Mitch Mitchell: And, you know Betty, I believe the paper said $530,000 but I believe it was closer to $550,000 now for the County of Maui and that's amazing because that's more than Oahu raises. We beat Oahu, I believe the last 2 years. Oahu is next week so don't wake them up yet because we have to wait until they do theirs next Saturday. But I think it's amazing that all the hotel workers in the visitor industry, the people, and the charities get to raise money and this money all stays on Maui which I think is phenomenal. And we really appreciate it because Hale Makua is one of the beneficiaries and we always like to take part. It's one of those things that I just can't believe that all of the visitor industry employees and hotels get behind this with such great fervor that it's just amazing to see. There were like 2,500 walkers out there you know they almost trampled me.

Betty Sakamoto: One thing, Mitch, I think is interesting that you started to say or briefly said is that for a couple of years now the walk here has beat out Honolulu. Now maybe we shouldn't raise this so that they start hearing that we're talking about it but whatever they do is also fabulous. But one of the things you mentioned to me Mitch is that the top hotel I think was The Wailea Grand for fundraising.

M: Yes, they raised $100,001

B: See that's pretty phenomenal.

M:That's great.

B: Mitch was the top individual fund raiser which he has been, I've kind of said that, for the last four years. And then Hale Makua, you know Mitch, in all of our charities the one that we're all vitally involved with. What did they end up with, or what do you believe they ended up with in the end?

M: About $30,000, so that's all the employees, you know, doing cake sales and garage sales and just really trying to put the money together. Yeah that's a lot of money and we really want to thank Carol Reimann at The Visitor's Industry Charity Walk. She puts on a great show and Frank Delima, he was there and unfortunately made me get up to dance the hula on stage.

B: Oh, we better get the video of that.

M: Yeah, no I think I had to pay him off. But, anyway just want to thank everybody who participated in that this past weekend, and all the charities I just think it was really pretty special. So, let's talk about real estate.

B: Well before we get to real estate, although it is real estate related, I think that we want to talk about this Thursday; late in the day it's going to be basically a broker's open house at Kapalua. And there's going to be a lot of properties that are on it. And it's going to reintroduce another thing that is near and dear to our hearts which is fundraising for Maui Preparatory Academy. Mitch, myself, my husband Roy, Dean Otto, we're all involved early on with this from the realtor perspective with that program called A.I.M. And there's a number of other people too, Mary Anne Fitch, Jo Dorner, Nam Le Viet, so there are a lot of other people that have really taken this and run with it. But the idea has been that realtors, if the sale has anything to do with the fact that there is now this preparatory academy, a portion of the commission has been donated to the school. And everybody has worked to help them get donations in other ways but it's going to reintroduce the program and I think it's going to be a really great thing for people to realize number one the school is so important to not only Maui but West Maui and students are coming from across the island. We'll have a list available at our office so call us at (808) 669-0070, you could try Mitch at (808) 870-5548. if I get my hands on it I'll figure out how we can put it on our website and I always feel, I'm always a little delinquent on that but people let me know after words. But our website https://www.SakamotoProperties.com you know, take a look because there's a lot of properties that are on there and we do have other information that helps within the community. So we're more than happy to have you on there searching about and possibly calling to let us know that there's something you can't find. But we'll all be at the open houses so call us and we'll get to work on that.

M: You know Betty that is a phenomenal campus up there, and you know they have these smart black boards, and all of the kids have their little laptop and it goes up on the chalk board, at least they were chalk when I was that age, but it's a phenomenal campus and they've got a great staff. And the parents and especially Dean being on the board, raising money and giving out scholarships to students that live in West Maui.

B: My understanding is, Mitch, and you may have the statistics on that, but there's a huge number of the students that actually get scholarship help. It's an expensive school and it's doing more and more all the time. But these kids are graduating now going on to fabulous colleges and it's not just an elite group. They are seeing to it that the kids of Lahaina and around the island that are in the category that they want to go to the school and they're willing to do what it takes to be a student there, there's help. Help is happening. So if you're ever looking for something on that call Dean Otto which is (808) 870-7736. He's the head of the board and he's done some amazing things. And what about Troy Otto.

M: Yeah, Troy went to States this year, I think he got sixth place in the high jump.

B: He did jump six feet, one or two inches which is fabulous.

M: Prior to it, but at the event -

B: He didn't do it at the event?

M: No, he beat the record before but he didn't quite get it together that day. I think it was the Hilo air.

B: Probably, I think it's hard, I better not say that, on the Big Island air wise when you're not used to it, I think it can be difficult. And they' were in Hilo so that can be hard. Anyway Troy Otto, great athlete, fabulous student, and he's becoming an amazing entertainer. He's now a Junior so next year will be his Senior year, and then he'll be off to college. So Mitch, you're thinking that we need to do a little real estate. Roy's going to check in with us about something in a bit so -

M: You know I tried to call it a trend earlier but I guess two sales don't make a trend.

B: That's right.

M: But something interesting to me is that we have someone looking at a Ridge Villa now that is planning on living here, and we just sold a Golf Villa for people that are moving in full time now. And we're getting back to owner-occupant at the Kapalua Resort so I think that's kind of an interesting scenario.

B: That's true, and over the years there's of course owner-occupants and we've lived at the Ridge and now we live at Pineapple Hill, and we've lived at the Golf Villas but it's kind of interesting because it's not a place that you've got huge amounts of owner-occupants but you know most people are second home buyers or they've purchased them as an investment type condominium and put them in one of the rental programs that are available. So all of those are reasons to come and buy at Kapalua and the value is phenomenal right now. So if you've ever thought of it, don't you think Mitch, that now is the time?

M: I think so, I can't believe that we haven't gotten an offer put together on that 26P 3 and 4, it's got great ocean views, great sunset views between the islands of Lanai and Molokai. And it's a great condominium, two-bedroom, two-bathroom, easy to show, we have it listed at $600,000 and it's never been rented, I think that's really going to be a steal here.

B: It's a great value, and it is an interesting one, and worth having people take a look at it. We've had so much interest in it; we're showing it often, three or four times a day. One of the things that I think is going to be key here is going to be exactly what the buyer profile is going to be. We've had offers, which is really good; we just haven't for one reason or another quite gotten it together. And in one case we were really close but there was another property, ironically, that the people had also looked at and at the last minute they decided to purchase a one-bedroom that had recently had a major renovation that Mitch had made happen with a really good client of ours. So, they were still Kapalua buyers, we just couldn't get it together on that one but I'm thinking we're going to see another offer and probably get that put together within the next ten days. So we'll let you know the next time that we're here. Anything else?

M: Napili Point again, I keep talking about Napili Point. I've got a nice one-bedroom, one-bathroom, directly right out front the A-building, in the A-complex. And it's direct oceanfront, the surf just comes pounding in there, and the sunsets, it's really a pretty phenomenal location and the one next door sold not long ago. So I'm anticipating somebody coming and looking at that. They've got a great rental program, it is leasehold, but it's a great lease, if I was to buy anything leasehold this is the one I would be buying.

B: And there are already some negotiations happening in regards to a fee-purchase. The owners own 10,000 square feet approximately of the fee already which is just a small area, basically in the parking lot, but they still do have a little piece of that. And I think now that the leasehold is so low per owner, it's about $10 a month, so I think that the owners of the land pretty soon are going to have to realize that selling it is a lot better than hanging on to it. And again, there are negotiations so whoever is coming in now will have to eventually note and bite the bullet on buying the fee but that is going to make a major difference in the cost value of each of these. So again, worth looking at: great pools, two pools, you just do a little bit of a walk over the rocks to Napili Bay which is fabulous. You can swim out there in the cove and there are a lot of turtles, et cetera, and again they still, like you and I have talked about Mitch, they still operate like a little bit of old Hawaii. Don't you think it's great management and fun?

M: Absolutely, it's just kind of a little enclave there where you're just sitting right on the water in your own little world and it's very, very much like old Hawaii. So it's a great place.

B: One other Napili property, Mitch, that I think is really worth talking about is at 31 Pualu Loop, I hope I'm pronouncing that right, in Napili, close to the Napili Park. It's listed at $750,000, very easy to show, the owners are going to be moving on so that they're in the middle of making arrangements to move to the mainland. But it's an amazing property, backs up to a ravine, great set up there -

M: Great privacy, there's over 2,500 square feet in the house, it's just very private in back because it's got the park on one side.

B: I think we've got Roy calling in. Hey there Roy, we've got you on.

Roy Sakamoto: Is this the world famous Betty's Real Estate Corner?

B: This is definitely the world famous Betty's Real Estate Corner brought to you by Sakamoto Properties.

R: Of course.

B: Are you currently at "Baby Beach"?

R: I am currently at our corporate office.

B: Oh, at the corporate offices.

M: Did you forget some sun block?

R: No, I wish I was at the golf course. Anyway, I was just calling in to talk about one of our great listings down at Kahana.

B: That is, that's a property that I thought that when we listed it we'd have it sold and it hasn't happened as quickly as we want it to. But you know the figure I always lose track of, "how much ocean frontage is there?" Do you know that offhand Roy, the amount of actual frontage? It's huge.

R: It has a little bit of an irregular shoreline but it's somewhere around 1,200 feet of ocean front.

B: Unheard of.

R: Most of it is sandy beachfront, and it's almost like a miniature Kapalua Bay with the long arm of reef stretching out towards Molokai. It's a very protected beach, great for swimming, great for fishing and snorkeling, amazing.

B: It could be subdivided and people have looked at although it's a little difficult. Do you still think Roy the buyer will probably be someone who will be using it as, you know, a personal home or, you know, some sort of a family compound?

R: Well, there's four older homes on the property right now and I envision that the ultimate buyer of this will be someone who will have their estate home, second home, third home, whatever. But maybe a smaller ohana will like the area, the recreational area, kind of towards Baby Beach, good sized pool for sure. You've got 2.3 acres and that's a lot of land to play with.

B: Yeah, I think that the acreage alone makes it one of those major winning properties. You know, someone asked me the other day that kind of knows the property and they were actually talking about the idea of buying it and keeping the four houses, at least for the moment. And doing some sort of repair or work on them just so they'd be able to spend a couple of years enjoying it and figuring out exactly what to do next.

R: Oh absolutely.

B: Yeah, I think that's a little hard but you're feeling okay with that idea?

R: Sure, no questions. You'll get a feel of the property, kind of test drive it, so to speak. I know Mitch is very familiar with the property also.

M: Yes, I think it's a wonderful parcel down there. You know, it's along the lower road; it's kind of the best of all worlds between Kapalua and Kaanapali.

R: Look at all the great mango trees that have been on the property for ages. It's just beautiful. This is Old Hawaii.

B: This is definitely Old Hawaii at its finest. What do you think Mitch? Especially the house that the most recent owner was on. That's a really great little house. I mean, even though it's very old and needs a ton of work, I could see someone fixing it up and hanging in there for a few years while they figure out what their family really wants to do.

M: Well, it's kind of a unique parcel because part of it is on a little knoll right above the spit that Roy was talking about that has great commanding views all over. And that's a really nice house up there and kept in good shape. I think eventually that's where you'd put the main home.

B: Is that the red house?

M: I think it's blue-

B:Yeah, I think you're right. And then the red one is down more on the water which probably needs more work. But again, I think that, I mean, they're livable, people are living there now and so it is something that will work. You know, if somebody decides. But, call us, again (808) 669-0070, or you could look at it on our website at https://www.SakamotoProperties.com and you'll get an idea. But, call one of us, we're easy to reach.

M: It's a great, wonderful parcel with that great little cove there Roy and this doesn't get a lot of huge surf in there so it's really kind of protected but has beautiful sand.

R: And you know, oceanfront in West Maui is showing a nice surge in activity. We have a listing at Baby Beach down in Lahaina, and for about three weeks we're in escrow and we're looking to close within a couple of weeks. We did get four offers on the property so it's starting to happen with West Maui oceanfront.

B: True, there were four offers, and in fact really there were four serious offers. It wasn't like people who were just taking a quick run at it. I'd say there were four serious offers on it and the land is what, about 12,000 square feet there? Or, it's a little larger maybe 14,000 square feet. Anyway, in the big picture of things, brand new home on there couldn't be any nicer. I'd actually have to say that I could give up Pineapple Hill for that house.

R: I know, you said that.

B: I know, I did say it. I'm not so sure I meant it but I could almost do it.

M: Can I get the listing on the Pineapple Hill house?

B: There we go Mitch. Actually, there's another story. When we list our own properties, who do we list them with? Mitch Mitchell. So, we always think it's better to not list the property ourselves, and Mitch has always gotten them sold and done a great job for us and a great job for whoever came in because they always tend to be eventually a part of our Sakamoto ohana. Wouldn't you say Mitch?

M: Absolutely.

R: I'm off actually, to do a showing so I will let you continue with your real estate chat.

B: Okay, so thanks for checking in with us.

M: Thanks Roy.

B: Aloha, see you in a little bit.

R: Aloha.

B: Bye. So now we're back, and where were we at now? I've got to take another look here. We've done our Maui Prep; we've talked about Hale Makua, you know, one of the things that we're doing, and we work with Meyer Computer. So, if any of you out there, if you went to https://www.MeyerComputer.com they've got a great site and you can hook up with them if you need any help with your computers or doing websites, or I mean doing websites, etcetera. But you know we're doing a thing right now where we're trying to get websites for some of our homes. So in a lot of cases if you went to you'll find one of our fabulous homes which has eight-bedrooms, eight and a half-baths and is at Pineapple Hill. Or another one but it's kind of fun right now because we're able to get more and more pictures on there and give you more and more information. They're probably still, to a certain extent, you know a job that we're working at. I think we also have.

M: And that's a great house.

B: That's another really fabulous house Mitch.

M: Well, how did you find Meyer Computer?

B: ctually here's the Meyer Computer story. I made the mistake of hooking up with some company on the mainland. We started out doing luxury real estate, we were helping out with it. Then I found some mainland company and Roy said to me, "Why don't you call Meyer Computer, they're doing a lot of things for the Board of Realtors, and you know, different realtors. Check with them." And I thought, "Oh, they probably won't be that good so I'll just stick with these people from the mainland." Well, after I spent about $6,000 and still didn't have a website I called Chris at Meyer Computer and had to start all over. So now, we're down 5 or $6,000 and starting over. But the best thing is that they kept it simple for us, he had a way of seeing to it that we could put our listings into the MLS through an IDX that automatically go into our website and they automatically go into the website that we're involved with at https://www.luxuryrealestate.com. And they've helped us getting a company Facebook which is really fun and we're really enjoying doing. We still need to do better at it but Chris is all over us trying to see to it that we operate the way you're supposed to today. So that was a good question though, how did you end up with it?

M: Well, it's just that ?

B: Wait Mitch. Well, okay we're winding down pretty fast and we've got less than a minute left so I think we need to come up with a closing message or something. But Mitch can always be reached at his cell phone (808) 870-5548, I can be reached at the office (808) 669-0070, all of our agents are on our website you can find cell phones, etcetera, and hook up with whoever you want.

M: You know Betty, I never seem to mention 100 Alahoku Place which is a little over two acres.

B: I think we're going to have to save that for the next time. I think it's time for the big Aloha, Danny Couch is back on.

M: Oh well.

B: Come on, Mitch. Aloha.

M: Aloha.

B: Thanks for listening today. Aloha.