoned the islands more than a decade ago.
While owning the market, Hawaii banks still face challenging times. Tourism is off, unemployment is rising, home prices are not rising, and construction is slowing.
October 13th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
Hawaii - Honolulu - Kailua Beach
Welcome to the beachside neighborhood of Kailua Beach on the windward side of Oahu. When the serious trade winds kick up out of the east, Oahu’s kite boarders are in the water here from sunrise to sunset allowing the wind to help them skim the surface of the waves and catch serious air at each turn. As an example, on July 28, 2007 Cabrinha’s Jesse Richman went airborn for 22 seconds at the Big air wind jam in San Francisco. He threw 7 kiteloops…probably a new world’s record for kiteboarding…a water to water jump.
check out the video at:
www.cabrinhakites.com
Welcome to the Big Show of Hawaii where all the world’s top riders congregate annually for the Red Bull King of the Air. You may not be pro material (yet), but you can still enjoy Kite Beach in Maui or the more docile Kailua Beach in Oahu, and you might even end up in a magazine. Book your trip from May to October, when the wind is the most consistent.
Schools: Hawaiian Watersports; Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks Inc.; Off Da Lip; Naish Limited
Happy winds to all!
October 3rd, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
With Bellevue, Washington in first place - Honolulu, Hawaii made it again in the top best 100 places to live and launch in the nation.
Population: 383,424
Pro: Easy access to Asian markets
Con: High cost of living.
An ocean may separate Honolulu and the rest of the country, but free wireless Internet throughout much of the city, plus a time zone midway between New York and Asia, means that entrepreneurs here can be more connected than their mainland peers. Global-minded business owners can reach New York markets in the morning and Asian contacts in the afternoon, while the University of Hawaii supplies a well-educated workforce.
Tourism has long been a major industry, but finance, insurance, health care, and construction are also growing sectors. Tech businesses receive a boost from the city’s tech-friendly tax structure (royalty income from the sale or licensing of intellectual property is exempt from both general excise and income taxes; and tax credits are awarded to firms that boost their research activity).
Hawaii Business Express assists entrepreneurs in working through red tape, and nonprofits such as HiBeam, a tech mentoring firm, also get start-ups off the ground. A little more than half of Honolulu County’s private-sector businesses operate with four or fewer employees.
The cost of living is high - but so is the quality of life. Palm trees, sandy beaches, and other outdoor attractions convince many educated workers to stick around. -Peter McDougall
Interactive map: Honolulu
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September 14th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
A palm tree in the top photo stands out against the Honolulu skyline due to high levels of volcanic fog. Volcanic fog, or “vog” forms when sulfur dioxide gas reacts with sunlight, oxygen, dust particles and water in the air. The lower left fishing photo shows a unique vog sunrise over Oahu. And the lower right photo shows a vog enhanced sunset off Honolulu.
Vog does not originate on Oahu. It starts hundreds of miles to the southeast on the active volcanic big island of Hawaii. If the winds are just right the vog created there by mother nature works its way into our atmosphere here in Honolulu and around the island of Oahu. It’s a bummer of a mid day hazy annoyance when the skies should be clear and blue. On the other hand we are blessed to start and end our daily life here with spectacularly enhanced sunrises and sunsets when vog is visiting our island.
September 6th, 2008
Posted by matthew smith
As you head North and West along the shore from Kaneohe Mall area to the North Shore you will pass by a very interesting sight on your left with a huge wierd shaped object covered by a gray tarp. My wife thinks it’s a boat. I think it is part of jet. She thinks I’m crazy. For the fun of it, I’ve pictured it above alongside an actual Hawaiian Air jet. Notice any similarities between the shape of the front end of the actual jet and the shape of the object under the tarp?
I think it is a piece of the jet that crashed in the hit ABC-TV series ”LOST”. In that series, a plane en route from Australia to the United States crashes into the ocean on a tropical deserted Pacific island. There were survivors of that crash. Oddly enough it’s not hard to spot those survivors occasionally around the island of Oahu. Sometimes downtown Honolulu. Sometimes at a restaurant in Hawaii Kai. The other day I was purchasing an item at Pier One Imports in Kailua and spotted one of the survivors sniffing the scents of varrious candles. Then attempting to see if they fit certain candle holders. How sad to have to live that way.
It has to be pretty rough being a jet crash survivor here on island. Is it possible at the end of each day they all hike back to their tarped wreckage, burn candles, and hunker down for another day hoping to be rescued? I’ve never followed one of the survivors to find out for sure. But I rather doubt it.
