Barack Obama is on his way home.  He'll be arriving on Oahu shortly for a holiday stay in Kailua. The Obamas are renting several homes on one property, in the Beachside neighborhood.  As the name implies, this is an area with homes on a sandy beach.

Beachside in Kailua on a sunny day

The property being rented by the Obamas has its backyard overlooking the Oneawa Channel.  A beautiful white sand beach fronts the homes.  The Kaimalino neighborhood is across the channel.

Neighbors are excited about the President-elect's visit to Hawaii.  Grass is getting mowed, trees and plants trimmed and sidewalks swept in anticipation.  Security will be tight.  The road where the home is located has only one entance, access will be limited to residents and their…

Oahu's tax assessments for 2009 have arrived.  And the news is... an overall increase in property values!  The percentage decreases on the regional map below might appear shocking, however Oahu's overall value put into dollars is an increase from $190.7 billion in the prior year to $191.1 billion this year.  That doesn't sound as bad. 

How does the increase in Oahu's land values tie in with some significant decreases reflected above?  The answer is, a big portion of the most valuable property on the island is in Honolulu and Diamond Head.  This is where we see the downtown office buildings, Waikiki and a significant portion of the island's population.  Other areas, such as the North Shore, Kailua, Kaneohe, Kahuku, Makaha and Waianae are less populated. …

I picked up a customer at Honolulu Airport on Saturday and took them out to Makaha Valley Plantation.  They had recently purchased a unit at the Plantation and this was their first time seeing it in person.

We arrived at the Plantation and checked out their unit.  They were very happy with the purchase and have a long term plan of living there.  Taking a look around, we noticed something odd in the neighboring building.  The top floor (of the three story building) was missing its walls in some spots - both the exterior and interior walls!  The insides of the top floor appeared to be gutted.  The second and first floors also showed damage.

I walked around, looking for a resident to ask what happened.  It was a lazy afternoon and there was hardly anybody…

Today we had calm winds and cool weather.  When the winds are light we often have beautiful sunsets in Honolulu.  I got up on the roof of my house and took this picture around 6 p.m.

Just left of center in the photo you can see the outline of Diamond Head.  It's a great place to surf and a great place to live.  The hill on the right is Saint Louis Heights.  Saint Louis Heights homes have great views of the city and they're just around the corner from the University of Hawaii campus.  The lights in the distance are closer than they appear, they are coming from Palolo District Park in Palolo Valley, where I live.  Palolo is the most affordable neighborhood in this part of Honolulu.

Have a great day.

Aloha, Mike

My friends just bought a 10-year old home a few months ago.  Escrow offered them a home warranty and we discussed the pros and cons.  I recalled a case where the buyer moved into a home that was just four years old.  Within a week, the built-in microwave oven died.  The new owners paid about $55 for servicing and American Home Shield repaired the oven.

That was good enough for my friends and they purchased the home warranty.  A basic home warranty covers the major appliances for one year.  This couple paid $266 for their warranty.

I got a call yesterday from the wife.  She told me how happy they are with the warranty!  Since they bought their home in Waikele, they've had three problems with appliances.  Shortly after they moved in, the under-sink…

A new listing is coming up at Castle Surf, a condo on the beach at Diamond Head.  This unit is on the fourth floor.  It has ocean and sunset views.  Castle Surf is right across the street from the Dillingham Fountain, a famous landmark at Diamond Head.

Besides being on the beachfront at Diamond Head, there are several other important features about this property.  Castle Surf has two elevators, one at the front of the building and another at the ocean side.   The maintenance fee is relatively low at $390 per month and it includes electricity.  The unit includes a covered parking stall - several other buildings at Diamond Head do not have parking spaces for each unit.

This listing has 700 square feet interior, 98 square feet on the lanai, a washer/dryer…

The Aloha Airlines name may fly Hawaii skies again

You may have heard that Aloha Airlines shut down on March 31, 2008.  In an odd twist of fate, the Aloha Airlines name may be revived.

Mesa Airlines entered the Hawaii market in 2006 with its regional company named go! Airlines.  Prior to go!, Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines were charging around $150 per roundtrip between the Hawaiian Islands.  go! started a fare war with with seats marketed as low as $10.  By the end of 2007, rates settled around $45 each way or $90 roundtrip.

In early 2008, higher oil prices affected airfares and interisland rates went up to about $120 roundtrip.  The fare increases probably were not enough to compensate for increased fuel…

We've watched energy bills climb over the last year due to oil prices, which peaked at $147 per barrel back in July.  Since that time, oil has declined to $51 per barrel today.   It's hard to believe - oil prices have gone down to about 1/3 of what they were four months ago.

Hawaiian Electric recently announced that customers can expect their bills to go down as a result of the price reductions.  This month I noticed the cost per kilowatt hour had gone down, which was a relief.  More importantly, I found that the conservation measures we had been taking around the house put a significant dent in our power use!

In our last electric bill post here: http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/mikey/6248/show/ we discussed conservation basics and some…