Hawaii Tourism Authority Steps Up

On March 31 2008, Aloha Airlines flew its last passenger flight and laid off 1,900 workers.  Customers with flights booked on Aloha Airlines were stuck if they were not completing their roundtrips by that day.  Then on Wednesday April 2nd 2008, ATA Airlines shut down operations, stranding more passengers.

Tens of thousands of people were affected by the shutdowns and there were not enough flights on other carriers to get people where they needed to go.   Aloha Airlines and ATA handled 15 percent of the air traffic between the West Coast and Hawaii prior to their shutdowns.

Pat the Hawaii Tourism Authority and Hawaiian Airlines on the back and say "Nice Job!" 

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) put up $5 million in…

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Los Chaparros

Los Chaparros opened in 2005 on Beretania Street in the McCully-Moiliili area.  Husband Mario (from Mexico City) and wife Lisa (a Californian) decided to create a restaurant with authentic Mexican cuisine.  

The Los Chaparros name

In Spanish, Los Chaparros means "the shorties."  Both Mario and Lisa are, uh "vertically challenged."  They're not tall.  So the restaurant name reflects their statures.

What's on the menu?

All kinds of good stuff!  We've eaten at Los Chaparros many times.  The other night my girlfriend had her usual Chicken Enchilada and I tried the Chile Colorado with corn tortillas for the first time.  As usual, the food was great.  We're not big drinkers, we split a blended margarita and it too was very tasty.  It was ice…

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Hawaii Foreclosures rising

This morning's newspaper has an article titled "Isle foreclosures slowly building."  The article intrigued me as a Palolo Valley resident and realtor in Hawaii.

House for sale in Palolo Valley

I live just around the corner from the house pictured in the newspaper article (and pictured above).  This house is located in Palolo Valley, a Honolulu neighborhood.   Several months ago the house had a garage sale and we stopped by to check it out.  The owner told us his story about moving and claimed that he had sold the house.

Later the house came on the market at a high price with a low commission.  That's a deadly combination for a home seller.   I imagine the realtor recommended a lower price with a higher commission but he or…

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Varsity Theatre destroyed

When Honolulu's Varsity Theatre closed in June, 2007 the owners had planned to renovate the building and use it for another business. Subsequently they found that there were structural problems - cracks going up the walls all the way to the ceiling.  Thus the owners decided to destroy the landmark building.

I wish they had given us some advance notice.  The first time I learned about the demolition was the day after it started.  On the second day of demolition (March 26, 2008) I was there with my camera.  I returned on March 27th and got a few more pictures.

Varsity Theatre March 26, 2008 View  from across the street Look at… Read Full Post

W&M Bar-B-Que Burgers

This drive-in is tucked in at 3104 Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki.  What, you haven't seen it before?  W&M is pretty well hidden.  You can find W&M by driving to the intersection of Waialae Avenue and Saint Louis Drive (you'll see City Mill on the corner).  Continue Kokohead-bound (east) just past City Mill and there's W&M, right next door.

What kind of food do they serve?

It's pretty much American style with Hawaii style added in.  Hamburgers, friench fries and teriaki burgers.  As you can see from the lunchtime crowd, this place gets busy!  They are open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch.

Remember how McDonalds was in the old days (before the Big Mac)?  Hamburgers, fries and a coke.  That's what W&M is like, but add in some teri…

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Assessed value and appraised value

Today I was corresponding with a customer about a condo he's planning to purchase.  We've looked at a few condos in this particular building and the unit in question has an assessed value that's lower than the others.  His thinking is that the property is worth less than the others because of the assessed value.

That's a common belief and sometimes it's true.  Other times it's definitely not true.  Assessed value and appraised value are determined by different parties for different purposes.

Assessed value is determined by the Real Property Tax assessor

County tax assessors determine a property's value based on its size, location, view, age and amenities, among other things.  In the case of this condo, the assessed…

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Maui Gas prices are the highest

 

Hawaii generally has the highest gas prices in the United States.  Maui, Kauai and the Big Island gas prices are normally higher than prices on Oahu.  In past weeks Maui's price went up to $3.95 per gallon for regular and $4+ for the premium fuels.    People on the outer islands (the islands other than Oahu) sometimes feel that they're getting ripped off.  The truth is, nearly everything shipped to Hawaii arrives on Oahu first.  From Oahu, freight is reloaded onto ships and sent to other islands.  The same is true with fuels.  Crude oil arriving from Alaska and Indonesia is refined on Oahu and then shipped to the Kauai, Maui and the Big Island.  And to be fair, let's not forget Molokai and Lanai.  The extra shipping… Read Full Post

Be careful about MLS violations

Last week I received an e-mail from the local Board of Realtors, informing me that I had committed an MLS violation.  That caught me completely by surprise.

The infraction: Posting a link in Tempo to my video of a listing.  That in itself wasn't an infraction, but including my contact information in the video made it a violation.

Wow!  Were you aware of this? I remember our Board having informed members about putting contact information in the remarks section of a listing.  That info was distributed about two years ago.  From that point on, we were subject to penalties if we included our name, phone and/or e-mail address in the information viewable by the public.

The purpose was to even the playing field, so that…

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