Betty Sakamoto
Aloha. Welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner, brought to you by Coldwell Banker Sakamoto Properties. In the studio today with me is one of my favorite people in the world, Ethan Kaleiopu. Welcome, Ethan.
Ethan Kaleiopu
Hi Betty.
BS: Ethan worked with us for a while and then joined another company. I just don’t know why. However, he is still our very best friend. Today, we thought we would do a real estate show together. He has some possible listings he can tell us about. We’re going to jump around from one thought to another, just because that’s more of what we’ve been doing these days.
Ethan and his family lost their home in the fire, and it’s been really hard on the whole family. I didn’t ask you this before, but is there anything you want to say about it, or would you rather avoid the topic?
EK: We could talk about it.
BS: Yeah. Why don’t you tell us a little about what happened and how it all came together, as much or as little as you want to share?
EK: My family. My mom had a generational home in Wahikuli. My grandfather had a generational home in Lahaina, right behind Wharf, and we lost both of those properties, as well as the home I had just moved into three days before I found a rental. I lost that home the same day. The biggest thing I’ve learned, keeping it really simple, is that time is truly precious. If there’s something on your mind that you want to do, then do it. If you want to say something, then say it.
BS: That’s perfect because that is the hardest thing for any of us to learn. If there’s something you want to say, say it. I think that also means we should always think first before speaking.
EK: Absolutely.
BS: But having said that, I think it’s almost always a blessing when you say what you’re thinking. You can always reflect afterward and think, “Maybe I pushed that a little bit” or “Maybe this, maybe that,” if you feel differently later. But expressing your thoughts really helps your mind. Time is precious. The thing I mentioned a little while ago when we arrived—about keeping different things I love or believe in for various shows—has always been important to me.
But the thing is, I only have a minute—just 60 seconds. It’s forced upon me; I didn’t seek it or choose it, but it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it and give an account if I abuse it. Just a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it. I think about that all the time. For some reason, this really matters to me from the standpoint of time. I think wasting time can be okay if you’re using that time to enjoy yourself or to be with friends. It doesn’t mean you have to be working all the time.
EK: Be mindful of the time.
BS: Be mindful of the time, even when you’re enjoying it. Be aware of that. It works for all of us because I really think it is key. It really matters a whole lot.
EK: I agree.
BS: So, as we mentioned a little while ago, we are with different companies now, but you mentioned that you had a listing in Oahu.
EK: I do. Yeah.
BS: Kind of interesting.
EK: Nice property. One of my clients, who are local investors specializing in putting local families into homes, renovated the property at 315 Oneawa in Kailua on Oahu. It’s a five-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath property, beautifully done right on the main road of Oneawa. It’s listed at $1,549,000. It’s a great property for a family, or if you work from home, there’s extra office space and plenty of room to utilize. If you have any questions about 315 or any other properties, let me know.
BS: What’s the price of that one now?
EK: $1,549,000.
BS: Where exactly is it located?
EK: Downtown Kailua, right on the main road of Oneawa—right on the main street there which is really nice. It’s convenient because if you exit, you’re just 5 minutes away from the exit to go to downtown Honolulu or West Oahu. So, it’s very convenient.
BS: Yeah, we’re still primarily focused on Kapalua, so I’m dedicated there. All of my own listings have sold, and we’re now preparing to rebuild some of that inventory. I think we’ll rebuild pretty quickly. But if anyone is thinking of Kapalua, call us at 808-870-7062 to reach me, or 808-870-7060 to reach Roy Sakamoto. For Ethan Ethan Kaleiopu of Compass Ohana Real Estate, you can also get in touch. What’s your phone number?
EK: 808-269-8033.
BS: Okay, we’ll repeat those a couple of times because many of us don’t remember things or don’t take the time to write them down. I think it’s all pretty interesting to revisit. Is there anything else from the day of the fire that you’d like to talk about, or about your family and how everyone got out of Lahaina?
BS: Yeah. Is it such old news? You don’t want to talk about it?
EK: No, not at all. Honestly, when I talk about it, I know it was a very crazy experience, but it was also eye-opening. The way things fell into place as they did is beyond my understanding. I can’t question how or why it happened, but it did.
I remember waking up that morning and feeling uneasy. Something in my gut told me that something was wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. There was no electricity, and our phones were down. I remember getting into my car early that morning and driving to my mom’s house. The kids were home from school, playing card games, and trying to make the best of their time.
I was relieved to be there, but then I went to my papa’s house. I was very anxious, trying to figure out what was bothering me. My brother Dustin was still staying with me at my new house, and he was still asleep. I remember going back and trying to wake him up, saying we might need to go down to Papa’s house.
There was no electricity, so we just hung out with him for a while. We went back down to Hooli Street, to my Papa’s house, where he was by himself. My dad was working in Kapalua, and it was a really strange experience. I remember hearing a lot of different noises, and we just let it play out for a while.
We ended up taking a nap, which I thought was weird. If you know my grandpa, once he’s out of his bedroom in the morning, he stays in the living room until he goes to sleep. He usually stays there the whole day, but that day, he went back to his room and lay in his bed, which was unusual.
He only does that during the day if he’s sick. He took a nap for an hour, and I also took a nap for an hour. The minute we woke up, it felt like game time. I remember walking outside and looking across the street, where everything was dark and gray. I saw that our neighbor’s house was starting to burn.
I asked them if they were evacuating, but they said they didn’t think it was that serious. They mentioned it was just small fires, and they weren’t aware of what was on the opposite side. I remember getting into my car, driving down Front Street, and going as far as the outlet. I saw everything in disarray, so I sped back.
I remember climbing over curbs, trying to get home quickly. By the time I arrived, my brother and my papa were packing up and leaving, along with the family from Molokai, who were also busy at the same time. They were leaving behind large items to return to Molokai, but their plane was canceled. As a result, they ended up staying on Maui and got stuck in Kahului.
So my cousin’s wife actually saw the fire from above and ran with her brother-in-law about a mile to our house to help us pack up. It took us about an hour to get out of there. During that whole time, I had no idea where my mom was, my stepdad, or my dad. There was no communication. All I knew was that we had to get out of there.
BS: That was, in a way, the hardest part for everybody. It was the lack of communication.
EK: The lack of communication was crazy. The biggest thing for me is that we didn’t have a clear plan. I remember he left in his car and I left in mine. I specifically said to go out to the bypass and wait for me there because I needed to go back into the house to grab something. He panicked when he was at Papa’s because, as he went down Front Street, he saw everyone leaving and no one going in the opposite direction.
So he panicked and went the opposite way. He thought, “There are no cars going that way; let me go down that road.” But there were no cars because it was on fire. We lost each other for about an hour after that. It was really chaotic. For three or four hours, I had no idea where anyone was. I remember it was getting really dark, almost 8:00.
BS: Where were you by then?
EK: We were on the bypass, waiting to figure out what to do. Some of my family gathered there, and I said we needed to get out of Lahaina. I decided we would just go to a hotel. I gave my brother my credit card and said, “Take care of everything.”
I decided to wait a little longer for Dad. I told everyone to go to the Marriott, check into a hotel, and we’d figure it out from there. I remember waiting for my dad because the last I heard, he was on his way when he called me. I wasn’t sure if he would make it out or not.
He had no idea the fire was happening. He eventually made it to the house, and by the time he got there, the area was already on fire. The police wanted him to go to a different location, but the fire had spread to our house, engulfing it in flames. He had no idea where we were and feared we had perished. He got into his car, shaking in disbelief. I remember being perched on the bypass with my foot on the bridge. It was chaotic with so many cars, and everyone was trying to break through and get out.
I watched every car as it passed by. He had a big lifted truck, and something in my gut told me he would pass by because he wouldn’t go back to Kapalua; he was going to head this way. So, he did.
BS: And your dad works at Kapalua.
EK: Finally, I heard tires rolling on the road, and I thought, “I’m pretty sure that’s him right there.” He was going about 80 miles per hour. He passed me in my car, and I remember bolting out, flashing my lights, and beeping my horn. He pulled over, and I pulled over. We got out of our cars, and he was just in tears.
He said, “Oh my God, where is everybody? I thought everyone was gone.” After so many hours of no communication, I reassured him, “We’re all okay. Everyone’s on the other side.” I didn’t know where Mom and my stepdad were, but they eventually left. We went to Target, met there, and bought everything we knew we needed, confirming that the house was gone.
I remember going to three different ATMs in the area, advancing credit on every credit card I had, and cashing out everything I could, not knowing what was going to happen. Cash is king. My cousin, Charlie Lawrence, called my Papa and invited us to her house, where we ended up staying for a long period of time.
She took care of us, but getting out there was pretty crazy. I think it changed a lot of things for me after the fire and taught me that time is really precious. Sometimes, things aren’t as serious as you think they are.
BS: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, when you think about what we’ve all gone through since then, it’s really hard. We didn’t lose everything materially, but in a way, we lost everything—the comfort of our homes, the people, and the familiarity of knowing where everyone was. I would have always known where you were on any given day, even though I didn’t really know if I dialed three phone numbers.
Even if you didn’t answer, I would find you. It was such a hard, hard day for everybody. We were at Kapalua most of the time, and from our house, we could see the fire from upstairs. We thought it was in Kaanapali, and we thought it was in Kaanapali, but we weren’t sure exactly where.
We really weren’t sure. We thought the fire was up higher, so we were hopeful, never imagining that Lahaina would be gone by the time we went to sleep or woke up. We didn’t know what was happening.
EK: I don’t think anyone really knew what was happening until the next morning. When everyone woke up, it was like, “What really happened?”
BS: When we woke up, it was around 4:30ish. I went downstairs and could still see flames from somewhere. It was really a freaky experience. We had two cats that were completely freaked out, and everything was chaotic. Then we looked outside and saw people we knew who had come there. Dr. Reston from Doctors on Call was out there with some friends who had been evacuated from the Vintage in Kaanapali.
EK: Getting close there.
BS: Yeah, they were just sitting there. They didn’t want to ring our doorbell, but they should have because it would have been okay. We had a bit of a hard time with the dogs because we couldn’t bring these two huge dogs into our house, but we were okay with them staying on the lanai. We got food and water, and everyone came in for a while.
Eventually, Norm’s house was cleared, so they all ended up going back there. It was such a hard experience just to get through that 24-hour period and then do what we could to help. I think we all did different things, and it meant a lot to each of us to be able to help someone.
EK: Yeah.
BS: That kind of still goes on and on and on.
EK: I remember coming up to Kapalua to load up on essentials when they brought the supplies out. I think the most humbling experience, truthfully, was driving to the distribution site in my old BMW with nothing else. Before the fire, life was good, and everything seemed great.
There I was in that car, thinking that some things really don’t matter. Here I was, rolling up and asking for help, which I had no problem doing. It was a realization that some things aren’t as serious as we think they are.
BS: That’s true.
EK: It was a very humbling experience, and in a crazy way, I’m kind of grateful for it. I almost wouldn’t change it. For everyone who was lost in the fire, my condolences go out to them. But I think everyone has learned something from the experience.
BS: I think you’re right. Everybody learned a lot from it. One of the things we felt from where we were was that easily a thousand people might be gone, maybe even 2,000. We had been watching the news and weren’t hearing any real updates, so it was really hard trying to understand what was happening.
By the time we learned anything, it was probably a day or so later that we started getting real information. There was a place where you could climb a hill and sometimes get a call through, but that was probably on day two or three.
EK: It was, yeah. I think that’s when my mom finally got out. I think it was by Maui Prep is where they were able to make a phone call. That’s when we finally heard from her. That was crazy, not knowing where anyone was, or you lost them.
BS: Yeah, I think it really.
EK: They were seeing everyone on that hill with photos of people trying to get a connection and make calls.
BS: Yeah. I’m originally from Buffalo, New York, and my family is all there. One morning, around 4:00, I got a call. My phone was right next to the bed and was charged, but we weren’t getting any calls. So, really early that morning, I received a call from one of my sisters. I jumped out of bed and started talking to her.
We only had a connection for a little while, but she knew everything that was happening and gave me an update on what was going on here—stuff I never could have known at that point. In fact, I could barely believe it when she said that Lahaina had burned, etc. That must have been really on day one.
We had people staying with us at that point, including one of our grandkids and a friend of hers. They were supposed to be boarding a plane and were determined to leave. They had a rental car, and we eventually gave up. If they wanted to leave, they could go.
I said, “I don’t think you’ll get out,” but they went ahead and left, and they did manage to get through. I think they let them go through the checkpoint because anyone who got out of Lahaina was okay. They left around 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning. The police and fire department helped them return their car to the Kihei auto rental — really great people.
They returned the car and then drove them to the airport. One of them actually got on the flight they wanted, while the other did not. But it was very interesting that they managed to get out and make it back. It took them a while; one went straight home, while the other had to make a couple of stops along the way.
But they got out of here and made their way to California, then somewhere else, and finally to the Portland area where they were headed. It was a series of small miracles. Now here we are, back to selling real estate. I think it’s going to be an interesting time.
I think nobody should be pushed into selling a property that’s burned. I’m not sure we would take a listing or do anything with one at this time because everyone needs to catch their breath and figure out their next steps. So far, I don’t even know what to say about that end of the market.
EK: Yeah.
BS: I don’t like hearing about all the foreign attorneys who have come in and are taking a stand now. They might be fabulous, but I’m not sure about that. I think there are local attorneys here working really hard, and I would go that route first. It might not be about getting every dollar, but rather finding a solution that works for you and your family.
If you can rebuild, I think it’s great to do so. Don’t leave if you can help it. We’ve all known a few people who have managed to buy another house somewhere, at least temporarily, or who have gone somewhere else but plan to return and rebuild. The hardest part, obviously, has been for those involved in rentals, as the rental market has gone insane.
I don’t have any idea how that’s going to straighten out, and none of us do. Hopefully, it will. I think the county should come up with some sort of product that they can build quickly. Roy is still involved with the project where the owner of the Kapalua Golf Courses is building 50 houses on what used to be the first hole of the old village course.
They’re almost done now. It’s been a challenging process, with various requirements that some fought against while others did not. However, the houses are nearly finished, and a blessing ceremony is coming up in the near future. These homes are for people who worked for the golf course and for the owner of the golf courses, who is paying for everything himself.
And people will have a home for five years; they’re being built as temporary housing. I’ve mentioned before on the show that it’s important because, suddenly, on Sunday morning, people will wake up, look around, and recognize everyone. They’ll know the people in these houses, and the kids will know one another.
They live in a beautiful forest of sorts, and while the houses are tiny, they will have a place to live. Many people have already moved, so it’s going to be hard for everyone. But I think we all need to keep praying for one another.
EK: One of the great things about that project, when I went to visit, is that many of those working on it are locals giving back. I have a few friends involved in the project, and when I talk to them, they’re very proud and happy to pour their love and expertise into something that gives back.
So, you know, the hands building it have a lot of life behind them. It was nice to have those conversations and see that they are genuinely giving back. And, Lahaina, those who are moving into the houses are friends and families of the people involved. They’re very happy to do the work. So that was really great to see.
BS: I think so, yeah. It’s been hard on everybody, but that part of the story is really great. I hadn’t heard that before, but it’s impressive. They ended up using union employees instead of the original builder, which is probably great for everything.
And then I bet there was also a lot of volunteer work that nobody knew about,
EK: Right.
BS: But they got up there, and it’s looking pretty ready.
EK: Yeah
BS: Roy is up there today with some people, trying to get it done and ready for a blessing. Anyway, that’s been a lot for today.
I don’t know if there’s anything else we need to cover, but maybe we should go back to that thought from the beginning. It’s only about a minute, just 60 seconds. It was forced upon me; I didn’t seek it or choose it, but it’s up to me to use it. I must suffer if I lose it and give an account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute, but eternity is in it. Think of that day and those minutes. Again, we were safe through everything, but for you, trying to figure out where to go and how to stop, you know, someone we knew from Bank of Hawaii was out on the street at the last minute, just waiting.
She was the last person to leave the bank. She got out and ended up in her car, but there were a bunch of cars in front of her, and she was waiting to move. Suddenly, she felt that something was wrong, so she got out of her car and walked up to the car in front of her.
Nobody was in the car in front of her. She walked up to about six cars, and no one was there. There was no way to turn around because everyone was stuck. She ended up in the water for eight hours with a few other people. I think, again, it’s a miracle that so many people survived.
It looks like we have one minute left. So, here we go. I’m glad you could come out today.
EK: Yeah. It was great.
BS: I hope it was great. Next time, we’ll focus on real estate—more listings and what we’re really up to. But I still think it’s important to remember Lahaina. We’re almost at a year now, which seems impossible to me and probably feels like five years to you.
EK: Here we are.
BS: This is the greatest song of all time. It’s the best. Aloha.
