Betty Sakamoto: Aloha and welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner brought to you by Roy and Betty Sakamoto, Coldwell Banker Kapalua. Here, we’ve got another day happening. Roy is here with me in the studio seems like we’ve got a number of things to talk about real estate-wise. We’ve got a little bit of this a little bit of that. We are hoping to have somebody call in that has information about a global citizen, young people organization. I hope that she is able to it would just be really fun to have her on. If not, we will be able to do it for the next show. Today, we are all obviously concerned about everything going on in the world and that is a constant something hanging over our heads, our brains, our hearts, and hard that we just don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. We’ve got Roy here who is always optimistic and ready for anything.
Roy Sakamoto: Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody in Afghanistan. All the people there, the brave people who are fighting the Russians. I still don’t understand why Russia is in this. Hopefully, we can give more aid to the Ukrainians and get Russia out of there. I just noticed something though.
BS: What is that?
RS: We are not on TV like we were before but Chris Meyer is here in the studio taping us so it will be up on our website in a couple of weeks, I think. The way we are dressed. You got a jacket on very efficient business-like.
BS: Yes
RS: And local boys got a golf shirt and shorts.
BS: Okay, that is how it is. We’ve made it work for 47 years or something. I think it’s going to hang in there. It is true because I always think that I will make fun and I will say okay Haole girl is going to wear and Roy say well Japanese boy is going to wear slippers and shorts.
RS: Yeah, I got shoes on.
BS: No.
RS: Yeah
BS: Oh, He does. How embarrassing. He will probably have to change to slippers when we get outside.
RS: Yeah
BS: That is funny. It’s funny also that I never think about it.
RS: No.
BS: It just is what it is. Some days I don’t always wear a jacket and a total dress-up business thing. I like to it feels good. It feels professional to me when I’m talking to clients or trying to help somebody straighten out something real estate-wise. It just seems good to be professional and business-like. I got to say this, nobody in the world is more professional or a better realtor than my husband Roy Sakamoto. He can dress however he wants because he is a local boy.
RS: Local boy. Thank you, dear.
BS: What else are we up to today, Roy? We are worried obviously about everything going on in the world. We know that for now what we’ve all got to do is just keep our lives going whether we are buying property, selling property, putting a mortgage on a property, thinking about any one of these things I think that we all have to just keep managing our world and our lives. Raising our children, and grandchildren to the best of our abilities. Keep living, taking care of ourselves. It is hard. There are a lot of people a little depressed, unhappy. I would say for most of us I can’t watch everything on television all the time right now because it really does bother me. Roy has a better ability to let things go. Something will be in my brain and it will be there all night while I don’t sleep. Roy has the ability in the morning to catch me up on whatever it was that’s going on. Anyway, I applaud that for you, Roy.
RS: Thank you. There is a lot going on but there’s a lot going on here on Maui. We do help personally. Help a lot of charities here. It takes a village as we’ve mentioned more than once.
BS: It does. Right now still, there are a lot of people in Hawaii, in Maui, everywhere that are hungry. When you think of the start of the pandemic and remember seeing the long lines and you knew some of the people in the lines and how humiliating it was for them. How embarrassed they were at that time. At this point, we’ve all got to get over any of those feelings. If somebody needs something for themselves and their children and there is a way to get help and to accept help it will make you a better citizen later because you are able to get through a crisis. There are so many people but each one of us should do our best with whatever we have. If we don’t have funds to help with something like this so many people have gone out and done the real work which is being wherever it took to be sure that things got distributed properly to anyone in need. That’s way bigger than someone who is able to make a donation.
RS: Yeah. The Maui Food Bank is a very worthwhile charity to support both financially and physically. It doesn’t take a lot of dollars to contribute. It may take a few minutes of your time every day or twice a week or whatever you can volunteer. Maui Food Bank is very necessary for our community.
BS: Absolutely. You can see that they’ve been active at a variety of churches where they’ve held distribution sites. There’s the one in Kahana. I’m drawing a blank on the church name Citizens bank.
RS: Church
BS: Church. That was perfect. Citizens Church and they definitely had done a lot to support the community and are continuing to do that.
RS: All over Maui. They’ve set up in Hana, all over Kahului, Wailuku. What a great charity as is say Hale Makua for instance.
BS: Hale Makua has helped the community since World War II. That’s another whole story that I love getting on because it is an amazing thing. We will do it another time. Today, there are more important things to talk about. Hale Makua is one of the most important.
RS: Absolutely.
BS: The fact that they are still here in the community. Anyone who is been there. Roy’s mom had to have been there for a while and did pass away. It’s a long time ago now but even then, they were spectacular. They care so much. They would see to it that Roy’s dad was able to be comfortable or had a place where he could lie down when he needed to. Yet, he was in great shape but exhausted from everything that went on.
RS: Yeah, another worthwhile endeavor for you to contribute Hale Makua health services either monetarily or volunteers are now allowed back into the facility. If you’ve got anything to contribute either by reading or not necessarily physical labor. Call Hale Makua and see if there’s any way you can contribute physically to the health and well-being of our frail and elderly.
BS: Roy sometimes it’s just going to be reading a book, talking to somebody, listening, sometimes you will see people will come there often and play music, dance the hula.
RS: Yeah, pre covid we had Hula Halau coming by, various well-known entertainers. Hopefully, now that we are looking at covid in the rear-view mirror I hope we will be able to see these Halau and singers and entertainers come back to entertain our frail and elderly.
BS: Having said that though that in our rear-view mirror we are all hoping that. I have a mask with me today and so does Roy. We are going to try to keep using it from time to time. We don’t need to have it on all day every day but let’s try to protect ourselves and anyone around us because you know when that’s happening at least you think you know but let’s give it a shot. I mean at least for a while. Let’s continue to protect ourselves and those around us. Stay home when you are sick. You don’t need to go out and whether it’s the flu or a cold or covid you don’t want to spread anything anywhere. Again, let’s take care of one another and ourselves.
RS: Absolutely.
BS: What do you think should we talk? A little real estate?
RS: Why don’t we touch on the Global Citizens Initiative? As far as the program itself was organized by one of our good friends.
BS: Yumi Kuwana.
RS: Yeah and fellow Coldwell Banker agent Yumi Kuwana. It was her brainstorm that put this organization together.
BS: Which I think is now 10 years plus.
RS: It’s a few years. What they do is they take students from all over the world perhaps 25 or 30 students for a summer session. It’s about a week session and they were bringing these kids into.
BS: Harvard
RS: Harvard University. Basically, working towards world peace and trying to help solve world problems. It’s interesting what these kids, sophomores, and juniors in high school come up with as far as helping to solve world peace, the ecology of the world. Very interesting.
BS: The first one they did Roy is right was world peace at least I believe.
RS: Right.
BS: We’ve heard a lot of this off and on so we could screw up the details but when you think about it they took let’s say 30 kids from around the world and they were all together at one point they were at Harvard. They do Harvard most of the time and they have a thing there. They all stay at Harvard, live at Harvard and they’ve been from everywhere. There has been somebody from Honolulu there a couple of times. It really is interesting to hear who is been there and what happened. They could be from anywhere in an impoverished nation.
RS: Oh yeah. Japan, Nairobi, South America, US I mean Canada of course. The only common denominator is that they speak English.
BS: That’s right. At least fairly good.
RS: Right. It’s been a great experience for all these kids. Hopefully, as these kids mature and become our world leaders. They will take this experience and expound on it and help lead us towards world peace as we need it like right now. Hopefully, we are laying the foundation with these kids toward future world peace.
BS: Yeah, it’s really a pretty interesting thing because I think that the kids in the first one that they were from again around the world. Yumi had mentioned to us one day about a young man because she was talking to someone else that was afraid to go there because she felt like she wouldn’t fit in. She wouldn’t be smart enough, she wouldn’t be this enough, she wouldn’t be all sorts of things. Yumi started mentioning a student that came from one of the African nations that had never been anywhere in the world. As he got there and was talking to Yumi who is there always when the kids arrive and through the whole program. He was so frightened. He was looking into the room of kids and to him, they all looked like they were different which they probably were.
RS: Rich kids.
BS: Rich kids. They weren’t all rich kids, but he didn’t know that. He was just so afraid. She said something to him and if she checks in with us now or the next time but it was something like she looked at him and she said you just stand up straight put your head back your shoulders square and you walk in there and know in your heart you are as good as anybody in there and once you realize that you are going to be a part of this like nobody else will ever be a part of it. She said he did. She could watch him walk in there and see that he was ready to change anything. He was a great contributor. I believe now like 11 or 12 years later that he is still contributing to it. I believe he has a master’s degree. He is possibly going to law school coming up and really some exciting things are happening there.
RS: Yeah. I think the bottom line to what we are telling you is that we are trying to get a kid from Maui. One or 2 kids from Maui are involved in this and looks like it’s going to be too late this year. This year they are going to be in Scotland. What a great experience. There are scholarships available for a Maui kid to attend the future conference. Hopefully, by next year we will be able to find 1 or 2 candidates from Maui. A high school sophomore or junior and be able to have this child attend this conference. It is a life-changing experience.
BS: It is totally life-changing because typically the student will leave wherever they live themselves and head to this conference probably in Harvard or it could be at another location.
RS: Yeah, not sure where it will be next year.
BS: That’s right. When you talk to a lot of young people that have never been out of their city or never left anywhere around their high school it’s a huge thing. It’s huge.
RS: Absolutely. Anyway, maybe you can google Global Citizens Initiative, Yumi Kuwana. A great endeavor so hopefully next year we will get a Maui kid involved.
BS: We were going to touch on a couple of the listings. One of the ones that I wanted to talk about Elizabeth Quayle has a listing in Kaanapali, 2760 Kolepa Place. Listed at $2,740, 000. Really wonderful home. It’s a little over 3,000 square feet on almost 18,000 square feet of land. How old is that? It was completed in 1975 and had some remodeling in 2012. It’s somewhat up to date. It’s in the heart of Kaanapali, a short walk to the beach on the golf course. Anything that you could think about it couldn’t be a better location. If you wanted to give Elizabeth a call on this. Her cellphone is (808) 276-6061.
RS: That’s in the Royal Kaanapali Estates which is almost a secret subdivision within the Kaanapali Hillside. It’s not gated but it’s kind of a secret place. You go up past the International Colony Club. Call Elizabeth about viewing that listing.
BS: Anyone that you’ve got there that you think is meant for today?
RS: Sharon Silva who is also with our office. Sharon Silva has the listing at 141 Pua Niu Way. It’s in the Launiupoko area. It is 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. It is on about 2.5 acres with great views. The Launiupoko area if you are not familiar with it has awesome views and some really nice neighborhoods. This is in a subdivision called Mahanalua Nui. Call Sharon about looking at this. It’s listed at $2,695,000. Sharon’s number is (808) 281-6559.
BS: Another one that I think is an important building and we happen to have sold something there for all those friends of Roy’s family at Opukea. It’s a great location. This one’s listed at $1,195,000, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. It’s almost 1,900 square feet. You can google that. Ray Chin has the listing at [email protected]. You could also reach Ray on his cellphone (808) 344-2677. This will probably be sold to a local resident someone that’s going to be living there. I don’t think there’s any problem. I don’t believe they allow any short-term rentals.
RS: No, they don’t.
BS: If somebody wants to purchase this to use it as a 2nd home it’s acceptable. It really is spectacular. It looks in excellent shape wish I had already seen it. Again, Ray Chin (808) 344-2677.
RS: Ray has another great listing. It’s a 10 Puamana Place in Kahana. It’s 5 bedrooms, 3 baths. The lot size is a little over 11,000 square feet which are a little over a quarter of an acre. 5 bedrooms, 3 baths. It’s listed at $2,800,000. Boy, just a few steps away from the ocean. You are not oceanfront but just across the street from the ocean. Great location and hard to find a 5 bedrooms place anymore. This is 5 bedrooms, 3 baths with an Ohana. Call Ray (808) 344-2677.
BS: Here’s another one. A listing at Hale Mahina on the ocean is $650,000, 1 bedroom, 1 bath. It’s a leasehold. A great location and something that you’d be able to use for a long time. You’d have to of course be talking to your agent on this. If you talk with the listing agent George Nunes happens to be a Lahainaluna High School graduate. His phone number is (808) 385-4665, George Nunes. He is really a great agent and can fill you in on the leasehold and everything that relates to ownership. I think that would really be worth talking to George about.
RS: Yeah, George is a great local boy, Lahainaluna grad as is yours truly a class of 1960. Anyway, call George on that listing. If you are trying to reach Roy or Betty, my number is (808) 870-7060 Betty is (808) 870-7062. Call us and whatever your questions are whether you are looking to buy sell or just curious about real estate give us a call. We can help you as far as financing information, escrow, whatever you need. Anything related to real estate calls us.
BS: We are available pretty easy to reach most of the time. Leave a message for us or you could text us at those same numbers and we make ourselves available. We are in our office quite a bit. We also will meet with people there. If we can help you figure out what it is that you can work on to make a purchase. Another great person in our office right now is Ethan Kaleiopu.
RS: Yes
BS: Ethan has worked really hard with people and has a setup to refer people to be able to learn how they can get ready to qualify for a mortgage. Since he’s been doing this they’ve found people homes and got people able to be in a position to buy a home here on Maui that thought they never would. That’s really a huge thing for the community. Some of them have taken a full year, 2 years in order to actually make it work because they had to pay off debt, clear credit problems, and get in a position to do it.
RS: Ethan is an interesting story. Another Lahainaluna graduate and about 4 years ago maybe 5 years ago.
BS: 2019.
RS: Okay.
BS: Yeah
RS: Is that when he graduated?
BS: I believe.
RS: Okay
BS: Could have been.
RS: Anyway, in his senior year he called me and asked if he could be taught real estate. I said well come on in and let me know why you want to get into real estate. He came into our office we sat down and the first thing I asked Ethan was, why would you want to get into real estate? I figured the typical 17-year-old local kid’s answer would be I want to make the big bucks and what Ethan came back with absolutely floored me. Ethan said he wanted to help people buy homes.
BS: He did and he lives by that.
RS: and that’s not a 17-year-old response. He followed through on that, he has diligently talked to a whole host of lenders and has gotten himself a wealth of real estate experience. He helped buyers from all age groups and all economic brackets. If you are looking to buy a home in Wailea or if you are looking to buy a home in Lahaina, Wailuku, Kihei, Makawao.
BS: Honolulu. He did everything. He works really hard.
RS: Yeah, Ethan Kaleiopu. What a nice young man.
BS: A nice young man and spectacular Maui family. He is really one of the great ones.
RS: Yes
BS: We have about one and a half oh 2-minutes. We could still probably throw one property on if you’ve got one.
RS: Here’s one that Mary Anne Fitch who is a well-known realtor on Maui. One of the top producers. She has a great listing at 995 Anapuni Place in the Kaanapali Golf Estates. It is in a subdivision called Lanikeha. It is listed as $6,300,000. It’s 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 3,800 square feet, under roof and brand new built-in 2022. Call Mary Anne (808) 250-1583.
BS: Mary Anne is spectacular. We all worked together many years ago as part of Sakamoto Properties. She moved on and did a variety of different things. She had her own company for a while. She did a couple of really amazing things. She probably does a deal a day. She will help anybody through her connections try to buy a home.
RS: She is also done a lot for Maui charities.
BS: Absolutely
RS: Thank you, Mary Anne.
BS: Thank you, Mary Anne. I guess we are ready for Danny Couch and here he is coming back on. We do love Danny. Hope he gets over here to Maui.
RS: And prayers for Afghanistan.
BS: Yes. Prayers for the whole world. Mahalo.
