Blog

Top Upgrades and Additions to Make Before Selling Your Home
Making major upgrades to a house you’re planning to sell seems a bit ironic, but these expenditures often make the difference in how fast your home sells and the amount of money you make. The key is making an upgrade or putting in an addition that doesn’t cost you money at the time of the sale.

The Front Door
The front door makes the initial statement about what’s inside the house. Painting or replacing a front door promises an attractive dwelling within. Make sure the area around the front door is uncluttered, and add potted plants or plantings to increase the welcoming atmosphere.

Kitchens and Bathrooms
If your kitchen and bathrooms need major upgrades, spend the money and have them replaced. You should receive your investment back when selling the home. If you don’t have the funds, strip and stain or paint cabinets and make sure all windows sparkle. If possible, add at least one new major appliance. Potential buyers notice and it gives a kitchen an updated feel.

Painting
A fresh coat of neutral interior paint makes your house look fresh and doesn’t cost a great deal, especially if you do it yourself. The same holds true for the exterior.

It’s the Little Things
Replacing door handles, cabinet knobs, light plates and other minor matters can make a big difference in your home’s overall appearance.

Replace Carpeting
If your home is carpeted, tear out the carpets and replace them with solid-surface flooring. It’s also environmentally friendly.

Add a Lanai
Lanais and Hawaii are virtually synonymous. If your house doesn’t have one, that’s an addition to consider. Since it’s such a favored feature, the lack of a lanai may affect how long it takes to sell your home.

Landscaping
If your landscaping looks a little tired, install some new plantings. This relatively inexpensive fix greatly influences curb appeal. Sometimes it’s not a matter of planting anything new, but pruning back what has grown out of control. Your landscaping should enhance any views from your property.

Original Use
It’s not uncommon for people to use rooms for purposes that they were not originally intended. You may never use the dining room, so why not turn it into your home office? That may not work when you’re selling the home. If you have no other suitable place for a home office, try sticking it in a corner of a spare bedroom, but keep the bed and bedroom furnishings within.

Each home is different, and your real estate agent can advise you on the best tips for your property. He or she also knows the best additions and upgrades for your neighborhood. A little time, money and effort should yield you a good profit.

Filed under: Blog by Freddy
Comments Off on Things to do Before Selling

6 Top Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Faster

You know your house should appear neat and clean to appeal to buyers, but staging your home for a faster sale goes beyond that. It makes your home as attractive as possible while appealing to the widest number of buyers. Good staging not only helps homes sell more quickly, but for a higher price.
While you can hire professional stagers, most people can do the work themselves. Your real estate agent can give you suggestions for accentuating the positives and diminishing any negatives, and you can take it from there.

Curb Appeal

Your home gets one chance to make a first impression, and that starts at the curb. While it’s important to mow the lawn and keep plantings tidy, make sure your house looks fresh and inviting. Paint trim, clean windows until they sparkle and give your house, driveway and walkways a good power wash. Make sure it’s easy to read the house number. If your house sports a porch, remove everything but one or two pieces of attractive outdoor furniture and blooming plants. If a buyer is coming to look at the house in the evening, keep the porch lights on. They add a lovely, welcoming glow.

Get Rid of Clutter

While getting rid of clutter is rather obvious, you’re so used to seeing certain items you may not even realize strangers perceive them as untidy or obtrusive. Your want your home to look as large and spacious as possible. That won’t happen if rooms are full of furniture. Remove unnecessary pieces, and rearrange the furniture so the room boasts good flow for movement. In the kitchen, hide away all the non-essential items on the counter. Non-essential means anything you don’t use on a daily basis. The same holds true for the bathroom. Store your personal items in a drawer.

Avoid using closets as a storage space for temporarily unwanted things. Buyers will look at the closets, and they don’t want to see clutter – or junk – there either. Quite the opposite – they want to see closets with plenty of room. Consider having a yard sale or donating useful but unwanted items to charity. Renting storage space for your possessions is another option.
Put Away the Personal
You love the family photographs, awards and other mementoes scattered throughout your home. That’s fine, but a potential buyer wants to visualize the house as their place. It’s harder to do with constant reminders that other people live there. Pack away the personal, and display them again in your new abode.

Let There be Light

Bright and airy are powerful selling points. Allow as much light into rooms as possible, and augment that with attractive and strategically placed fixtures and lamps.

Neutral Colors

A fresh coat of paint brightens any home prior to sale, but it’s especially crucial to use subdued, neutral colors. Such shades allow buyers to imagine their furnishings and art in the room, which isn’t necessarily the case with louder tones.

Cleaning and Repairing

When you’re readying your house for a staging, don’t forget about the carpets, curtains and hardwood floors. Have carpets and draperies professionally cleaned, and replace any worn curtains. Your hardwood floors require polishing, and may need sanding and restaining if they appear worn.

Preparing your home for sale involves a lot of work and a certain amount of money. Good staging is worth it – you should soon entertain offers.

Filed under: Blog by Freddy
Comments Off on Staging to Sell

Things to Look for Before Making an Offer

It’s the house of your dreams, and you can’t wait to make an offer. Sit down, take a deep breath, and let your head rule your heart. No matter how much you like the house, it may have issues. Some problems are easily fixed, others will cost significant money and there are those that can’t change. Make an offer only when you’re sure you can deal with any downside the home may have.

Open Houses

During an open house, the real estate agent ensures the home looks as good as possible. Everything is neat, clean and uncluttered. However, even the best staging can’t camouflage certain items. Take a walk around the house and inspect the exterior. Termites are a problem in Hawaii, so know the telltale signs. Look for “sawdust” around the base of the home, which are actually the droppings of drywood termites. Subterranean termite infestation is just as common. Indications of subterranean termite issues include warped walls or sagging flooring, in case you don’t see the pests’ mud tunnels outdoors. Look at the roof, foundation, windows and exterior painting to see if work or replacement is needed.

When inside, feel free to open cabinets, check closets, turn faucets on and off and flush the toilets. You want to ensure there is sufficient storage space for your needs and that the plumbing is in good working order. If the house doesn’t smell right, or the real estate agent has gone to great lengths to mask orders, that’s a red flag. It’s possible mold is the culprit, or pet urine has soaked into the carpets or floors.

While you’re inspecting your potential new home, take a good look at surrounding properties. Are they in satisfactory condition, or are any of the houses run down? That affects property values, but it also may have an effect on an offer the seller is willing to entertain. Take photos and videos so you can discuss the pros and cons later on.

Perform Due Diligence

A little online research makes all the difference before making an offer on a home. You can check out the school system, neighborhood crime rates, local restaurants and shopping opportunities. Check out the neighborhood demographics if you’re looking for a community focused on your age group and lifestyle. Figure out how long it will take you to get to work. Try visiting the neighborhood at night to experience the vibe.

Other Bills

It’s important to think beyond the mortgage and take other costs of a particular home into consideration. While tax information is readily available, you also want to know about any homeowner’s association fees, water and sewer service costs, insurance and utilities.

When you’ve gotten good feedback on your questions, then it’s time to make an offer. Make your offer based on all considerations. Much depends on the market. If it’s hot, you won’t have much leeway, but in a normal or slow market, you’re in a better position to negotiate. Your real estate agent can advise you on the right offer to make, and it’s the seller’s decision from there. With luck, it’s a win-win for both parties.

Filed under: Blog by Freddy
Comments Off on Before Making an Offer

Pros and Cons of Owning a Home with a Pool

Dreams of living in a tropical paradise usually include a pool somewhere in the fantasy. In reality, a home with a pool also comes with responsibilities and some downsides. While there are plenty of wonderful reasons to own a home with a pool, it’s important to consider the entire picture.

Perfect Relaxation

A pool offers more than an inviting place to take a dip. It’s an extension of your home and a focal point, a place to entertain and relax. Landscaped with native plants, it’s truly an object of beauty. The pool is the place where you and your family make memories.

Resale Value

In colder parts of the country, pools don’t necessarily add strong resale value to the house. That’s not the case in Hawaii and other warm climates, where winter doesn’t come into play. Buyers in these areas love pools.

Fencing

The state of Hawaii doesn’t set fencing or barrier requirements for private pools, but there are county and local requirements. Your insurance company will likely set a minimum, so if you’re planning to install a pool, expect to put in at least a 4’ fence.

Pool Upkeep

There is upkeep involved, and you can either do it yourself or hire out the work. Robotic pool cleaners are also available. Standard upkeep is not that expensive, even if you use a service, but repairs are another story. Perhaps someone, somewhere, once had an inexpensive pool repair, but they are the exception.

Insurance

Liability insurance for your home covers your pool, so you don’t need an additional policy per se. However, it’s a good idea to increase your liability limit, and most insurance companies will insist on this. Your insurance advisor will likely recommend adding an umbrella policy, which supplements regular insurance coverage. A $1 million umbrella policy is well worth the few hundred dollars it costs annually, because if the worst happens in your pool and there’s a death or serious injury, a lawsuit is inevitable.

An Attractive Nuisance

Lawyers refer to pools as an “attractive nuisance,” because children may become attracted to them and trespass on your land. As pools are inherently dangerous, your insurance company is going to want to know everything about your pool. If a pool falls to meet the company’s standards, you won’t receive coverage without making the changes or upgrades.

There’s no reason your Hawaiian dream home shouldn’t include a backyard pool. Take basic precautions to ensure your pool is as safe as possible. Extra insurance also gives you peace of mind, the kind of tranquility experienced on a gorgeous Hawaiian day poolside.

Filed under: Blog by Freddy
Comments Off on Owning a Home with a Pool

Living in Ewa Beach

Much of Ewa Beach consists of new, planned development. There’s definitely a suburban, family-oriented vibe, and that’s reflected in the housing stock. Ewa Beach is convenient – it’s just a short hop to grocery stores and other necessary amenities. It’s a quiet, peaceful community, ideal for raising children or just enjoying the Hawaiian lifestyle.

Ewa Beach Home Prices

You can’t find more bang for the buck in housing anywhere on Oahu. In fact, a comparable home elsewhere on Oahu will cost at least 20 percent more. Ewa Beach features both affordability and space, and every type of home within its boundaries. If you’re considering a one or two bedroom condo, prices start at about $250,000. Expect to pay between $450,000 and $750,000 for a single-family home in Ewa Beach. For $650,000 and up, you can find an attractive four or five bedroom dwelling in upscale neighborhoods like Ocean Pointe, which features a fine marina. Three-bedroom homes in townhouse communities range from about $450, 000 to $550,000, although you may find bargains at lesser prices. Luxury homes abound, with prices ranging between from $1 million to $3 million.

While Ewa Beach is family-oriented, it also features a retirement community. Retirees can spend the day on the golf course or at the beach and then go out to one of the many restaurants in Ewa Beach.

Ample rental properties are available if you’re not yet ready to make a buying decision or want to get the feel of the area before committing to home ownership. Three bedroom rentals average about $2,500 monthly.

Ewa Beach Schools

Most of the public elementary schools in Ewa Beach rate above average, according to the national Great School’s rating. The ethnically diverse James Campbell High School scores the top rating of 9 out of 10. The Ewa Makai Middle School has the honor of being the first 100 percent eco-friendly school on Oahu. Private schools include Lanakila Baptist and Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Children can walk or ride their bikes to many of the public schools.

Find the Right Real Estate Agent

The right real estate agent makes all the difference when it comes to finding your new home. Island Realty Group LLC is based in Ewa Beach and we know the area better than any other agency. This knowledge allows us to find the right home for your lifestyle. Call us at 808-689-7407 to get started on the search for your dream home.

Filed under: Blog by Freddy
Comments Off on Living in Ewa Beach

Ewa Beach – A Great Place to Live for Every Member of the Family

For a relatively small place, Oahu has plenty of distinctive neighborhoods. Certain neighborhoods are more suitable for singles or couples without children. Some neighborhoods – like Ewa Beach – have something for everyone. For commuters, Ewa Beach is just ten miles from downtown Honolulu. For families, it’s a suburban ideal. The 2010 census found that half of the households in Ewa Beach had children, and more than one-quarter of the entire population was under 18. After school and during the summer, Ewa Beach furnishes plenty of activities to keep the younger generation busy.

A Sporting Place

The community boasts strong sporting opportunities for every age bracket. Golf aficionados have two top courses right in town from which to choose. There’s the Ewa Beach Golf Club, featuring one of the finest courses on Oahu. It’s truly a hidden gem. The Arnold Palmer-designed 27-hole Hawaii Prince Golf Club is the only one of its kind in Hawaii. It offers various playing conditions for golfers of any level, all surrounded by exquisite landscapes.

White Plains Beach provides good opportunities for beginner surfers. Those with more experience on the boards may prefer Oneula Beach Park, which boasts a raw, wild, private feel. Besides surfing and bodyboarding, it’s a fine location for family picnics, pickup ball games or fishing.

Youth sports hold a special place in Ewa Beach. In 2005, the Ewa Beach Little League won the Little League World Series, defeating Curacao 7-6. Other youth league sports in Ewa Beach include flag and youth tackle football, soccer and basketball. Ewa Beach offers several community parks for less structured games and recreation.

Arts and Culture

For all the emphasis on sports, culture does not take a back seat in Ewa Beach. The FORʻEWA Pono community development programs offers regular classes throughout the year for kids interested in music, singing, dancing and other artistic pursuits. Museums – including the Hawaiian Railway Society – present regular exhibitions.
There’s no need to go into Town for fine dining, and there are also plenty of restaurants catering to families in Ewa Beach. Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, Italian and other cuisines give the Ewa Beach eatery scene an international flair.
For all of these reasons and more, Ewa Beach is a wonderful place to call home.

Filed under: Blog by Freddy
Comments Off on About Ewa