Betty Sakamoto: Aloha and I love Hawaii, absolutely. Every time I hear that it brings the greatest smile of all time to my face. My husband, Roy Sakamoto here today in the studio, and we are going to do a little real estate. We are going to have Norm Estin from doctors on call. Dr. Estin going to check in with us and filling us in again on what we ought to be doing, pandemic-wise and in the future. I think he’s got some great advice and we might talk about a little of that before we get him on the phone.
Roy Sakamoto: Yeah. Welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner.
BS: Betty’s Real Estate Corner. That makes me kind of smile and laugh too.
RS: Yeah
BS: But it’s been fun. We’ve been doing it off and on for quite a few years now and it’s been fun.
RS: Going back to Sakamoto Property days.
BS: Yeah. Most of our career has been Sakamoto Properties until just before the pandemic when we entered into a was referred to as a merger acquisition with Coldwell Banker and were now over a year and a half almost into that. That’s been pretty spectacular. We ended up moving our offices to Kapalua. We are located at 700 Office Road and it’s really great. We are in the middle of the finest restaurants in the resort so we are happy campers.
RS: Totally. Absolutely.
BS: Real estate could not be better so that turned out to be unbelievable for all of us.
RS: Actually, I think we have 2 new listeners today. John and Nooshin Darvish. Welcome, aloha.
BS: Roy’s been talking to them, met them before I did. Yesterday, John and Roy, and I had lunch and it was one of those perfect meetings. It would be hard to even describe it. We talked about everything and it would almost have been fun to have been able to do some of that bouncing around because we were talking about things that could make a difference in the world. The littlest things and it got down to and it’s hard I guess without having been in the middle of the conversation but how sometimes you just say hello to someone. You are passing someone on the street and you give a wave, you say hello, you try to make a little bit of eye contact and if you could do that all the time there’s so often it makes a difference in somebody’s life.
RS: Sure
BS: They have been acknowledged.
RS: Absolutely
BS: The more we would acknowledge one another it could solve almost the problems of the world. I know that sounds idealistic or something but it matters. Sometimes I’ve been in an airport and sat and talked to someone and it just happens the person next to you and you start a conversation. I mean in a lot of cases I was alone in the airport or I probably wouldn’t have been doing that but I maybe would have been with my husband. The more I talk to them you realize they really needed somebody that day to talk to. You walk away feeling like maybe you changed a life just a little bit.
RS: Sure
BS: Let’s all do that. Again, it sounds so simple but let’s remember to say hi and
especially to someone that maybe is a little different from you are. We aren’t all the same obviously. I’m in a room right now with 4 people, we are all totally different. Of course, I’m the only girl but that would be the biggest difference. It is still interesting because we are all the same.
RS: Hopefully we can have John and maybe Nooshin as guests at one of our shows.
BS: That would be amazing. She is a doctor. She is a holistic specialist and I haven’t met her yet but after spending time with him I’d really love to be meeting her. They’ve got I think 3 kids.
RS: Right
BS: Anyway, it’s kind of hard and I’m rambling on.
RS: Hopefully soon to be added to our Maui community.
BS: Yeah, that would be really great.
RS: Even if as a part-time resident.
BS: They would make a big difference.
RS: Yeah
BS: Let’s all do that but at least let’s try today to make a difference. Maybe it’s just the smile thing, the hello, the wave, the tip of the hat as they used to say but whatever it is let’s all do something. Let’s try to make a difference. When you’re kind to someone even if it’s just a smile back they are kind to you and you leave happy. Let’s all be happy.
RS: Maybe more so during these pandemic days. Where people are a little bit tense anyway and maybe more careful as far as eye contact or whatever. Maybe just a wave or a hello that goes a long way.
BS: I could almost bounce off the walls with it right now.
RS: You do.
BS: I do I know. There’s just something. Let’s all just give it a shot today and tomorrow and as long as we can because it will matter. Even your children if they see you doing something they’ll kind of do the same thing. Maybe remind kids at school tomorrow, the next day, the next day to be kind to someone, or when they are not feeling so good sometimes. If you are just kind to somebody else you feel a lot better and everything is better. Should we do real estate and just because it will get me off of this for a minute.
RS: Well, we are a real estate show but we are waiting for Dr. Norm to call in, give us an update on the covid happenings on Maui and vaccinations and so forth. Norm has been more than generous with his time and sharing with us. We are looking forward to his phone call.
BS: There’s another person who I would say changes lives one person at a time and not necessarily medically although he is a fabulous doctor. He is a Board Certified Internist. Has had a general practice here on Maui, forever doctors on call. He is been really great. He is so upbeat and he’ll do the littlest thing. He recently brought into my office a little orange juice can with a string on it so that I could reach someone easily. I will always be able to reach someone. He just has the funniest sense of humor. He didn’t even tell me it was there I had to find it myself. He hung it next to my desk and all of a sudden I look at, what is that?. Norm makes a difference a person at a time whether he walks in to pick up coffee, walks into our office. He is always got a great attitude. He is happy and he is busy all the time and he changes lives.
RS: He does a lot for the community not only during pandemic times but I know he volunteers for the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He is the tournament doctor. He gives all of his free time helping out for the tournament. Also for the Maui basketball classic.
BS: That’s right.
RS: The Maui gym basketball classic he is the doctor on the court and donates a lot of free time to Maui.
BS: Single-handedly not really single-handedly but I feel like he has made a difference in the whole vaccination process for Maui from Maui county. He would do anything to be sure that we’re all getting vaccinated, that we’re all understanding the process, and yet I’ve seen him talk to someone who’s saying they will never get vaccinated and trying to fight their cause. He also is very tolerant. He has the ability to kind of say, that is kind of the point in a way of the possible herd immunity, is that somebody can make that decision and that we do all have to be trusting of the world the way it goes. I still think I want to say, let’s all get vaccinated. There’s a reason for it and to even get to herd immunity it is going to take a lot of us. We got vaccinated the minute we were able to and I would kind of say to everybody do the same thing. Let’s get vaccinated, let’s feel like we are as safe as we can be here on Maui. Anyway, should we do a real estate moment?
RS: Well, is that Norm on the phone right now?
BS: Nope
RS: Not yet
BS: Maybe
RS: I think so
BS: Is that Norm on the phone? Doctor Norm, whoa ho ho
Dr. Norman Estin: Hey, Aloha.
BS: We are just talking about you.
RS: Aloha
BS: Aloha. So, what’s the good word on vaccinations, on the medical world, on Maui. We’ve just been bragging about you.
NE: Well, this is great. I think Betty’s Real Estate Corner is the only show around I know that has their own private custom coronavirus periodic update. It’s kind of fantastic. The news is very good, we are doing great. The country is doing great and Maui and Hawaii are doing wonderful. We are vaccinating up people and very slowly getting there. The rate has slowed down a little bit in the last couple of weeks but still very progressive. I think we’re going to be very safe here probably 6 weeks or so for Maui and Hawaii. Lastly, the data are very optimistic as well. The key thing here is what’s happening is that science and medical knowledge are finally being listened to and people are starting to understand that the only possible way to fight and prevent the spread of this thing and get our lives back to normal is with this vaccine nothing else is going to work. We are in a situation now where nationwide as of today we actually have 4 in 10 adults are fully vaccinated. That means they’ve gotten 2 shots of the Moderna or the Pfizer or 1 shot at Johnson& Johnson. 7 in 10 seniors the most vulnerable population of fully vaccinated so this is very good. These people have virtually eliminated their risk of getting covid or of spreading it, which is fantastic. It’s just very heartening to see how many people are starting to realize “hey, I can protect myself about this.” The opposite of course is, unfortunately, true that everybody has unfortunately died from covid here even as of the last few days. This country has only one thing in common that they never got a vaccination. I think people are starting to realize, “Hey, we’ve got to do this and that we are all going to be safer. We realize that if you are vaccinated everything’s safe. You can go out with friends, you can go to a restaurant or graduation, you can go shopping and go to work. If you watch television the scenes from around the world. The devastation in India and other countries is terrible. The risk of being unvaccinated is just too high.
BS: Norm, a minute ago you said something that I think really is critical for us to all understand and be proud of ourselves not only in getting the vaccination, did we protect ourselves but we protect our community. It’s not just about me it’s about all of us. Each one of us that has done that we’ve protected our community and that’s what someone’s going to be doing when they get their vaccination. Everyone has to do it.
NE: You are absolutely right buddy and we protect them in a couple of ways. We are less likely to be carriers and spread it. Likewise, we are going to be less likely to be part of an outbreak that’s going to devastate the whole community or the healthcare system of the hospital. The other thing is that the more people are vaccinated the fewer of these variants they are. Some of you may have heard about these variants that are the last few weeks. The coronavirus that causes this covid mutates or changes its DNA and that’s normal for a virus to do in real life and these changed versions are called variants. The problem with these are is that some of them spread more rapidly and make people sicker than the original covid. Some of them attack younger people more than older people that’s what we’ve been seeing the last month or 2. The people getting sick from covid are younger people. If we vaccinate people they are not going to spread the virus at all and in particular, they’re not going to be spreading these variants that are causing problems in particular causing what’s called the long covid. You have heard about this, we’ve had probably now about a 3rd of the people getting sick that have been gotten sick this whole last year and a half have symptoms for many months and probably the rest of their life. The so-called long covid or long haulers. Kalani English our legislator retired early this last Friday as everybody knows from reading the newspaper or watching the news because he had a little bit of brain fog which was publicly recognized and known. I’m not divulging any confidential information from his long coverage. He said I’m not going to be able to work so this is something you don’t want to get and you can prevent it easily. You are protecting yourself and you are protecting the community. It is safe, it is effective. The other thing that people don’t realize is that if you’ve been vaccinated that you can do things. You can travel, you can get on a plane, you can go to a neighboring island, you can go to the mainland, you can go to a foreign country, you can go to a concert, you can go to a big function. If you’ve got proof of your vaccination unless you will have a vaccination card so that’s an important thing. In addition, if you get exposed to somebody now who’s positive you have to quarantine. Okay? Let’s say, you with somebody who happens to test positive the county and the state will track you down and say well you’ve been exposed you have got a quarantine for 10 days. However, if you’ve been vaccinated you don’t have to quarantine because you’re resistant to getting it. That’s a tremendous advantage because we still have some of this in the community and we still have people coming in on airplanes that are bringing in some cases all over a very small number. There’s really no downside to getting vaccinated. People worry about are their side effects. Well, every now and then somebody feels a little fluish or a little achy after the 2nd shot in particular but those all go away right away. I have personally supervised I think 7, 000 of these things and I’ve not seen any significant reactions. Then people say well how about the long-term side effects? We don’t know about those and the answer is even though this has only been out for a few months and in development here close to about 8 or 10 months. In historically any significant long-term side effect gets seen in the 1st 6 to 10 weeks. In other words, in 2 to 3 months we know immediately if there’s going to be any bad side effects that are going to be long-term. That’s been true for every vaccine ever developed so we’ve had these out now for close to 6 months and there’s no indication of any long-term effect at all. It is certainly a long-term effect of getting covid and you don’t want that. This may well turn out to be one of the safest vaccines ever developed in the history of mankind. It is phenomenal and to have it rolled out so fast in the United States is a blessing. We should feel very thankful. We are going to be protected on this island by the end of July, by this whole country by the end of the year. That is phenomenal. The rest of the world is going to be way behind. Probably, the 3rd world and underdeveloped areas won’t be vaccinated and protected until 2024.
BS: I think you’re right Norm. Again as a country, don’t you think it’s going to be important that we step up whatever we have and we share it in any way that we can with every country that we can? If we can come up with it, it’s got to be international. It can’t just be one country or a few countries. It has to end up everywhere or it will never go away.
NE: That’s absolutely true. The virus doesn’t care about national borders. The virus doesn’t care what race you are, what language you speak. If you are rich or you are poor. It’s a virus. These things are in the air. They float around being on them. They are oblivious to who you are or where you are.
RS: No, absolutely.
NE: We are going to control this thing. We’ve got to do it internationally and I think that the Biden administration has taken a big step this last couple of days by liberating some of the patent protection on these.
BS: Yeah, absolutely. That’s feeling good to me.
RS: Yeah. What about supplies on Maui Norm?
NE: The supplies on Maui were going great initially we had some shortages as you remember back in January and February. There was much more demand than supply now. We really have an unlimited supply of all 3 vaccines. The Moderna, the Pfizer, and the Johnson & Johnson. In addition, you can find them everywhere. You can find them at doctor’s offices, pharmacies, workplaces, churches soon they’ll be in schools. The Department of Health is still doing clinics once or twice a week at the University of Hawaii Maui College. There’s a bunch of community organizations that are putting on vaccination clinics. A bunch of restaurants and hotels are doing hosting them themselves to get the hospitality part of the community back to work so we can return to normal. There’s vaccine everywhere as a matter of fact CVS today just announced you don’t need an appointment. You just walk in and they’ll get you one. It’s really couldn’t be easier to get one anywhere.
RS: Fantastic
BS: Well, I guess it’s probably time we try to do a little real estate, Dr. Norm. Dr. Norm has real estate so we are okay.
NE: There you go. Happy to checked in. All good news and we’re moving forward.
BS: Thanks so much for calling in Norm. Thank you very much for all of the community.
RS: Thanks Norm.
BS: Thank you. Aloha.
NE: Aloha
RS: Aloha
BS: Here we go now, that really makes a difference for a lot of people. If you hear that and you think about it get vaccinated
RS: No excuse.
BS: No excuse, just do it.
RS: It is widely available.
BS: It is the Nike way, just do it.
RS: Just do it.
BS: Just do it, okay? Anyway, back to real estate I was noticing just a listing. We usually carry some stuff over with us and are talking on the way but at Napili Ridge, there’s a listing of $215,000. It is a small 1 bedroom and it is leasehold so that you would have to at some point hopefully the fee would be available for you. Whoever owns it chose to not get it but the fact that lease rent is $420 a month is a lot. You can also do short-term rentals there which has been really an amazing small property, you can walk to the ocean, etc. Jacob Pike is the co-lister on that. I just thought when I saw that Jacob would love to know that we are thinking about him. He is one of the younger agents at Coldwell Banker and we are really proud of him. He is Elizabeth Quayle’s grandson. You can reach Jacob at (808) 450-845.
RS: Like there’s no excuse for not getting vaccinated right now there’s really no excuse for not buying real estate. It is a heck of a market. It is a robust market. We’ve never seen anything like this before. Interest rates are fantastic.
BS: There really is still historically low.
RS: Right. There is no excuse for not buying anything and a lot of people are also looking at moving up. Selling their current condo or smaller home and moving up the bigger condo, bigger home. Here’s one in Kaanapali Hillside, it’s at 13 North Piki. It’s a 4 bedroom, 3 baths. It’s 2,559 SF, the home was built in 2003. It’s fantastic. It’s about 17-18 years old but in great condition. Marcy Rhody has this listing. Marcy Rhody with Coldwell Banker, our Kapalua office and her number is 280-2255. Call Marcy and ask her about 13 North Piki Place.
BS: Here’s another one, Kahana Sunset is listed right now by Kristen Kingwell. Her website is [email protected] and she’s an amazing personality and amazing agent. Kahana Sunset an Oceanfront property, short-term rentals. It’s got everything you would ever want on it. Access to a small beach, 4.5 acres, beautifully landscaped, really spectacular. You know Roy, I hate to tell you that we have gone through this so quickly. That we are down to the 2-minute warning.
RS: We are?
BS: This is like a football game. We are down to the 2-minute warning.
RS: Oh my goodness.
BS: So maybe you could toss out 1 more property and then let’s think about what it is. What the message is that we like to leave with everyone.
RS: Yeah. Well, quickly 102 Wood Rose at Pineapple Hill. It is currently the only available listing at Pineapple Hill. It is a 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths, awesome views, right at the top of Pineapple Hill, listed at $2.7 million. Needs some work, it was built in 1988. The view is just fantastic.
BS: Going back to we talked kind of a tiny bit about mortgages right now and again the interest rate makes a major difference for people. Talk to whoever you’ve dealt with in the past from the standpoint of real estate. Call us. You can reach us, Roy at 870-7060, you can reach me at 870-7062. We will direct you to a lender and that’s the first place to go. Talk to your banker if you’ve got someone but get yourself started.
RS: Get ready. Here’s Danny Couch.
BS: Danny Couch, I love Hawaii. I wish I could sing and just sing along with him.
RS: We all love Hawaii.
BS: I’m not going to ruin it. We do love Hawaii. Aloha.
RS: Aloha
BS: Thank you for listening. Aloha.
