Honolulu Condos: March 2010

Waikiki Banyan - Popular Waikiki Condominiums and Condotel

Waikiki Banyan
201 Ohua St.	Fee Simple and Leasehold
Waikiki - East	See Map or Satellite Photo

Description:  This mixed Fee Simple and Leasehold building consists of two, 38 story towers located just one block from the beach and popular among investors as a Waikiki Condotel.  All units are one bedroom/one bath layouts.  Amenities include a large 6th floor recreation deck with swimming pool, tennis court, sauna, barbecue grill, child's playground area & a snack bar.

 

View Current Listings	View Sold Listings
View More Photos	View Configurations & Floor Plans

Building Details:  

Units: Two Buildings	877	Year Built:	1979	Elementary School:	Ala Wai
Studios:	0	Stories:	37	Middle School:	Washington
1 bdrm/1ba:	877	Elevators:	4	High School:	Kaimuku
2 bdrm/2 ba:	0	Unit Sizes (sq. ft.):	599-661
3 bdrm/2-3  ba:	0	Lanai Sizes (sq. ft.):	yes, size n.a.

Land Tenure:  Fee Simple and Lease Hold; Fee purchase was offered in 2008; lease expires 2035.

Security: There is Hotel lobby personnel; private security guard on premise.

Parking:  Parking is conveyed with each unit; one unassigned, covered parking stall.

Pets: Small dogs, cats, birds are permitted with Association approval.

Supermarkets: Food Pantry - 2370 Kuhio Avenue, Foodland - 2919 Kapiolani Boulevard.

Regional Mall: Ala Moana Center - 1450 Ala Moana Boulevard.

Comments:  ResortQuest manages the hotel program, but owners also can manage the unit themselves, hire a third party property manager, or live in the unit themselves.  In the first floor of Tower 1 is an internet cafe, a convenience store and an ATM.  

Finding the Right Lender for Your Honolulu Condo Purchase

When you are ready to make a Honolulu Condo purchase, one of the first steps is to find a lender.  There are a few options to consider such as banks, mortgage brokers and internet lenders.  All offer different financing options.  To choose the lender that's right for you, it's important to understand the pros and cons of each.

Banks, such as First Hawaiian and Bank of Hawaii, offer the safety and security of federal regulation.  In addition, if you have been with a particular bank for a while and have a good working relationship, you may qualify for a better rate.  The downside of choosing a bank is that they may not offer the best rates.

Mortgage Brokers, such as Pacific Access Mortgage, have access to many different money sources and will shop around to find the best rates.  One possible disadvantage of working with a mortgage broker is they may charge higher loan origination fees (points).

Internet lenders, such as Lending Tree and E*Trade, allow you to shop for the most competitive rates available online.  The downside of internet lending, and this is HUGE in Hawaii, is that it is all on you.  You are responsible for all of the research involved and there is little personal communication.  BEWARE, many internet lenders are not familiar with Hawaiian property and the way business is conducted in Hawaii, so they may not be able to grant the loan conditions initially promised.

At the time of writing this blog, mortgage rates are below 5%; near their historic lows.  If you are employed and can afford it, today's interest rates represent a tremendous opportunity to buy a home or investment property.  But first, do your research and find the lender that's right for you.

$700M Waikiki Project Moves Ahead

The owner of the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel is moving forward with a $700 million redevelopment project for the center of Waikiki that could start as early as mid 2011.

The project, which would be the largest redevelopment of Hawaii's main tourist district since Outrigger's $585 million Waikiki Beach Walk redevelopment, would get under way just as Disney puts the finishing touches on its $800 million Aulani resort on the other side of Oahu in the Ko Olina resort.

Kyo-ya Co. Ltd.'s plans call for redeveloping almost all of the Princess Kaiulani property on the mauka side of Kalakaua Avenue and for replacing the 58-year-old, eight-story, 140-room beachfront tower Diamond Head of the Moana Surfrider Hotel with a 282-foot tower, the first new hotel on Waikiki Beach in 30 years.

While financing such a large project may be difficult, at best, in today's market, Greg Dickhens, Kyo-ya's executive vice president and senior adviser, said the company is optimistic that "mid-next year when we're out there looking for construction financing, the market will have improved."

This aerial view of Waikiki and architect's rendering shows what the coastline will look like when Kyo-ya Co.'s planned $700 million development is complete. Construction could begin as soon as the middle of next year.

Please check out our website at www.HNLCondos.com for current, live listings of Waikiki Condos and Honolulu Condos for sale.

 

Waikiki Walk-ups go on Market as Condominiums known as Hawaiiana Gardens

A 36-unit Waikiki apartment complex in the shadow of a new luxury high-rise condominium is being marketed for sale as condos.

The multibuilding walk-up complex at the corner of Ala Wai Boulevard and Lipeepee Street behind the Watermark was converted under a condominium property regime in June 2009 and is being marketed as Hawaiiana Gardens, with prices starting at $224,000.

The 36 one-bedroom units average 445 square feet each, according to the final developer's report filed in July 2009 by Microwave LLC. Half of the units will come with assigned parking.

The principals of Microwave LLC include Realtor Donna Walden, Brian Sakamaki and the Lorene Anastas Chang Trust. They also are members of Lionking II LLC, which bought the KGMB property on Kapiolani Boulevard two years ago for $12.35 million.

For further information about Hawaiiana Gardens condos for sale, or other Honolulu and Waikiki condos, please feel free to visit our website at www.HNLCondos.com.

 

Honolulu Condos - Real Estate News & Trends 3/24/10

Aloha!

Welcome to this month's issue of "Honolulu Condos - Real Estate News & Trends", provided by Douglas / Christopher Realtor Associates with RE/MAX Honolulu. This newsletter is published monthly and contains time sensitive information about the Honolulu Real Estate Market. It also combines the weekly newsletter, "Honolulu Condos - Listing Alerts" which includes current new condo listings and distressed property listings.

Don't miss the HOT LINKS at the bottom of this newsletter for such distressed property listings as:

Lender Owned Property Listings

Lender Owned Single Family Home Listings*

Foreclosure Property Listings

Short Sale Property Listings

 *NEWLY ADDED

Also, please feel free to visit our website, one of the most complete Honolulu Condominium Directories available online at www.HNLCondos.com.

Honolulu Market Update for 3/24/10
Overall Honolulu Condo Market News and Trends for March 24th, 2010

This month, let's take a look at "Home Affordability Cycles".

Home Affordability Cycles:

Recent low mortgage rates and lower median home prices have made homes in Oahu more affordable than they've been in 5 years since sales peaked in 2004.

The home affordability is the percentage of median family income required to purchase a median-priced home.

Let's take a look at the Oahu Home Affordability.

Click Here to read the rest of the story......

New Condo Listings

These condo listings are new listings that have come on the market for sale, since last week's newsletter.

ALA MOANA NEW CONDO LISTINGS

DIAMOND HEAD NEW CONDO LISTINGS

DOWNTOWN/CHINATOWN NEW CONDO LISTINGS

KAKAAKO NEW CONDO LISTINGS

KAPIOLANI NEW CONDO LISTINGS

MAKIKI NEW CONDO LISTINGS

WAIKIKI NEW CONDO LISTINGS

To view all Honolulu condo listings please visit the MLS Search page on our Website or set up your own Listing Manager Account.

Distressed Condo Listings - Hot Links!!!

These distressed Honolulu condo listings include REO, or lender owned properties, foreclosures and short sales. New Listings are new this week, since our last week's newsletter.

Please click here to read a complete definition or description of Lender Owned, Foreclosure and Short Sale Properties.

LENDER OWNED CONDO LISTINGS - ALL

LENDER OWNED CONDO LISTINGS - NEW - No New Listings This Week

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - ALL (METRO HONOLULU) - No Listings This Week

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - NEW (METRO HONOLULU) - No New Listings This Month

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - ALL (ENTIRE ISLAND OF OAHU)

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - NEW (ENTIRE ISLAND OF OAHU)

FORECLOSURE CONDO LISTINGS - ALL - No Listings This Week

FORECLOSURE CONDO LISTINGS - NEW - No New Listings This Week

SHORT SALE PROPERTY LISTINGS - ALL

SHORT SALES $0 - 200,000

SHORT SALES $200,000 - 400,000

SHORT SALES $400,000 AND OVER

SHORT SALE PROPERTY LISTINGS - NEW

If you or anyone you know is thinking about buying or selling a condo in Honolulu, Hawaii, it would be our pleasure to help.

Team Douglas/Christopher

For a webpage view of this newsletter, Click here

 Access the Newsletter Archive for back issues.

 

Equus #803 - West Waikiki Condotel for $139,000

 

Waikiki Condotel with Monthly Income

Equus #803 

1696 Ala Moana Blvd 803
Honolulu, HI 96815

Price: $139,000

1 Bathrooms
308 Square Ft

Listing # 1002759

 

This great boutique small hotel is located just minutes from shopping at the Ala Moana Shopping Center, a block to the beach, and is located just past the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The unit was recently redone and shows great! Currently in the Equus Hotel & Marina Tower Rental Pool and Management; income is roughly $500 a month. Nice investment property.

Basic Features:

Acres: 0.158
Region: Metro
City Name: Honolulu
County Name:
Neighborhood: WAIKIKI
Schools: Ala Wai
State: HI
Sub Area:
Subdivision:
Type:
Zip: 96815
Bathrooms: 1
Bedrooms:
Partial Baths:
Square Ft: 308

Additional Features:

Additional Rooms: None
Amenities: Meeting Room,Patio/Deck,Pool
Building Name: Equus
Building Style: Condotel,High-Rise 7+ Stories
Floor Covering: Ceramic Tile,W/W Carpet
Frontage: Other
Furnished: F
Interior Living Area: 308
Land Area: 6864
Maintenance Fee Includes: Cable TV,Electricity,Hot Water,Other Common Expenses,Sewer,Water
Monthly Maintenance Fee: 400
Parking: Guest
Prop Condition: Excellent
Remodel Year: 2008
Security: Key
Property Type: Condo
Unit Features: Bedroom on 1st Level,Full Bath on 1st Floor,Odd# Unit,Single Level
View: City
Year Built: 1961
Land Tenure: Fee Simple

 

 

Anti-Flippers: a Beneficial New Trend in Real Estate

According to an article in today's Investor's Business Daily, an interesting new trend is emerging in battered real estate markets - the "anti-flipper". During the real estate run-up of the early 2000s, many people would buy an investment property, often distressed, with the intention of quickly renovating it and selling it off at a profit. These investors took advantage of rapidly escalating housing values and easy access to credit.

Now, at a time when housing has undergone vast depreciation and it is more difficult to qualify for a mortgage, people are finding new ways to use low mortgage rates and market conditions to their advantage.

These anti-flippers are buying distressed properties in communities that have been ravaged by subprime lending and foreclosure, fixing them up, and holding onto them to rent out. The same people who have been displaced from their houses by foreclosure or unaffordable mortgages are causing demand for rental properties to skyrocket.

In many downtrodden cities, home prices are discounted by as much as 75% off their peak values. Investors are buying these homes to rent out until housing prices rebound, whenever that may be. Just renting the property often offers a double-digit annual return on their investment.

Anti-flippers produce many benefits for areas that were hurt by the housing bubble. They remove blighted and foreclosed properties from the market and renovate them, improving the aesthetics of neighborhoods as well as surrounding property values. They provide desperately needed quality rental properties. Lastly, they are stimulating the economy and giving people a reason to invest in the revival of the inner-cities.

For more information about distressed properties in Honolulu, please visit our website at www.HNLCondos.com.

Aloha Friday: Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Oahu to Air Soon

According to "Hawai'i" magazine, "readers Dan and Cynthia from Tennessee are the latest of several readers to e-mail us with a similar question about a filmed-in-Hawaii episode of one of Food Network's most-popular programs:

When will Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" Hawaii episode be shown on TV? My wife and I really want to watch it so we can see some of the restaurants we visited while in Hawaii in 2008.

You ask, we answer.

The Food Network's programming staff told us that DD&D's Hawaii episode will be premiering on Mon. April 5, at 10 p.m. EST.

The Hawaii episode will be an unusual one for DD&D. Host Guy Fieri and the show's producers don't usually put together an entire episode made up of segments from one location.

Which Hawaii restaurants will be featured in the episode? We're still waiting for a definitive answer from the folks at Food Network. But we know a good deal about where and what the DD&D crew filmed while they were dining around Oahu last October.

Make sure to check out our full rundown of Fieri's diverse Oahu dining adventures here.

The minute we find out from Food Network which restaurants made the final cut and whether there are plans for another DD&D episode of Hawaii segments, we'll be sure to update you here on this post.

Stay tuned."

 

Hawaii does environmental study for Waikiki beach

The state has submitted an environmental study for a multimillion dollar project to widen a segment of Waikiki beach with sand pumped in from offshore.

The study published last week says the plan would have no significant environmental impact. The state is accepting public comment on the report through April 6.

The project would widen the beach from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel to the Kuhio Beach groin by about 40 feet.

The sand there has been eroding about 1-to-2 feet per year, leading water to rush into seawalls and a hotel restaurant bar at peak high tide.

The state has already set aside $1.5 million for the project, which is expected to cost about twice that.

Hotel owners and the Hawaii Tourism Authority are also expected to contribute funds.

Please visit our website at www.HNLCondos.com to learn more about Waikiki, as well as current Waikiki and Honolulu condos for sale.

Honolulu Condos and Homes - Listing Alerts 3/17/10

Aloha!

Please view the links below for this week's Listing Alerts.

Don't miss the HOT LINKS at the bottom of this newsletter for such distressed property listings as:  Lender Owned Condo Listings

• Lender Owned Single Family Home Listings*
• Lender Owned Condo Listings
• Foreclosure Condo Listings
• Short Sale Condo Listings 

*NEWLY ADDED

Also, please feel free to visit our website, one of the most complete Honolulu Condominium Directories available online at www.HNLCondos.com.

NEW CONDO LISTINGS

These condo listings are new listings that have come on the market for sale, since last week's newsletter.

MLS Search page on our Website or set up your own Listing Manager Account.

ALA MOANA NEW CONDO LISTINGS

DIAMOND HEAD NEW CONDO LISTINGS

DOWNTOWN/CHINATOWN NEW CONDO LISTINGS

KAKAAKO NEW CONDO LISTINGS

KAPIOLANI NEW CONDO LISTINGS

MAKIKI NEW CONDO LISTINGS

WAIKIKI NEW CONDO LISTINGS

To view all Honolulu condo listings please visit the MLS Search page on our Website or set up your own Listing Manager Account.

DISTRESSED CONDO AND HOME LISTINGS - HOT LINKS

Distressed Bargain Properties for March 10th, 2010

These distressed Condo and Single Family Home listings include REO, or lender owned properties, foreclosures and short sales. All the distressed Condo listings are for Metro Honolulu only, while the Lender Owned Single Family Home Listings are for Metro Honolulu as well as the entire island of Oahu. New Listings are new this week, since last week's newsletter.

Please click here to read a complete definition or description of Lender Owned, Foreclosure and Short Sale Properties .

LENDER OWNED CONDO LISTINGS - ALL

LENDER OWNED CONDO LISTINGS - NEW

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - ALL (METRO HONOLULU)

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - NEW (METRO HONOLULU)- No New Listings This Week

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - ALL (ENTIRE ISLAND OF OAHU)

LENDER OWNED SINGLE FAMILY HOME LISTINGS - NEW (ENTIRE ISLAND OF OAHU

FORECLOSURE CONDO LISTINGS - ALL

FORECLOSURE CONDO LISTINGS - NEW - No New Listings This Week

SHORT SALE CONDO LISTINGS - ALL

SHORT SALE CONDOS $0 - 200,000

SHORT SALE CONDOS $200,000 - 400,000

SHORT SALE CONDOS $400,000 AND OVER

SHORT SALE CONDO LISTINGS - NEW