Betty Sakamoto: Aloha and welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner brought to you by Sakamoto Properties, Coldwell Banker Island Properties at Kapalua.
We are very excited to be here today, the day after is I guess I have to say. The day after. I think it really is time. There’s so much to say about that and I don’t want to take up the whole show that will feel kind of political but just for today, if only just for today. Let’s all realize that it doesn’t matter what it is, who is right, who is wrong, whose ideas are the best. We’ve got a new path and let’s do our best to be on it. To forgive, to just I don’t even know how to say it. I think, it’s really time that we just all appreciate one another and give the world a chance. Give the current administration a chance. It’s 4 years and they’ll do something great. Everybody does. There’s not a President ever that hasn’t made something that will turn out to be great next year, this year, 20 years from now or longer, we’ll hear so many things to say about it. Let’s love one another. Let’s just look to our right, look to our left and be kind. Let’s learn all to be just kinder and it was talked about different times, at least I’ve heard on television over the last few days to remember to just act with kindness, to do little acts of kindness. Let’s all try to do that. Let’s give it 4 years and if we aren’t better for it then we don’t have to do it the next 4 years. Let’s give it a try.
Anyway, again Betty Sakamoto here. No roar in the studio today. I have someone else who’s coming along but I think has got stuck on the pali or something like that. I’m just going to try to come up with some things that everyone should be thinking about right now on the real estate agenda. To begin with, it is a great time for almost anybody to consider buying a property. Oops! I’m sorry about this but I am the person who failed to turn their telephone off, so I am doing it right now so that you won’t ever hear that again. My apologies. Anyway, I’m going to do one little quick thing and it’s not totally quick but it’s something I’ve read before on the show. It’s always for a time like this when interest rates are good. There’s all sorts of reasons that you might want to get into the market today. Prices are moving up but there’s still something that’s good.
I’ve read this a couple of times and I’ll see if I can get through it quickly. It’s hesitate to make a list of all the countless deals I’ve missed. Bonanzas that were in my grip. I watched through my fingers slip. The wind feels falls that I should have bought, were lost because I over thought. I thought of this, I thought of that. I could have sworn, I smelled a rat and while I thought things over twice others grabbed them at that price. It seems I always hesitate than make my mind up way too late. A cautious man am I and that is why I never buy. How Nassau and a Suffolk grew, New Jersey Staten island too. While others called those sprawling farms and welcome deals with open arms. A corner here, 10 acres there, compounding values year by year. I chose to think and as I thought they bought the deals I should have bought. The golden chances I had then are lost and will not come again. Today, I cannot be enticed for everything so overpriced. The deals of yesteryear are dead. The market’s soft and so is my head. Last night I had a fearful dream, I know I awakened with a scream. Some Indians approached my bed, for trinkets on the barrel head, in dollar bills worth 24 and nothing less and nothing more. They’d sell Manhattan aisle to me, the most I’d go was 23. The Redmond scowled not on a bet and sold to Peter Minuit. At times a teardrop drowns my eye for deals I had but did not buy and now life’s saddest words I pen, if only I’d invested then. That actually came out of a farm and land realtor magazine in October of 1917. Every time I read it I feel it couldn’t be any more true than it is at this time.
One of the things that I’m thinking for people. A while ago in real estate a lot of families would get together and they would put together a hui to buy a property. They’d buy a property for the family. They might have 2, 3, 4 or more investors in it and rent it, use it as a rental property. It might be a second home for someone that would buy it. The family would all be using it. Of course, that takes the ability to put people together, qualify for a mortgage etc. I think that’s another moment for people right now. Interest rates depending on the property are under 3%. In looking with your realtor at different ideas and come up with what you could afford in payments. Making a plan for how it’s going to be rented or how the family would be using it. There could be so many different ways that you do it. That was very popular in different markets and it hasn’t been for a while. I kind of think that is another way to go right now for people that are wanting to get into something. Probably again, difficult today because so many people haven’t been working and that really is also a very difficult thing. Again, keep your eye on stuff like that and it may not be today, it may not be tomorrow but it’s something worth doing. You can reach my office or reach myself or Roy. I’m at (808) 870-7062, Roy is at (808) 870-7060.
The person coming on with me in a few minutes, Elizabeth Quayle has been in the middle of doing a variety of different properties that are kind of easy for what we’re talking about right now. It’s been things even like at Napili Ridge and she can go through some of the price ranges on them. It’s a great investment property for somebody at the lower end of the market. Ironically, it’s right there in Napili close to Kapalua, close to Kaanapali and you can also do short term rentals. As a family purchase somebody could live there. You could have multiple family members. They are small units but it still works. I see it as the thing that somebody will buy it either put a long term tenant in or do short term rentals. When family are visiting you’ll have an extra place for people to stay and if you do it as a long term rental you’ll give somebody a home. Maybe you’ll be upgrading it today, maybe not, maybe you’ll never upgrade it. It’s something that can be purchased as a family investment and it will work. A couple of other ideas here that we’ve been on, hold on 1 second. Our office now is at Kapalua 700 Office Road, come by there sometimes. 700 Office Road we’re right next to the Pour House restaurant, Sansei restaurant both fabulous places and both open even though hours are limited and seating is limited but they are right there. They are open. Pour House is open for lunch and dinner and Sansei restaurant is doing a lot of takeout. They are doing some sit down there and they’ve got a little outside area set up. We are next there and then the Florist. The Kapalua Florist is there and they are working almost I’m sure they’re working every day. They don’t have set hours but if you call the number I don’t have it with me but it’s in the phone book or online. Kapalua Florist they are available to make any deliveries that you would need. It really is, we are in a great spot. Stop by and say Hello. If you want to talk about real estate you don’t have to be ready to buy right now but typically someone’s there 7 days a week, from 9 o’clock to 4. Probably I’d say more likely from 8-6 but the minute I say that everybody’s off on a showing. We’d love to talk to you, I mean even come by call ahead if you can. Start with one of us, Betty 870-7062 and then you’d be certain that one of us is going to be available. Typically, there’s going to be someone, they are going to be right there, when you walk in we tend to. We have outdoor seating think about that for a minute, we’re in the greatest spot ever. We were sitting outside this morning just drinking coffee and enjoying the scenery. We can see one of the golf course holes where everybody’s teeing off. It’s really a fun spot to be and you can ask us a lot of questions and figure out how you’ll get into the market when you are ready or maybe talk about a property that you have, that you’d like to sell and you might want to trade up, you might want to trade down. Even if we could direct you if you have a property that you want to possibly turn over to a family member we can direct you to an attorney that can work with you on it. Excuse me there, I think, I’m talking as fast as I can, I do that. It’s one of my things actually. I do talk fast but if I’m kind of used to having my little partner in crime, my husband and kind of keeps us going.
About yesterday, I think that’s something that would be really fun to talk about in a minute. Jesse who is here. I may force Jesse to come over and chat with me. Jesse is with Meyer Computer who does all of our website and check out our website at sakamotoproperties.com. Sakamotoproperties.com and everything is on it. I mean, you can find the radio shows from the last many years. You can see every property and you can navigate around, it really easily. You can see what we have listed, you can go into the MLS system and pick anywhere you want on the island. Find the properties that you just want to look at, that you want to think about or maybe just put it. We sometimes will get a call from a young person say somebody well I guess anybody under 50 is starting to look young to me but let’s say, I mean it could be a teenager that makes a phone call and they’re asking you about a property that they’d like to buy. And you kind of know quickly I don’t think so but it’s better to talk to someone about it. Eventually, usually they’ll tell you that they’re just found your website and they’re looking at it. I think it’s really great for anybody doing this to remember. Talk to them because they are going to buy real estate sometime and maybe I’m not going to be the one they are going to be purchasing from but that’s okay. Let’s again be kind because they made the phone call or they got you in an email or a text. I think it’s fun but again check out our website sakamotoproperties.com. You can find pretty much everything. Everything about real estate. If you go in there you can also find we did what I called them “vignettes”. Meyer Computer, Jesse or Chris Meyer they helped us doing them. We’d go to some property that we have listed and my husband, Roy and I would just sit and we talk about.
Well, one of the big things we talked about was restaurants. We had a lot of fun going through all the different restaurants that we like, that we love for one reason or another. Our feeling has always been and you’ll hear this if you go and find it. What we always feel that is that we want to go someplace where people are nice. We call it like cheers. Where everyone knows your name and they’re really glad you came and ironically although now if I said restaurants have good food I mean it. We also feel like if we go someplace, if everybody’s really nice and the food is okay and they treat you nice that’s more what we would like. We like going somewhere where it’s fun to walk in. Typically, we like a lot of us do go back to the same spots over and over which is fine. We do it because of who it is. Maybe because of the owner or because of one of the waiters or the waitress or certainly because it’s close. During the pandemic now we are very careful about where we go, we are enough older that we want to be cautious. We want to wear our masks. We want to take care of ourselves and everyone around us. I think we should all be doing that right now. Wherever you go ask for what you need. If people are too close ask to have them reseat you someplace else. Let’s stay going out and take care of all of the local restaurants, our tourism is up and down so it really is difficult for all of the restaurants to be open and to be ready to serve us. Let’s take care of them if we can. Let’s remember the waiter, the waitress. I just think my husband says, I adopt everybody but that’s not true. He just likes to kid me about it but I think that we can. If we can do it and we’re able leave a little extra tip. Everybody’s having a hard time. A lot of the people are only back to work fairly recently and they are working really hard. You can see they’re happy and like cheers, they’re really glad you came. I’ve got a lot to say the people near Roy’s restaurant is another one right now. They’ve been so great about everything there. They’ve been open as much as they can. I know they had a brief shutdown in Lahaina. Honu is kind of one of our all time favorites. Ahi Bruschetta which I know I pronounce wrong but it’s as good as I can do. Go there for Ahi Bruschetta or anything that’s on the market. You are going to absolutely love it. Then, next door they have the Mexican restaurant or I guess it’s more referred to as Spanish. Frida’s and it’s fabulous. They’ve got a good outside area set up, you will really enjoy that also. We love lunch there or they’re open for dinner. I think everybody’s a few less hours than have been before. Mala is open under new ownership and again they’re doing a great job. They’ve got a big outside area there. Again, restaurant wise look for that on our website because we’ve really enjoyed doing that.
You can call us about any property or any idea. If you call us we might not always be immediately available but we’ll pretty much answer almost every call. If you leave a message for us we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can. I do every so often miss text messages or I might miss email but I’m doing my best. It just I found the pandemic to be really difficult ,with that in mind I think like everybody there’s terms that I’m not as up on everything I’m not as ready as I can be. Call me and I will get to you as fast as I can. And now entering the studio at KAOI is Elizabeth Quayle. We are not sure what happened, she may have been kidnapped held for ransom but she’s here. Now, I’m going to dump something on her so that she’s got to talk about it but one of the things that we had earlier talked about and I started on this a little bit. I was mentioning some listings that you’ve had at Napili Ridge in particular and maybe even as a family purchase you know someone that but tell them more about it because you know more about the cost there and everything there is.
Elizabeth Quayle: Sure, absolutely and I was listening to the radio on the way here.
BS: Oh! That is great.
EQ: So, Napili Ridge is one of those little slices of paradise. It’s about 3 blocks above crystal clear Napili Bay, less than a thousand yards from the 14th hole of the bay course.
BS: Oh, that’s right. It is?
EQ: It’s just one of those very affordable properties that was built in what ended up being a multi-million dollar resort area. They have 132 units, 88 one bedroom, 44 studios of those units 55 are doing vacation rentals right now.
BS: That’s fabulous really, for everybody.
EQ: You have a resident manager who lives there. The association owns a unit
that they provide for them. It’s just a fantastic place to live. They actually have a little vegetable garden in the back so if you are there you can grow your own veggies.
BS: Oh, she did the same thing I did. Telephone is on. I think she’s got to turn that off and then we’re going to make her try to start up exactly where she left off.
EQ: It’s not my husband either. This particular property has undergone major renovations since 1917. All new water pipes, new walls, new drainage, spalling project, beautiful swimming pool, barbecue area.
BS: It has everything.
EQ: It’s got everything you’d want to live.
BS: And a short walk to the beach.
EQ: or visit either way. You are in paradise. Your 1 bedroom fee simples are going to be about $350,000 right now.
BS: Sounds about right.
EQ: Leasehold you could get a 1 bedroom for about $200,000. The lease goes through the year 2049. Something to remember about leasehold property as an investment if there’s less than 30 years on the lease you cannot 1031 it but you may be able to buy the fee interest in the future.
BS: Is it available now?
EQ: It was available till the end of December. They cut it off then but it may become available again. It has been several times since 2009. It’s just one of those little properties that’s a great starter property.
BS: I think the thing you said in the beginning is probably the most important of all. You are such a short walk to one of the most fabulous sandy beaches in the world and also a short walk to the Kapalua resort. If you were visiting there and you wanted to play tennis, if you wanted to play golf I mean you could probably wouldn’t walk with your golf clubs.
EQ: I wouldn’t.
BS: I wouldn’t either but you could get to the Kapalua resort really easy, to all of the restaurants there. There’s a great little restaurant right on lower Honu Pilani it’s the address. Actually, I can’t remember the name of it right now but it’s really good at Napili shores.
EQ: Yeah.
BS: We’ve gone there a number of times and again it’s a place where everybody’s happy. They’re glad you came, they’ll probably remember your name. The food is good, they have a great hamburger, cheeseburger, fish sandwich. They have a little bit of everything but again places you can actually walk to from there. I think that by itself is good.
EQ: Yeah. It’s also a very Hawaiiana environment. There’s no high rises, it’s just
single, double story buildings so you do have a sense of being in the country.
BS: You do?
EQ: Yeah
BS: Everything else around it is residential.
EQ: It’s very green as well, it’s actually a very short walk to the Napili plaza.
BS: That’s right.
EQ: If you’re going to go great groceries you don’t have to get in your car. You can walk right across the little valley straight through get your stuff, get your coffee.
BS: Yeah
EQ: They also have Joey’s and Maui tacos, Aa Roots.
BS: That’s another one when we were saying I was on a restaurant kick. I was telling everybody all the different restaurants but one of the restaurants that’s an all time favorite of ours is Joey’s Kitchen. He has been open almost every day since the pandemic started. At one time he could only do takeout and he was doing takeout and half of the west side was going there because he was always open. He was open every time that you needed him. You could call and order in pick it up, they would bring it out to your car. There were so many different things that he’s done for the community. I love Joey.
EQ: I am so grateful for everybody who has hang in there with services, restaurants, patients to go. They set it up so you can pick up things at the curb. We are so grateful.
BS: The coffee store in Kahana.
EQ: Yeah
BS: They stayed open almost every day and even when they were barely making money and you knew they weren’t. If you wanted to go buy for coffee, they still had pastries, they had everything now. I hate to tell you this Elizabeth but we are winding down and we are probably 2 minutes but that’s okay because I still think the biggest message that we all want to have today and Elizabeth may have some little thought on it that we all got through yesterday. We have a new President and I think it’s time that we all do our best to be as supportive as we can. Nobody is going to be able to do everything within the first 30-40 days the first year but if everybody can allow the president and support him in the ways that we’re able. I mean some of us have totally different ideas but let’s just do our best, let’s be kind. Any thoughts you have on that?
EQ: I think that we live and I am an immigrant and I can tell you this is the most fantastic place on the planet to live. We are the most blessed society out there. There isn’t a day that I’m not grateful for where I live and thank goodness that we’re civilized and we actually have a government that works for us.
BS: That’s when they say a government of the people, by the people.
EQ: That’s right.
BS: Absolutely. We are what we are. Now, we’re actually with the 1 minute warning. This is like a football game here but we’re going to have Danny Couch come back on. I’ve been listening for the last couple of days to a very special song and I was trying to have it so I could turn it on. It was Frank Sinatra. I think the actual name is “a place I live in” and it’s fabulous. Look for it. Aloha and let’s all kind of give a little bounce to Danny Couch. It’s been fortunate he’s allowed us to use his song coming and going on here and it’s one of my all time favorite upbeat Hawaiian songs, Danny Couch. Aloha.
EQ: Aloha.
BS: We’ll see you soon and when I come back to you.
