Roy Sakamoto: April Fool's Day!

Betty Sakamoto: At KAOI! With Roy and Betty Sakamoto bringing you "Betty's Real Estate Corner."

R: You know, it's funny, I was just thinking as we're sitting in the studio here with Gary, our engineer and Chris Meyer from Meyer Computer, just thinking about the show, the movie, the old movie, "Good Morning, Vietnam!"

B: Oh, good morning, Vietnam!

R: Yeah.

B: Let's try a big, good morning, Maui!

R: Good morning, Maui!

B: Aloha! Yeah, I loved that movie, didn't you?

R: Yeah.

B: What a sad, poignant, I don't know. That was, that was really for its era, and for any era, I think, still a powerful movie.

R: Oh, yeah.

B: It was really great, everyone was in it.

R: Robin Williams and, yeah it was great.

B: Hmm, oh well.

R: Okay, on to Betty's Real Estate Corner.

B: Well, we spent the better part of the last 10 minutes here talking about Twitter, Tweeting, and/or being a Twit. So we went through a variety of things, one being we all keep kind of talking about these things. For instance, I mean it is important for us right now. Follow us on Twitter @MauiSakamoto, #BettyMauiRadio. Check-in with us and let us know what you're thinking of what we're doing. So do that, but we just had some very funny statements about who's twitting, who's tweeting, and who's a twit, so we're having a fun moment over at?but again, contact us. Our website: SakamotoProperties.com. You can get into the Maui Board of Realtors, you can find everything that you want that's for sale in Maui and we can help you with almost anything. We'll refer you to someone, we'll help you with it. We would love to be hearing from you. Again, SakamotoProperties.com, to reach us at the office, 808-669-0070. And Roy, what are we thinking for today?

R: Well, let's talk about community happenings. One thing that happened this past week, or week and a half, was a check from PGA Tour charities to Hale Makua. This was as a, well, I wouldn't say compensation, but to reward Hale Makua for all the efforts. Especially by Denise Thayer, our Director of Development at Hale Makua, for all the help with the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January. And PGA Tour Charities was very, very generous, and we sure thank them.

B: It really helps a lot. Mitch Mitchell is out there with Denise as often as he can be and helps out with that a lot, too. And between them, Denise is probably doing a lot of them, let's call them the difficult jobs but Mitch is another one, with her, and with the other volunteers that, you know, when the day comes to an end somebody needs to pick up the garbage. And Hale Makua volunteers have been amazing seeing to it that that happens. The Boy Scouts, over the years, are still helping with that, aren't they Roy?

R: The Boy Scouts, the Lahainaluna Golf Team, it takes a village, really, to put together a PGA Tour Tournament. And the Hyundai Tournament of Champions is no exception. And the beneficiary is the Maui community, so thank you PGA Tour and thank you Maui community for turning out and supporting this great venture, this great exposure for Maui.

B: You know, this morning, I know we talked about these various things that matter a lot to us. And this morning we ran into this amazing woman who has been on the board of Hale Makua, is not currently, but such a wonderful person. And she was mentioning that her father was a part of the group that originally started Hale Makua.

R: Father-in-law.

B: Father-in-law, was it? But it was really amazing. A lot of you know the story, but even today at the radio station I realized how many people don't know the story. But Hale Makua started during World War II, at a time that the hospital was being used by service men. Now, I feel like we've told this story, it's kind of my version of the story, and I think there's probably tons of versions, but during the war, hospital being used for service men. So, a lot of our frail and elderly that had no place to go, maybe no additional family members were staying at the hospital that had to find somewhere else. The Buddhist church stepped in, and I've always had this picture of a group of let's say the elders, and that's probably who it was, but get together and say, you know, "We need to help. These people have nowhere to go." And, " I could do this. I have, maybe, a couple of beds that our kids or our grandkids aren't using." Or, "I've got cots," and someone else says, "I can bring in blankets" and, "We've got a couple old refrigerators," and all of the sudden, they make the basements of the Buddhist church, and I don't remember a particular church, but they set it all up so that our frail and elderly, our kupuna, have a place to be. So, again, from that Hale Makua started. So it's a great picture of a community in action. Not of a hospital or a nursing home. A community in action and where that can go to. So whatever you step into and do today, it's amazing because it could be 70 years from now, when everybody's talking about it, it's going to be what you did today. Your minor efforts can become an epic adventure, 50 to 70 years later.

R: And, again, you know, Hale Makua has a great genesis, again, going back to the, I think it was the Wailuku Hongwanji Buddhist Church, and what it's become now, evolved into, is a health care center for Maui. That the frail and elderly on Maui, Hale Makua is a great resource. By all means, take advantage of it. Call Hale Makua and see what help Hale Makua can do for you and your family.

B: It is?again, there are so many things that we need in the community and I think when you look back to World War II and even think today, we're at a time where government is unable to do as much as at one time we thought they were going to be able to do. So maybe we're back at the same era. History is repeating itself where it's going to take the village. We all need to come out and we need to help one another, either from the stand point of different charities that we're going to be helping with. Maybe we're going to have to give our neighbor a little more help when we realize that they're in need. Or maybe it'll be the littlest thing like one of your neighbor's kids are some where alone after school and you have kids coming home and you help out because there is no place else for them to go. So I think we need to, as a community, step up again just like they did during World War II when they took in, what we're calling, the frail and elderly. But also, Hale Makua, it's not totally the elderly or totally what we consider to be the "frail and elderly." It could be someone that had, maybe, a new hip replacement but needs to have some?a place that he can do therapy. Or maybe it's somebody who had a stroke and needs to be somewhere that they can be helped to be able to do all their normal daily tasks. And you remember the man, the young golfer, that worked at Kapalua?

R: Yes.

B: That had been there following a stroke. And we knew him before the stroke; we never knew what happened. And we were involved with Hale Makua but we later realized he was in there and angry and did not want anyone to help them. But somewhere, one of the amazing nurses got through to him and he realized that he could have a life again. He has an amazing life again. He's doing everything that he did before and he thought his life had ended at Hale Makua. It began.

R: He went through intensive therapy and rehab and he's back on his feet and quite a spokesman for Hale Makua right now.

B: Yup, he is. And that's really fun to hear because he's excited by it. He's truly excited.

R: So what's happening at Lahainaluna? You're a member of the Lahainaluna Foundation.

B: It's still another one, as a community, and we did kind of a nice shout out recently to alumni and the parents of the kids who are going there right now. You know, they're in the middle of trying to complete the stadium project and there's a bunch of different things that have changed. New hurdles that keep coming up. They had to redesign all the bathrooms due to a change in building codes since the initial design. All that extra work that was created for also meeting the Disability and Communications Access Board requirements. Safety and security issues keep changing. So at this point, we're at the stage that it's really going to be taking a toll on any contingency fund that the Foundation will have as this gets completed. And the Foundation does a lot of important things, a lot of scholarship work, trying to see to it that the young people have scholarships, that scholarships are managed by the Foundation. That the kids that should get them are getting them. And we don't want to see the Foundation so humbled by this that there's no way to keep going. So we're kind of saying, come on everybody, step up. We've had one primary person that's made this all happen and it's time that we all step up and whatever we can do. Ten dollars, one hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, whatever you can do, you know, look it up. Lahainaluna-I think it's LahainalunaFoundation.org?Oops, LahainalunaHighSchoolFoundation.org. So check it out and see what you think you can do. Or you can call me, Betty Sakamoto or Roy Sakamoto at 808-669-0070. So Lahainaluna: Alive and well, we're plugging away.

R: Alive and well. Okay!

B: What about real estate?

R: We are a real estate company! How about a new listing at the Ridge at Kapalua. Marcy from our office, Marcy Rhody, just listed a one-bedroom, two-bath. Apartment number is 2915, twenty-nine fifteen. Just fresh on the market at $865,000. Great view, it's a townhouse floor plan. Bedroom upstairs, living room, kitchen downstairs, awesome views. Great views.

B: It's been an interesting time going on. We just sold one of The Summit homes at 404 Wekiu. And that was listed at $2,135,000.

R: That's in Kaanapali.

B: In Kaanapali. And in the middle of that we have another one that's come on the market: 280 and is five-bedrooms, 3.5-baths. Lots of neat little spaces. Listed at $2,496,000. And a really well worth taking a look at if you're looking for something in Kaanapali, we've got that listing, a couple of other really great properties there. So check us out for that, 808-669-0070.

R: That 280 Wekiu Place is actually listed by Elizabeth Quayle with Sakamoto Properties and you can reach her at 669-0070 and forgot to mention, Marcy Rhody's number for The Ridge 2915. Marcy's number also: 669-0070. And look it up on our website also: SakamotoProperties.com.

B: If you call us at Sakamoto Properties there will be somebody there that can answer your questions on any of our properties or any other properties that are listed in the multiple listings service. So, we've got tons of listings right now, primarily West Maui, but if you're starting at Launiupoko, Lahaina, you know we had a really great one that I think just opened escrow in Ala Moana, the Baby Beach area?

R: Right down by old Mala Wharf.

B: Mm-hmm. We've had some good Wahikuli properties. But you know, again, if you get to the resorts: Kaanapali. We've got a great number of listings and the rest of the brokerage community does, too. So if you just kind of go along there, and if you're here visiting and you drive through the west side of Maui, so you're going, say, Lahaina, go through Wahikuli, Kaanapali. We can really show you?you know, come by and talk to us. We'll put you in the car and drive you through it all. It can be really a fun experience to learn about it.

R: Right. You mentioned Launiupoko and we've got this great listing: 480 Haniu Street in Launiupoko. It's 5.1 acres, and it used to be a working nursery. When the economy kind of tanked, the nursery was closed down but the equipment, all the fixtures are still there. Anyone can pick this up and start a nursery again. It does have a three-bedroom, 2.5 bath Ohana. And, again, you're on 5.1 acres, listed price is $1,695,000. Which is very, very reasonable for 5 acres of land. Huge ocean?Lanai, Molokai, Molokini views, and sunsets all year round.

B: And you've got a property there that you do have an Ohana that you can live in while you build your dream home, complete your property that you'd want. You know, you'd be able to have a barn there, my understanding is, that you can use for a variety of purposes and you can build, again, your dream home. You know, a place that you can have your whole family together and you can get it working again as a nursery, even if it's only for your own personal use. You know, having a nursery on a 5 acre property is what we all need. We should all be over there working it.

R: Yes, yes. Now, in Kahana, one of our newer listings, and this is by Ethan from our office, Ethan Rathbun. Again, you can reach Ethan at 669-0070. There's a great listing at 56 Kahananui Road in Kahana Ridge. It's a four-bedroom, four-bath, $975,000. Very, very reasonable price for this four-bedroom, four-bath, and it's a corner lot in Kahana Ridge. And for those of you familiar with Kahana, Kahana Ridge has been a very, very popular, very active sub-division and lots of sales, lots of escrows in Kahana Ridge. So, Ethan at 669-0070 and we can make arrangements to show it to you.

B: Interesting as we're saying this because we kind of started talking, coming along the coast, and I think that's an interesting thing should somebody be trying to figure out properties on Maui and understand exactly what there is. We've had some interesting properties right now at Puna II at Napili Kai. Unbelievable rental histories there. So call either?well, call our office. Any of us can help you. But Dean Otto or myself. And we've just got a new listing which is one of the large studios there. Fabulous property. We have another one under contract, 233 Puna II, which was listed at $1,325,00. Sold almost immediately after we listed it. And the one now, very large unit right on the ocean, absolutely, even from my standpoint as someone who's sold real estate for a hundred years, the rental history there is fabulous. And it was one of the only properties that I could say totally make sense from the standpoint of being a rental. So call us on that one. And, again, we'll keep repeating this today: 808-870. Oops, I was trying to give my cell phone. Let's stick with the office: 808-669-0070. But, quick, Napili ones, Roy?

R: Oh, well, I'll tell you that Napili Bay has got to be one of the prettiest bays anywhere in Hawaii. And growing up here on Maui, I remember Napili Bay and just a few houses scattered around the bay. Where Puna point sits right now, we had some good friends that lived there and we used to dive off a little dock, probably illegal dock, that was put up then; it doesn't exist there anymore. But Napili Bay is one of the prettiest settings anywhere in Hawaii.

B: It really is. Right there at Napili Kai, there's a great restaurant out there, which I still call the tea house or something but now?

R: I'm not sure what it's called.

B: Oh the?I guess we're not going to be able to tell you. But if you go to Napili Kai, go out there to the restaurant; it's fabulous. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and there's a great outside area that if you have kids or grandkids with you, you can be sitting outside getting hamburgers, cheeseburgers for everybody, and the kids can be running in and out of the water or you can be running in and out of the water. We've done it with our grandkids with us and our kids. It's really an amazing fun thing. But get down there: Napili Bay. Couldn't be a better location. So I think that really?anything along that way is going to be super. So come out there, even if you're just browsing around and you want to see the different beaches. We had kids and grandkids here recently and our kids would take their kids in the morning and they'd be heading out and they'd have a plan: We're going to go to four beaches today. And they would sometimes start at maybe Fleming's Beach, Kapalua Bay, Napili Bay, and then get down to Kaanapali and walk up and down Kaanapali Beach. So, it is amazing if you just even try to stay in West Maui there is a beach very, very close to you at any given moment.

R: Some beautiful, beautiful beaches also. So, anyway, there's?we're about?I know we're skipping around a little bit but how about in Kaanapali. How about The Masters?

B: 1402.

R: 1402, what a great buy.

B: That is a fabulous buy.

R: It's a two-bedroom, two-bath, second floor unit, right on the golf course. Unobstructed channel views: Lanai, Molokai. Sunsets all year round, listed at $1,150,000. Very easy to get you in to show. And, again, you can look at photos and you can see the whole layout on our website: SakamotoProperties.com or call us, 669-0070 and make arrangements to show it to you.

B: The Masters truly is in the heart of Kaanapali. We just put, I think we actually just closed in the last day or so, unit 204 and an amazing?it wasn't as upgraded as 1402. But 1402 is really going to be the deal of the century at this point because there's nothing left. And this is one of the only ones that when you're in the kitchen, you have a really amazing view of the fairway, from the front lanai, you've got, again, huge view in every direction. But most of the units don't have the great view that they have from the kitchen. The kitchen view is key to me there. If you're in the kitchen doing anything you're going to be able to look straight up the fairway.

R: Yes, yes. Speaking about the fairway, and again skipping a little bit, how about coming back to Kapalua. Golf Villa 26V-1. Just listed. It's a one-bedroom, 1.5-bath, in a very, very popular Golf Villas at Kapalua. Listed at $675,000. And as far as the Kapalua Villas rental program is concerned, it's rated as a platinum, which means its highest upgrade. And again, views are tremendous from this unit.

B: Yeah, it's really a great one. It's the top floor, again, one-bedroom, 1.5-bath, very?beautiful place, really, really great. And it's right next to a pool, so when you're there at Kapalua, the Golf Villas has actually four pools, which you've got access to everything. There's the tennis garden at Kapalua. Ten tennis courts in a garden setting, fabulous for everybody. They set up matches; they'll do everything to make your tennis experience really great while you're at Kapalua. Golf at Kapalua is second-to-none in the world. It's a Troon facility now. Troon management has really taken the golf course?courses?to a new level. Don't you think they're as good or better than anything in the Hawaiian chain?

R: It's better than anything in Hawaii. Anything else in Hawaii is second.

B: Yeah, and you see it everywhere now. You know, if you look in magazines, you're always seeing the golf courses and talk of the golf courses. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions definitely keeps Kapalua on the map and people coming back over and over. There's not a golfer that comes to Hawaii that doesn't want to play the Kapalua Plantation Course, don't you think?

R: No, reputation is outstanding. Reputation is outstanding. It's a difficult course, it's my favorite course, not that I play it well. But I enjoy it and the views especially in the winter time. You're playing golf and the whales are jumping in the background and it's hard to concentrate on your golf game. In fact, your golf game is secondary. And again, the views are?you're just enjoying the outdoors, enjoying golf and enjoying the views.

B: I'm not sure you're totally telling the truth that the golf game becomes secondary. But it sounds like a great thing to say. He's a serious golfer out there. But it is fun to realize that it is?it's a game and being out there, like you say?I mean if you go out there early in the morning, the sun has just come up or it's coming up, it's where you want to be. Do you know we are at the two minute warning?

R: Yes, I did.

B: Bizarre.

R: Speaking about Kapalua golf and tennis and so forth, though, there is a Kapalua club that is a membership-only, is restricted to the Kapalua property owners. So if you'd like more details on becoming a member of the Kapalua club, call our office: 669-0070 and we can help you buy real estate so you can qualify to become a member of the Kapalua club.

B: And then check us out, SakamotoProperties.com. See all of our listings. Don't forget to check us out on Twitter using MauiSakamoto and connect with #BettyMauiRadio. We're going to be coming up pretty quickly to Danny Couch again and "I Love Hawaii". And I always feel like I want to remind everyone that Danny Couch is one of Hawaii's most amazing entertainers who's written the majority of the songs he sings. Could be an exaggeration, but this one he definitely has written. So keep in touch with us and aloha from Sakamoto Properties.

R: Aloha.

B: Aloha.