Betty Sakamoto: Aloha, and welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner, brought to you by Coldwell Banker and Roy & Betty Sakamoto. Both of us are here in the studio today, which we’ve done quite a few times now.
Roy Sakamoto: Quite often.
BS: Quite often.
RS: Absolutely.
BS: It gets more fun every time. I think it does. It was hard getting over here today. I still don’t know exactly what happened. There was some sort of fire coming out of Lahaina. The traffic wasn’t good, but not horrible. But coming back in, traffic was blocked forever.
RS: Yeah, I’m not sure what happened. It looked like there was a small brush fire that was put out on the side of the road leading out of Lahaina. I think the fire department was on it and got it under control, but I’m not sure why traffic into Lahaina was delayed.
BS: No, and the police were working really diligently on it. I mean, there was some police presence, which I think is really great.
RS: Lots of police presence.
BS: The fire department—I think maybe everybody had it so taken care of by the time we got to it that we were the fortunate ones. Hopefully, when we head back, we may just have a little lunch.
RS: Absolutely. Yeah.
BS: As we leave here.
RS: Sure.
BS: Where are we going today?
RS: I think Marco’s.
BS: Marco’s Deli. It is the best. We go there a lot if we’re on this side of the island, and they’ve got a little bit of everything. Everybody there is happy and personable, and no matter who waits on you, it’s the perfect, perfect, perfect waiter or waitress. It’s a great spot.
RS: Fun spot. Actually, another fun spot that we’ve been going to lately in Kahului is…
BS: Jack’s.
RS: Jack’s Inn.
BS: Jack’s Inn. It is great. And again, the same thing—you go there, and pretty quickly everybody knows your name, and they’re really glad you came. It’s great. It’s fun.
RS: It’s locally owned. It’s got a local flavor with their menu. The food is good and the atmosphere is fantastic. The waiters, the cooks—everybody has a smile on their face. They’re always welcoming. It’s priced really good.
BS: And that’s why it’s really good. I mean, it is one of the best deals in town. And again, you’re right—everybody’s personable and they know your name. Truly, it’s one of those places where they pretty quickly recognize you if you’ve gone in a few times. We had heard about it from someone, and we started going there and really liked it. But again, we like Marco’s too.
RS: Yes.
BS: It’s all good.
RS: Yeah, while we’re in restaurants—what else do we like? We talked a little bit last week about restaurants. We had dinner at Honu.
BS: Honu is always the best. Ahi bruschetta—the best thing in the world, bar none. I love it.
RS: Bruschetta—the whole menu. I’ve got to try the tapenade next time. But the setting—oceanfront in Lahaina—nothing better. You’ve got Honu turtles right out front.
BS: And we saw sharks out there one day. It was a long time ago—two kinds of small sharks. But they were kind of looking for some tourists to come in.
RS: And actually came up on the rocks.
BS: Not the T-word—the V, the visitors. And we’re kidding, please. They were wonderful little sharks.
RS: One of the little sharks actually came up on the rocks.
BS: It did, yeah.
RS: Must’ve been chasing some little fish or something.
BS: And he needed a little help getting off. You almost got in there and tried to hold it.
RS: I was going to try, yeah. It kind of wiggled its way back in, though.
BS: That was really kind of scary, though. I mean, not scary—I mean, it was scary for him.
RS: For sure, yeah.
BS: It was really frightening. Anyway, all good. Any place else you can think of that we’ve been recently?
RS: Well, we always like Mala.
BS: Really, really good.
RS: A neighbor of Honu, right on the ocean.
BS: And they’re open for lunch and dinner.
RS: Lunch and dinner.
BS: Honu right now has an early dinner, and they’re open, I think, fairly late. I think it’s—
RS: I think they’ll reopen for lunch once the employee situation gets better. I know a lot of restaurants are looking for employees. Since the Lahaina fire, a lot of commercial establishments are shorthanded.
BS: Yes, I think it is true, because it’s hard to find a place to live. You know, anyone that lost a home—it’s more and more difficult all the time.
RS: It’s getting better, but it’ll take a while to come back.
BS: It’ll take a long time. I mean, it’s almost—you know, when you think of the fact that nothing has been done in Lahaina so far, and there were a lot of homes and apartments that were lost down there in and around the area that burned.
RS: True.
BS: So it really is difficult, and I don’t see that there’s enough happening to get enough employees back. It’s going to be really hard.
RS: No, but you know, another restaurant we like is Japengo at the Hyatt Regency.
BS: Oh, Japengo is great. Great sushi.
RS: They’ve got one of the best sushi chefs anywhere around—with Masa.
BS: Masa. Spectacular.
RS: Spectacular. And the setting—you’re sitting outside at the Hyatt Regency. Just the perfect setting, watching the sunset. Beautiful.
BS: You know, the sunsets—well, the sunsets are everywhere. There’s never a bad sunset on Maui.
RS: No. Especially now, thanks to the Big Island sharing its vog with us, we’ve gotten some great sunsets.
BS: Yeah, I mean, it is great. Really, it is. Red, red, red. I mean, again, depending on the day—but it really is.
RS: Well, the vog-ier it gets, the redder.
BS: The redder the sky is, the more difficult the breathing gets for some.
RS: For some—
BS: For some of us.
RS: Including yours truly.
BS: Yes, it’s hard. But we’re here thinking that we’re going to give you a little bit of information—real estate, particularly pretty much Lahaina side of the island, which is where we’ve specialized over the years. I mean, we have done things upcountry, some great properties—Wailea, Makena—over the years.
RS: Yeah, and Coldwell Banker Island Properties is now also on the Big Island, Kauai, and Oahu. So if you are looking for properties on other islands, contact us—we’ll point you in the right direction.
BS: Absolutely. One thing about the Coldwell Banker office at Kapalua—you can walk in there any day from, I think, 8 to 5, and somebody will be there, actually even later than that. And it’s someone you can talk to about real estate. So if you’re here on vacation and just thinking, “I’d like to learn a little bit more while I’m here on this visit,” it’s worth going in and talking to whoever is there.
I mean, you can call Roy Sakamoto—808-870-7060—and he’s there in the office. Not all the time because he’s been extremely busy, but he’s willing to get together with you or talk to you on the phone, and that helps a lot also.
RS: Sure. Absolutely. Also, check out our website: SakamotoProperties.com.
BS: And that’ll get you to every listing on Maui. If you just put in the right information—if you’re staying on the west side, for example—you put in west side information, or if you look, you’ll figure it out. It’s not that hard.
RS: Very easy.
BS: Very easy. And great photos, great everything, and a lot of different information. It’ll also tell you how to reach us. We’re pretty easy to reach and we’ll direct you the right way to find what you want.
RS: Yeah, absolutely. And again, the website: SakamotoProperties.com.
BS: It’s perfect. Meyer Computer—thanks to the best. Jesse is here with us for most of the shows. Maybe we’ve got to get Jesse to talk one of these days. Well, let’s see. He doesn’t have a microphone today, but maybe next time.
RS: Yeah.
BS: That would be really fun. Who did we try to get here, though? Oh, our assistant, Janelle—right. She’s decided she is not going to come and do the radio show with us. Ever.
RS: But we’ve had several guests, and we’re looking forward to having more. Perhaps some of our salespeople will join us.
BS: I think that would be great. We’ve talked to a few, and we just need to get it set ahead of time.
RS: We’ve got a great staff. I know Elizabeth Quayle has joined you on the show.
BS: She’s great. Elizabeth has—I mean, she’s available. She really is one of the best agents, and she has sold everything up to seven or eight million. She’s also worked diligently on some of the smaller properties and finds a home—she really works to find people a home who are living here.
I agree with her—there’s no deal too small. If somebody is really looking to buy a home, we’ll really do our best to help them. And if we’re not available, we’ll get somebody who will be working with us on it. But it really is what you need. You need to hook up with a real estate agent and have them kind of—I’m going to say—at your true beck and call. Someone you can call and say, “Hey, I heard that there’s going to be this property coming on for $800,000 or $300,000, whatever.”
“I want to buy a studio. I just want to own something on Maui so that I have a place to live right now. And then later, I’m hoping to be able to have a home.” And we’ve done that with people over the years—where they’ve bought something when they first get here, and then trade up and move up over the years.
We’ve been doing this a long, long time—50 years. We’ve seen people who have come to the island, moved to the island, or were born on the island, and have had families and kids who, after college, finally sell a home, or are buying a home because there are more kids than they were planning on.
RS: We’ve worked with several generations—
BS: We have.
RS: —of clients. And that’s always fun.
BS: It is. It’s really great. And returning visitors that we met early on keep coming back and will call us when they’re coming. We had someone who was supposed to be coming but just had a difficulty in the family—they called and said they won’t be here now, but they’ll be back. They kind of filled us in on what was going on. It’s so great to know people from around the world that we’ve met because of real estate.
RS: In fact, some of our returning friends are telling us about activities coming up—
BS: That’s right.
RS: —that we don’t have the time to really check into.
BS: We’ve got to do it.
RS: Yeah. We just got a text today from a good friend who’ll be here in the next week or so, wondering if we’re attending the Celebration of the Arts Luau at the Ritz-Carlton.
BS: Which, suddenly, we’re realizing—
RS: —is coming up.
BS: We didn’t do that yet, but I think—right—we’ve always gone to that. I think we’d better go.
RS: It’s a fun event. The Celebration of the Arts at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua—and it’s free. The luau isn’t free—it’s a nominal cost—but there’s a lot going on with the Celebration of the Arts.
BS: I didn’t know that it was free.
RS: Yeah, no obligation. It’s a great event.
BS: But the luau—
RS: Yeah, there’s a nominal cost for the luau. But a lot of events—you’ve got vendors, local artisans, and so forth who’ve set up shop. It’s a—
BS: I think I knew that at one time, but I had kind of forgotten.
BS: So that means anybody can come to the Ritz and look at the art, meet some of the artists, etc.
RS: Yes, and as I understand it, this is Clifford Nae’ole, the spiritual advisor for the Ritz-Carlton—this is probably going to be his last event.
BS: I’ve heard that, yes.
RS: Clifford, you’ve done so much for the community and Kapalua. Mahalo, and we’ll certainly support you on this.
BS: Yes, we will and for anything. I think that you’ve had some difficult times, and you’ve given so much to Lahaina and Maui, and thank you for that. We’re all around for you. So we’ll see you there. So we’d better be going.
RS: No, we are.
BS: No, we have said that. Okay, we are going.
RS: Yeah. Absolutely!
BS: Okay. So again, we’ve sold a lot of properties at Kapalua, and I’m not sure exactly what’s on the market there right now, but we brought some of the listings from our office, just thinking that we could share a little bit of information on what’s still on the market. It is a more difficult market now because there are fewer listings.
It used to be we would bring a one-page list of everything that was on the market, and that would be maybe three or four pages. Now we’ve got a full printout on things so we can actually give you more information.
RS: It’s a great buyer’s market. Inventory is up, the sellers are more motivated, and so it’s a great time to buy. Here’s a relatively new listing—it’s in Kahoma Village in Lahaina. Parts of Kahoma Village were affected by the fire; this particular home was not. It’s a single-family, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath home listed by Jesse and Marsha Wald from our office.
Again, you can click on the listing at 214 Kahoma Village Loop. You can look at this listing and anything else in Lahaina or West Maui. Go to SakamotoProperties.com—that’s your easiest venue for looking at all these listings. This is listed at $1,695,000. It’s right downtown, basically.
BS: Which one is that, Roy?
RS: 214 Kahoma Village Loop.
BS: Oh yes. That’s amazing that that one did make it. Everything is—
RS: Yeah, parts of that subdivision were affected, but not this one.
BS: I think some of the ones that were affected, people are back in too. So I think that’s all okay, which is great. Absolutely great. Another listing in Napili, which is really a great value—we’ve had a lot of people, again right now, looking at things like this—Napili Bay 214. It’s a studio apartment, smaller, but you’re right there. The property is on the ocean. I think this one may be—
RS: Just off there.
BS: Just off there, yeah. But again, really sweet, sweet place. Rental program, and I think right now—I better be sure because I don’t know, Airbnb? It was in an Airbnb or some sort of rental program, but I’m not sure if that’s still.
RS: It’s listed by Elizabeth from our office—Elizabeth Quayle. And again—
BS: I was going to get her number. 808-276-6061. [email protected].
RS: Here’s a great home—174 Welau Way. It’s in the Summit at Kaanapali. It’s a four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath, listed by Mary Anne Fitch and Nam Le Viet. Mary Anne has it listed at $3,475,000. It’s 2,700 square feet. Again, you can look at those listings at SakamotoProperties.com.
BS: Another one here is, again, and I’ll get into Kapalua—the golf villas, one of the units, a one-bedroom, two-bath, which is really a spectacular unit listed at… We’ve got a little hand signal going on here, and I’m a little dense. Okay, so 1693 and 4, listed by David Quandt. It’s listed at $1,149,000.
Again, great unit, large, large spaces, big lanai. Listed at $1,149,000. It’s really great, and it’s one of the best buildings there at the golf villas, right on the fairway. So, really amazing, absolutely amazing unit.
RS: Yeah. Here’s another listing. It’s a home in Launiupoko, listed by Carrie Nicholson from our office, and she’s one of our better agents. The home is listed at 235 Wailau Place, four bedrooms, three and a half baths, a little over 2,760 square feet, and it’s listed at $3,895,000. Great view. It’s part of a CPR, a condominium regime.
BS: What about this one—two-bedroom, two-bath at Pacific Shores? Oh, that’s in Kihei.
RS: Right.
BS: Okay. It’s listed at $675,000. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that we had anything with us today that was from Kihei. Evan Hara Harlow can be reached at 808-214-4799. Or you can reach us—you could call either of our numbers: Roy, 808-870-7060, or me, 808-870-7062. This is a two-bedroom, two-bath, listed at $675,000, and again, it’s probably more for a local resident, but it does appear that… Oh, I’m not sure about rentals there.
RS: It was a great studio listed by Alex Dreher from our office. It’s a studio at Noelani. It’s oceanfront. It’s listed at $569,000. Great buy, oceanfront studio at Noelani, listed by Alex Dreher at $569,000.
BS: We’re kind of moving along pretty fast. It’s 11:25. I think that if you’re thinking about real estate, you can call us or come to our office to meet with an agent, which I think is always simple. It’s at Coldwell Banker.
RS: Yeah, no obligation. It’s a great start, whether you’re buying or selling. Stop by our office or call me, Roy, at 808-870-7060, or Betty, 808-870-7062. All our contact information is up on our website, SakamotoProperties.com. Very easy to reach us.
BS: It is. Again, the same thing—if you happen to be at Kapalua and you’re driving by the office, or a lot of times somebody is at the Ritz-Carlton or they’ve just played golf and they’re walking back to the hotel or something, you’re welcome to stop in the office and talk to whoever’s there. You can get a lot of information quickly, and maybe you won’t come back for a few years.
I remember early on, I met somebody very quickly, and they didn’t buy something for probably six or seven years, but they later said that they had had my card on their refrigerator all those years. So again, just give someone your card or ask for a card, and you’ll have someone to talk to anytime you come back to Maui.
RS: Very easy. And again, that’s a great investment. It’s a great time to buy right now. It’s “snooze, you lose.”
BS: “Snooze, you lose.” And I think you’re right. I mean, so much happened with the fires, etc. So many properties have burned. It’s been such a difficult time for a lot of people. And then other people will probably decide to sell in the next couple of years. So I think that it could be interesting where the market goes up, but I think it is time to buy real estate, and I think the value is always here. It’s worth really looking and thinking about it and considering what you would be doing with the property in three to five years. I think that it will be great.
RS: And again, working with an agent—an agent is in the market day in and day out. I can keep you posted on market trends and so forth. So it’s, again, come on by the office or contact us through SakamotoProperties.com, and we’ll point you in the right direction.
BS: It’ll be great. We’ll spend a little bit of time.
RS: There’s another great listing. It’s at the Golf Villas at Kapalua. It’s a one-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath unit 2088-T. It’s just under a thousand square feet of living area, and it’s listed at $1,198,000. It’s a great buy for a one-bedroom at Kapalua Golf Villas. Great ocean, sunset views.
BS: Here’s another one. This is now going back up to the top, more or less, of the market—4077 Lower Honoapiilani Road, so it’s right on the lower road. Four bedrooms, seven and a half baths, listed at $16.9 million by Mary Anne Fitch. Her cell phone is 808-250-1583. And the same thing—if you give her a call, I’m sure she’ll meet you at the office sometime, or have you come and meet her at one of the properties that she has.
It’s located in Mahinahina. Really great home—oceanfront—and something that you would… If you’re in the oceanfront market, that’s what you want to see.
RS: Yeah, I’ve seen that home. It’s a great location, it’s well laid out, and it’s in immaculate condition. Great buy.
BS: Yeah. We’ve just had a two-minute warning. It is funny how fast this time goes when we do the radio show.
RS: I’ve got time for one more.
BS: Go for it!
RS: Here’s a Masters, a two-bedroom, two-bath at the Masters at Kaanapali.
BS: Large units.
RS: Beautiful, and it’s a great price. It’s listed at $1.4 million. It’s right on the golf course. Unit number 703 is listed by Robert Meyers from our office. And again, go to SakamotoProperties.com, put in “Masters,” and you’re looking at all the listings at the Masters, and you’ll come across this.
BS: Perfect. So again, our numbers—Roy: 808-870-7060, and SakamotoProperties.com—we’ll get you our phone numbers a little bit easier than remembering these.
RS: Yeah.
RS: Email is always good over the phone.
BS: Yep. [email protected] or [email protected]. Right now, we’ve hit the one-minute warning!
RS: All right!
BS: So we’re just about there. But we’ll be back here next week at 11:00 on KAOI.
RS: At Betty’s Real Estate Corner.
BS: Yeah! It’ll be really great to have you here. Danny Couch will be back on in a minute with I Love Hawaii. And here he comes—Danny Couch. Look for that album. Aloha!
RS: Aloha.
