Betty Sakamoto: Aloha and welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner brought to you by Coldwell Banker, Sakamoto Properties. My husband Roy is here with me today as we’ve been doing for a while. In the studio, Roy Sakamoto.
Roy Sakamoto: Yeah. What a great lead-in song.
BS: Don’t you love it? Danny Couch, everybody should look him up. Google him, find some of his music. Get I love Hawaii put it in your car somehow and blare it at all times because certainly whoever is here right now, living here, visiting here we do all love Hawaii. Anyone that’s been here once is just selling their soul to get back here again. Wouldn’t you say?
RS: No question. Absolutely.
BS: No question.
RS: Yeah
BS: We are here with a lot of different real estate thoughts today. I think we have Dr. Norm Estin checking back in with us today about what’s going on with the covid, what the solutions are, and what’s happening with vaccinations and non-vaccinations. We all get his update for Maui.
RS: And we have Chris Meyer from Meyer Computer.
BS: He is the person that keeps our website going and we were just sitting here at the last minute talking about all these different people that have come from our website. I was saying somebody came in to look at one of my properties recently with their own realtor, but he was so happy to meet me because he loves our website and it really struck me. Funny, he was almost embarrassed then that he was with someone else, but I said no the website works. I mean this is good. Chris has people that are paying attention to it looking at our properties calling us and thinking about our listings. Life is good.
RS: Yeah, sakamotoproperties.com check it out. Thanks to Meyer Computer. It’s a great website and full of information for both buyers and sellers of real estate here on Maui.
BS: It’s really perfect and again it’s worked for us for I keep saying that’s a long like 20 plus years but I think it is. I said 30 a while ago but time is fine.
RS: Chris is not that old.
BS: No, that’s right. Chris was too young to have been 30 years but whatever we are getting there.
RS: It’s a great website sakamotoproperties.com.
BS: Check that out or call us. Roy Sakamoto (808) 870-7060 or myself Betty Sakamoto (808) 870-7062. We are available a good deal of the time on those phones or leave us a message or email us, at [email protected], [email protected]. You will find us one way or another or come to our office, 700 Office Road at Kapalua. We are right next to the Kapalua Florist and next to the Pour House Restaurant and Sansei, kind of in the heart of Kapalua. We’ve got great little spots there for people to come by and hang out for a few minutes and talk with us or our agent who is sitting there learning more about Kapalua or about real estate in general. Come by our office we all always get you a couple of cups of coffee.
RS: Yeah, come by, talk story, whatever. We are always open and happy to help.
BS: I kind of noticed Roy prints usually for each time here.
RS: You know what first though, we’ve got some big real estate news here.
BS: Oh, we do.
RS: Yeah
BS: Yes. I think Roy’s ready to make the announcement or maybe I am.
RS: Yeah, go ahead.
BS: Okay. We’ve had a great new assortment of people join our office. Led by Mary Anne Fitch and Nam Le Viet, Joe Dorner, and Mihaela Stoops.
RS: Ray Chin
BS: Ray is going to bring a lot of youth and excitement in his own way always.
RS: Welcome to Mary Anne and her great team. It’s going to be a big asset to Coldwell Banker and a great asset to our team also.
BS: They were all in the office. Probably, everybody was there for a while the other day. It was really a lot of fun because we had some of the training people there to kind of show them all of the different things that Coldwell Banker does to make life easier for all of the agents ourselves included. They had a training session and we all had a lot of fun with it and shared stories. Mary Anne and I laughed a lot about the fact that we all worked together back in the early days and here we are again. It’s really exciting for all of us. We are looking forward to the months to come. We’ve all got things that we’ve been working on together. I think it’s going to really be a successful group together.
RS: Successful and fun.
BS: And fun. It’s really super.
RS: And very effective.
BS: Jo Dorner great to be there.
RS: Yes
BS: We had a lot of fun with Jo the other day. She and Mihaela work together a lot now and they seem to really have formed a great partnership of sorts. I think Mihaela is amazing.
RS: Yes
BS: Who else? I mean there are a few more. We are missing.
RS: Steve Fuller
BS: Steve Fuller, absolutely. Steve is fabulous. He’s done so much over his years and he is like we are. I guess we are the senior statesman.
RS: Yeah, another new addition is David Quandt.
BS: David Quandt. He had been with Kapalua realty and had moved along from that, but we had been hoping for a while he would join forces with us. He come on board and again he is someone that loves Kapalua totally attached and that’s what we all need because I think Kapalua is the best but it needs the best available in all agents and I think we’ve got it. We are doing really great with that now.
RS: No question, absolutely.
BS: Superb
RS: Again, call us Roy at (808) 870-7060 and Betty at (808) 870-7062.
BS: Perfect so check in with us. Again, we are going to have Norm Estin calling in. We might come up with a couple of listings right now to mention that we haven’t talked about or maybe we have in the past. One Mihaela has that she had mentioned to me the other day Napili Puamala.
RS: Brand new listing, right.
BS: Yeah, listed $395,000 It’s really great and in the heart of Napili. It can’t be any better than that.
RS: No question, yeah. Here’s one that I’m surprised it’s still on the market. Rick Kepler’s listing at Kahana Manor. It’s a 1 bedroom, 1 bath, condominium, apartment number is 313 listed at $539,000. It’s a great buy. Fee simple $539,000. Rick Kepler (808) 283-3729. Give Rick a call, tell him you want to see his Kahana Manor listing.
BS: Another listing that we’ve talked about off and on and this one should have sold by now, but it’s been occupied quite a bit and it’s made it difficult. It’s 1133 Front Street very close to baby beach. A $1,995,000, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths. It’s really one of the most amazing properties around and it’s so in the heart of what’s happening on the west side. Anything on Front Street really sets the tone and it should be one that people are taking a look at. You’d have to check with Elizabeth Quayle because the owner has been able to do short-term rentals there which will not be sold with the property. Elizabeth can let you know when it’s occupied and get you in to see it. Her number is 276-6061, Elizabeth Quayle and she got some amazing listings in addition to that one. Talk to Elizabeth on it I don’t have all of the particulars.
RS: Yeah, we are skipping around a little bit but here’s a condominium Kaanapali Shores. A 1 bedroom, 1 bath, unit number is 826. It is listed by Reiko Hata. Reiko can be reached at (808) 250-3482. This is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath. Kaanapali Shores is a great development. It’s on 10 acres, this apartment is about 717 square feet listed at $749,000. Great price. $749,000 for apartment number 826 at Kaanapali Shores.
BS: Roy and I have a new listing at Kapalua, 21 Coconut Grove. Anybody looking for something in the heart of Kapalua right oceanfront gives us a call on that. It is listed at $5,800,000 one of a kind. Totally one of a kind in perfect shape and we can show it with relatively short notice the majority of the time. Give us a call on that and that is obviously a highly specialized property. It’s really worth it if it’s something that you’ve been looking for because there hasn’t been anything with quite this location available. Ground floor so you walk right out to Kapalua Bay. You can easily walk to the Montage if you are going for dinner, the spa, anything else that you might be doing. The tennis garden is right across the road from there at Kapalua and there’s everything.
RS: Yeah and there’s also an indoor atrium courtyard.
BS: Oh, that’s one of the things. The indoor areas are amazing because it has about 2,400 square feet interior plus this atrium or courtyard. They’ve got actually a table set up so that you can have additional eating locations. It’s a great spot to have a desk which we had somebody in the other day that their first thing was that they would set it up so there was a desk out there because that’s where they would work all day. You wouldn’t want to necessarily be sitting out front where people are heading to the beach. It is sunny or this place you could just be there all the time which brings, in general, I think there are almost 600 square feet. Do you remember the number there?
RS: Yeah, 6 something.
BS: 600 between the different interior courtyard areas. Give us a call on that one.
RS: Yeah, that on top of the 2,400 square feet enclosed space.
BS: That’s right so give us a call. We haven’t heard from Norm yet.
RS: No
BS: No Norm Estin.
RS: We got more properties.
BS: Okay
RS: Here’s a Papakea condominium, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. Listed by Kristen Kingwell. Kristen can be reached at (808) 281-7313. This is a great location it is G406. It’s the top floor in building G listed a $1,499,000 at the really popular Papakea Resort. If you are not familiar with Papakea it’s a great development oceanfront. Call Kristen (808) 281-7313 and this unit number is G406.
BS: Hey Roy, you know when we got here, we were talking to Cindy Paulus for a few minutes. She was talking about it being the holiday season and one of the things that we’ve talked about on the show over the last many years around this time of year is coming up to Thanksgiving and Christmas and things that we can do for one another and I think it is time to start thinking about that. Remember how we’ve all talked about thinking of the things that you can do for your neighbors, to take care of neighbors, exchange books, help them if somebody needs like maybe a little babysitting time when they are getting ready to be shopping. It’s kind of an odd one to throw it out this minute but it just hit me with her when we talked to Cindy. Now, I think it is worth reminding people of that.
RS: Well, we are a village here on Maui. I mean, just driving on Maui when people let you out into traffic and so forth you certainly don’t get that in New York. Where in New York a couple of weeks ago. You are lucky if you are able to edge out into traffic any kind of traffic.
BS: When we got here to the radio show today, we usually park across the street which is Central isn’t it in Wailuku we are there, and you’ve got to cross. Traffic is going both ways and almost every time we are there but today, in particular, a car came in the one direction and made a big point of stopping and then there was a car coming in the other direction who kind of saw that happening and did exactly the same thing and everybody was waving and friendly and happy. Again, this is like you say it’s a village and it takes a village.
RS: It’s Maui. Let’s help our neighbors. Holiday season coming up. It’s a great time to start or continue doing what we’ve all been doing.
BS: Let’s all keep it up. We have Dr. Norm Estin is on the phone. He is getting ready to take a little short trip out of town for a couple of things but he called us from the airport to give us an update so none of us lose track of what’s going on with the coronavirus right now. Aloha Norm.
Dr. Norman Estin: Hey, aloha Betty, and Roy. Good morning to you all. Nothing but good news to report about the coronavirus right now. Hawaii has been doing a great job as you’ve been following me on the news. The case counts are going down. The people getting very sick and in the hospital are going down. The number of people getting vaccinated is going up and the government is finally responding at both the county and state level, so we are opening up the restaurants a little bit. We are opening up the sporting events a little bit so for example restaurants will be at full capacity as long as they are checking vaccine cards. Sporting events are going to allow 4 people per registered player, so families are going to go. We are opening up the state slowly and that’s in response to the fact that we’ve done a good job in terms of protecting each other. The letter I want everybody to remember is “V” that’s the letter of the day says like sesame street. V is in Hawaii. V stands for vaccination and ventilation. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet you want to get it if you know somebody who has you want to encourage them to. We still have people in the hospital and every single person who is in the hospital every single one without an exception has not been vaccinated. If you get a vaccine you will be protected from getting very sick. You will be protected from being in the hospital and you will be protected from dying. It is dramatic prevention. The other thing about the letter V is ventilation. Remember, this is a germ that’s spread in the air not so much on the surfaces but in the air. If you are outdoors in a room with good ventilation you are much more protected. If you are indoors with the windows closed, the doors closed, you got a lot of people around especially not wearing masks you are exposed because there’s still some out there it’s very little below 2% now. It’s a little bit over 1% but remembers we are opening up the state. As of Monday, November 8th we are opening up the gates to anybody from other countries as long as they can show that they’ve been vaccinated or have a negative test they can come in. There will be some leakage so we are going to expect more cases probably in December and January there will be a little bump. This is not out of the ordinary for us, but we know how to handle it, so we want to still be careful around a lot of visitors, around a lot of strangers, and around group gatherings. I hope our folks out there are getting a booster. If you have had the Moderna or the Pfizer it’s best to stay with that same product for your booster. If your 1st shot was the Johnson & Johnson otherwise known as the J & J the advice now is to get a booster that’s either Moderna or Pfizer. Either one any time after 3 or 4 months after the original one. The other exciting news is as everybody knows the pediatric or Keiki version of the vaccine has been approved so that’s for anybody between 5 and 11. It is a lower dose and all the pediatricians and schools will be having it and that’s going to help as well.
BS: Hey Norm, now that you’re mentioning that about the state opening up a lot more. It might be a good time for some of our unvaccinated residents to be thinking about it. Maybe, talk to your doctor or talk to whoever the people are in your life that you love and see if you have it in your heart to make a different decision. I know for some people there are medical reasons or there are some religious reasons and certainly, we don’t want to make that difficult for someone. Again, I think what you’ve just said we are going to have a lot of people here again. Someone unvaccinated could surely end up with covid in which case you could spread it to others. Don’t you think everybody should really be thinking about that again as Monday rolls around?
NE: Well, I think that’s a great point and for instance, we have a number of high-profile people who say I made a personal decision. Let’s say Aaron Rodgers who is the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers that a lot of people follow, and he was positive yesterday. He said, well I just made a personal decision not to get vaccinated. The problem is, he is not only affecting himself but he is affecting his whole team because he is not going to be able to play against the Chiefs this weekend then their chances of winning are going down a lot if he is not playing. He is the face and the star of the NFL and it wasn’t just a personal decision for him, but it affects the whole team and everybody around him because he can carry that positive virus and expose everybody else to it. Some of those people are going to have a weak immune system or be susceptible to the virus. You have to be thinking like anything beyond yourself and how are you affecting those in your family, those in your community, and those you come in contact with. You are absolutely right.
BS: Well Norm, I guess you got a flight coming up. It’s 12:24 and 18 seconds.
NE: Yeah, the mainland is a patchwork. Some of the states are doing great, some of them are doing not so great. The states that are not doing great are the ones where you have a lot of people in rural areas who chose not to get vaccinated. The Dakotas still have a problem. Colorado as of yesterday has such a problem that they are going to have to keep people out of the hospital. This is unprecedented for this country. There are people who go to the emergency room and cannot be let in because the hospital is overcrowded. They had to get permission from Washington, from the CDC, from the Federal government to say we are going to have to close the doors here because there’s no place to put people we already have and always. Some of the states are doing great and the ones that have high vaccination rates are doing fantastically others are not so good. It’s going to be like that around the country for a while and around the world for another 2 or 3 years.
BS: Yeah, it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough on everybody. We are right now down to about the 4-minute warning, exactly we are 4-minute warning. We’ll let you head out to your flight Norm. Travel safely and get back here. We have given you like 2 days off the island.
NE: Fantastic, thanks. I’m so happy to report good news. We’ve done a great job and we have to not let our guard down and keep paying attention and we will get through this fine. We will get back to normal as soon as we can. Thank you, Betty and Roy.
BS: Thank you, Norm.
RS: Take care Norm.
BS: Thanks to you and the doctors on call. Norm Estin has done so much and his company doctors on call to see to it the people are protected and taken care of at this difficult time. Do we want to do a few more listings?
RS: Yeah, here’s one listed by Mary Anne Fitch. This is at The Montage. It’s 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. If you are familiar with The Montage this is a great location. The unit number is 5103. It’s 3 bedrooms, 3.5 baths listed at $3,575,000. Call Mary Anne at (808) 250-1583. This is one that is certainly going to sell soon.
BS: Montage has a great rental program on-site there so a lot of people do end up putting in a rental program because of its location. It is also a place that people will call home and want to be able to spend a good deal of their life there. There are people that have lived there from the time it was brand new.
RS: This is a ground floor nice little yard in front of you. It’s a fantastic location. Never rented it was owner-occupied until very recently.
BS: Yeah. It is a great location. Restaurants there are super. You are again close to everything. You are close to the tennis courts at Kapalua, the Kapalua Bay course, not that far away from the Plantation, and you are just a short walk up the road to the office of Coldwell Banker Kapalua.
RS: Yeah, absolutely.
BS: Come by and visit us. Come on up and talk to us. Talk to the agent who is around and call us.
RS: Check out our website sakamotoproperties.com. It will give you all the latest information on what’s for sale, what has sold recently at through the Maui board of realtors. Thanks to Meyer Computer we are totally up to date.
BS: And you can find everything you want in there. You can look at our website, find listings every place on the island, you can figure out pretty much everything. You will find restaurants. You will find this; you will find that or call us. Call Roy 870-7060 and we will help you with anything that we can or find the perfect person for you to be talking to. We are looking forward to that. We are now at the 1-minute warning, so we are going to have Danny Couch coming back on to finish us up with I love Hawaii and there he is. Danny Couch.
RS: Aloha
BS: Aloha and thanks for listening.
