Betty Sakamoto: Aloha and welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner brought to you by Coldwell Banker, Sakamoto Properties. Roy Sakamoto is here in the studio with me trying to come up with a whole bunch of hopefully interesting things for you about what’s going on in the world and specifically the world of real estate.
Roy Sakamoto: Yeah, I think we’ve got a pretty diversified program today. You’ve got something interesting to read too.
BS: I do. It’s kind of a little bit maybe silly I don’t know but we’ve been trying to get people talking about getting vaccinated and realizing how important it is and just so everyone knows until 2 o’clock today The Ritz Carlton is vaccinating at the property. You’d have to pretty much be already in West Maui but it great opportunity to visit The Ritz hang around a little bit, get your vaccinations.
RS: No charge.
BS: No charge.
RS: They have all 3 vaccines. The Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer.
BS: That’s right. It’s going to be simple. They’ve got enough staff there to take care of everybody.
RS: Yeah, the national guard is out helping.
BS: I wish we’d gotten over there.
RS: Yeah and kudos to Andrew Rogers and his Ritz Carlton team. What a community event and I understand they are doing quite a few vaccinations this morning.
BS: I’ve heard they did pretty good. We got information from Andrew, from Dr. Estin who’s going to check in with us in a few minutes too and kind of give us a little up-to-date on what’s happening and how it’s working for the community and the turnouts which seem to be really good right now vaccination wise.
RS: Yes, we are getting there.
BS: We are getting there.
RS: More people.
BS: Still not enough and we really need to make it happen. It’s not just about you, it’s not just about us. It’s really as we know it’s international. It’s the whole world is in this so we’ve really got to step up. Everybody get over yourself I mean get a vaccination. It’s not going to kill you. Let’s just do it and it’s going to help the world. It’s worldwide.
RS: Yeah and you can still live your life. A good example we went to Old Lahaina Luau last night. We have a granddaughter Miley and her boyfriend Chris in town right now. I think they are listening to the program. Hello Miley, Hello Chris. Anyway, we took them to Old Lahaina Luau. What an event. The Old Lahaina Luau has done a great job spacing tables. The staff will serve you all your food is plated now instead of buffet style. The dancers, everything was great.
BS: The food was fabulous. It was really great and way better for me than having to go up there and try to pick through whatever it is that you want and think about if do you want it. You get a little bit of everything and it’s when I say a little bit way more than almost anybody on this island could eat in one sitting.
RS: Yeah but the precautions have taken for this covid has it’s really not I don’t think affected their business a whole lot. First of all, it’s outdoors, they’ve got a great plan so hats off to Michael Moore and his bunch with Old Lahaina Luau.
BS: It is fabulous so anybody that I doubt it’s really hard right now to get a reservation there.
RS: Oh yeah, still.
BS: Yeah it really is hard but it was so well done and you could see how hard everybody was working and how happy they were to be working and to be a part of it again. The music was great.
RS: Yeah, even though our servers and helpers were masked you could see the smiles. BS: You could. It is you to get acknowledged.
RS: The aloha spirit is there.
BS: Eyes are smiling, the aloha spirit is alive and well.
RS: Yeah
BS: Totally alive and well. Should we give this thing about the lion and a try?
RS: Yes
BS: This is a little hard to read in a way but somebody got it to us and that’s a story the donkey told the tiger. The grass is blue. Tiger replied no, the grass is green. The discussion got heated they decided to submit the issue to arbitration so they approached the lion. As they approached the lion on his throne the donkey started screaming. Your highness isn’t it true that the grass is blue? The lion replied if you believe it’s true the grass is blue. The donkey pushed forward and continued. The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me, and annoys me. Please punish him. The king then declared the tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence. The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way content and repeating the grass is blue. The grass is blue. The tiger asked the lion, your majesty why have you punished me after all the grass is green. The lion replied, you’ve known and always seen that the grass is green. The tiger said so why are you punishing me? The lion said that has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or the grass is green. The punishment is because it’s degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with an ass and on top of that you came and bothered me with that question just to validate something you already knew was true. The biggest waste of time is arguing with a fool and fanatic who doesn’t care about truth or reality but only the victory of his beliefs and his illusions. Never ever waste time on discussions that make no sense. There are people who for all the evidence presented to them do not have the ability to even understand the truth. Others are blinded by ego, hatred, and resentment. The only thing they want to do is be right even if they aren’t. When ignorance screams, intelligence moves on. That’s the end. The applause started. That’s pretty fun.
RS: What a great. That’s fantastic. If you’d like a copy of it call Betty at (808) 870-7062 or email Betty at sakamotoproperties.com.
BS: We’ll get you a copy of it.
RS: Yeah. This is really deep.
BS: It is just kind of fun when you think about it too. Come on everybody we all know better. We shouldn’t still be arguing about it. It’s an international issue. It’s not whether some small vaccine that’s been in the country and in the world for generations and generations that somebody has an issue with but probably doesn’t matter anymore on a worldly basis. We need to protect everybody. It is worldwide. Let’s do it. Let’s protect one another.
RS: Oh yeah. We can take this deeper and it is much more than the covid vaccinations and so forth but maybe just life also.
BS: Maybe
RS: Yeah
BS: I think there’s so much going on and we need to take care of one another.
RS: That’s right.
BS: We’ve all been talking about that recently the land of aloha and let’s remember that right now. Let’s remember to talk to one another, care about one another, do little things for one another. Help somebody with some groceries or whatever the thing is, you see some and often a mother carrying 2 kids. She’s got a shopping cart and she’s trying to put the kid in the seat belt and she’s trying to put the baby in something else and the groceries are falling. Stop and help I mean that sounds silly and stupid but let’s all help one another. Little things and maybe it will all do the right thing.
RS: Absolutely and it doesn’t cost anything.
BS: It doesn’t cost anything at all.
RS: Yeah
BS: Well, are we going to talk about any real estate today?
RS: Sure
BS: Norm Estin is 2 minutes out.
RS: Yeah
BS: Maybe we should think about a little bit of everything. Interest rates are still great so for anyone that’s thinking about buying a property true prices are up. People keep asking us if things slow down a little. I’d have to say in my opinion it slowed down a little.
RS: It’s slow down.
BS: Because there’s less inventory. We aren’t all racing crazy at least. I’m personally not finding people trying to bid properties up right now but there are still buyers around and people that really want to be a part of real estate in Hawaii, in Maui. Again, interest rates are good if somebody is looking to buy a home or a condo for yourselves and you live here you might be worried are going to pay a little too much maybe but I think the interest rates are so good. If you are here and you want to have a home for a long time you are going to do okay with it. Talk to your realtor whoever that is and see what you think because there are a lot of possibilities.
RS: A lot of possibilities and call us. You can call Roy at (808) 870-7060 or Betty at (808) 870-7062.
BS: Elizabeth Quayle has a new listing at Kaanapali Plantation.
RS: Okay
BS: I believe it’s one of the larger units. I don’t have all the information on it but it’s one that you don’t ever see on the market and it’s very livable and you can do short-term rentals there. It is one that for the future if you are looking for a place to live it works really good. It is in the heart of Kaanapali. Call Elizabeth at (808) 276-6061 and she’ll have some good information on it for you.
RS: That sounds like a great listing and congratulations Elizabeth. There’s also a great listing at The Ridge at Kapalua. It’s number 2312. It’s a 1 bedroom, 2 baths, ground floor. The big thing about this apartment is it’s out of the wind and there are no steps.
BS: It’s been a huge thing over the years and it’s been on the market for maybe 2 months.
RS: About that.
BS: Maybe not quite. We’ve had some offers on it but the biggest thing here and over the years we’ve had people constantly looking for something at Kapalua with no stairs and this has zero stairs. It takes someone coming in and getting a look at it. One bedroom, 2 baths, very spacious, the kitchen is great. They’ve really updated things in certain ways that make it spectacular. The floors are new and everything was taken care of so that the appliances are newer, cabinets are the same. They are spotless. They’ve done a fabulous job of making it look perfect and the owners right now live there and have really enjoyed it but they are going to be moving away. It’s been for sale for like I say 45 days approximately and I think that it should end up being one that’ll sell within the next week or so.
RS: I think so. Beautiful ocean views, golf course view, sunsets in the wintertime. Get everything you want.
BS: It’s perfect, it’s right across the street from one of the pools. I mean it’s in The Ridge you know so the point is across the street. It’s one of the little Ridge streets but there’s a fabulous pool right there and then there’s the 2nd pool a little bit of a walk. That’s a little bit larger and has a full kitchen etc both of them have a bathroom and they’ve got barbecues. You can do short-term rentals there or have them in a rental program. It’s a really great place to live. We lived there for a lot of years at The Ridge.
RS: That’s right.
BS: Loved it. We could walk anywhere we wanted to go. The resort is beautiful, tennis golf, and you are a part of a major community.
RS: One bedroom, 2 baths, the listed price is $995,000. It’s a little over 1,100 square feet. A lot of footage for interior living.
BS: And because you do walk straight out you’ve got the whole area between you and the golf course. It is nice because the golf course actually is elevated then. It’s not like the golfers are typically that close that they are looking into your living room or something. I mean, if you are outside there you are enough away from the golf course which I think helps a lot.
RS: Right. Call us. Call Roy (808) 870-7060 or Betty (808) 870-7062 and ask to view Ridge 2312.
BS: Looks like we probably have Dr. Norm Estin on the phone. Are we hearing you already Doc Estin?
Dr. Norman Estin: You are. Aloha, good afternoon.
RS: Aloha Norm.
BS: We’ve been talking a little about being at The Ritz and what went on today with the vaccines etc. I know you’ve been all over the island already with the vaccine question and getting vaccines and getting people tested etc. Did you get to go to The Ritz today?
NE: I’m on the way up there actually. You must be reading my mind. I’ll be there in about 5 minutes to check. It’s going great. We’ve got a lot of people from the community coming there. If you are in West Maui and you haven’t had your vaccine yet or you need your 2nd one head up to The Ritz now. You can get there until I think 2 today and there’s no charge. The national guard has a huge setup there. All kinds of availability. All 3 vaccines are there. Great hospitality, perfect chance to stay safe, and who wouldn’t want to be safe during an epidemic like this. Now is your opportunity if you are on the Westside. If you are on another part of the island there will be more vaccine clinics going forward as well as testing clinics here in the next few weeks. This is our chance to make us all safe going into the winter season. The great news is that the delta variant spike is coming down for Hawaii as well as it is for the rest of the country. We can start to breathe a sigh of relief. On the other hand, the schools that are opening up are spreading the virus and now we have a nationwide 30% of the people who are coming down with covid are school-aged kids. That’s k-12 and obviously, the 5-year-olds to 12-year-olds do not have a vaccine yet or a potential vaccine. They will within a month or 2. It’s coming out very quickly from Washington approval so we are looking good but that’s the problem now is the kids are sick and the kids are spreading it.
BS: Norm, I have a quick question about that. Do you believe that the kids that are going to school aren’t always getting it there? That they are around family etc people wherever they go they are unvaccinated. It could be coming from anywhere I mean it could be their own parents.
NE: Absolutely true and then they are spreading it to other kids who are spreading it to their homes. That’s one of the reasons that if you do have kids or grandkids or know people who have kids in school you may want to avoid a lot of close physical contact and use masks and some social distancing, especially during these next few weeks. Once we do have the kid vaccine approved I’m sure it will be safe. You probably want to have your 5 to 12-year-old in line for that.
BS: Yeah
NE: We are doing great there. The country’s waking up to the fact that “hey man, this isn’t going to go away on its own like we thought it would.” It’s going to take a while and it’s going to be with us for a while and we have to realize this is something we are going to have to live with. It’s not going to be this level of an emergency and this level of a pandemic and this level of an impact on the health care system going forward. They’re going to be cases of covid out there for as long as we can see into the future but we have to get a handle on these big spreads as we have now. One, let your doctor know and go to a rapid testing location if you are feeling any symptoms or you are concerned or exposed at all. Two, get your vaccine which is the only way to prevent this. There is an exciting new treatment that everybody should know about if for some reason the vaccine doesn’t work and occasionally it won’t work and it’s not designed to work 100% or if you haven’t been vaccinated and you get sick and everybody has heard about it a little bit it’s called monoclonal antibodies or Regeneron which is the company that makes them and basically it’s an intravenous infusion. A shot is given into a vein but now it can be given as just a couple of shots under your skin. Right now, the only place doing it is the emergency room and there are some criteria for who can qualify who can’t. We are going to start being able to do that pretty soon doctors on call a number of outpatient facilities are going to be able to do it sometime in the next couple of weeks. It’s very exciting because it will prevent you up to 70% from becoming seriously ill or dying or having to go into the hospital for either of those. In addition, it’s indicated not only if you are sick but if you’ve been exposed to somebody who’s definitely positive but you are not having any symptoms yet. It will prevent you from getting sick at all. It’s expensive, many hundreds of dollars but right now insurance is covering it as provided by the government. Watch your newspapers and Maui now or wherever you are getting your healthcare news for exciting updates on this in the next few days.
BS: Now, this will help someone whether or not they’ve been vaccinated. If they start to come down with the virus or they are positive it might be the thing that will help someone a lot.
NE: That’s correct. Now, there’s not enough for everybody and again there are some certain criteria for who can use it and who can’t. It’s not out there right now yet but I want your listeners to be aware that keep an eye on this the next few days, a week, 2 weeks tops and it will start to be available here on Maui another big breakthrough. Again, what we want to do is prevent this and remember that old adage announces the prevention is worth a pound of cure so we can prevent getting sick with the vaccine just like we’ve done with every other vaccine in the world whether it’s smallpox or polio or tetanus, mumps measles, rubella. Remember we’ve only wiped out 2 viruses in the whole history of the world. We wiped off 1 very weird animal virus and we wiped out smallpox. We literally wiped it out because we had a vaccination campaign. It was a scourge I mean in the 18th century it was terrible. The late middle ages and the 18th century killed millions and millions of people around the world. It was horrible. It was the worst and it took forever and then finally in the late 70s we got the final vaccination and it was in Pakistan and India. We wiped out smallpox.
BS: And right now if we get that.. I’m sorry Norm.
NE: Go ahead.
BS: Right now, if people just listen and get the vaccine now and then we do have some Regeneron or something else that comes up we will be saved and it’ll be good. If nobody steps up or the people who are standouts for the vaccination they going to do it. Everyone’s got to do. It’s not just about you it’s about the kids around you. It’s about the people in the grocery store. It’s about everybody. It’s being able to see your grandmother and your mother and your brothers and your sisters and working. It’s about everything you’ve got to get it.
NE: Betty, you are absolutely right and these viruses circulated in the air. They don’t care who you are, where you are, what color you are, where you are from, what your political view is. We are all exposed. The saying to remember going forward is exactly what you are saying unless we are all safe not one of us is safe.
BS: That is monumental Norm.
NE: That’s the message going forward you hit the nail on the head. Thank you for all you are doing to get the word out.
BS: Norm, thank you for not just getting the word out but actually getting the vaccination out and getting it all across the island of Maui everywhere. You have been everywhere. Doc. Estin in 1 day travels more than most of us travel in a month on Maui. You’ve really done it. You’ve really taken care of a lot of people. Thank you, Dr. Norm Estin.
NE: Thank you so much as part of everybody in the whole healthcare community and all the physicians, nurses, agencies, and groups trying to help out with this. It is everybody. The Department of Health, Maui help, Kaiser, all the clinics, everybody. Again, thank you for your support and we’ll be in touch soon.
BS: Thank you, Norm. We will see you soon. Aloha.
RS: Thanks Norm.
NE: Bye
BS: Bye now. I guess we are now at the 2-minute warning but I think that we’ve gotten the most important message off today which is get vaccinated. Just get vaccinated. It’s time.
RS: Very easy to do.
BS: And very easy to do.
RS: Free
BS: We can sell real estate anytime.
RS: Yeah
BS: Right now, let’s do the important thing. Let’s get vaccinated, take care of one another. Go to The Ritz-Carlton today there’s still an hour and a half. If you are in West Maui go there you can valet park. There’s enough parking around everywhere. If you don’t choose to valet park great opportunity they’ve got a great little coffee place nice pastries. You can have lunch whatever it is you’d like to do but go there for the vaccination clinic and that will solve 1 of the problems for you and for the world.
RS: Yeah and thanks to the national guard for helping out. They are just great. Fantastic.
BS: They are the best. We are the most fortunate country in the world.
RS: Yeah
BS: In the world to have the national guard like this.
RS: I stopped by the Ballroom earlier today at The Ritz and they were all set up, appropriately spaced, and I think they had 4 stations ready and lots of seating for people to come in and sign up and wait to get their shot.
BS: We will have to stop by on our way home and say hello.
RS: Yeah
BS: Anyway, Danny Couch should be coming up here in 1 minute with I love Hawaii. Again, one of the things I love about Hawaii is that Norm Estin and people like him. Dr. Estin and every medical person on this island, the national guard, everybody steps up when they are needed so let’s all do that.
RS: One big ohana.
BS: One big ohana. I love Hawaii and Danny Couch.
RS: Aloha
BS: Aloha
