Betty Sakamoto: Aloha and welcome to Betty’s Real Estate Corner brought to you by Sakamoto Properties, where “Prestige is our business, reputation our foundation”. I am Betty Sakamoto and I approve of this show. And today I have in the studio Roy Sakamoto.

Roy Sakamoto: Good morning dear.

B: Yeah, it is great when Roy, when we get Roy to be here at the same time as I am. We love doing the show together, but as always we’re in the middle of Roy had a meeting at Hale Makua that was really important this morning. So we’ve been going in different directions then sit down here at the last minute and say, ‘okay, what are we talking about today’, so?

R: What are we talking about today?

B: What are we talking about today? Your turn.

R: Well we've had several things going on in the community. As our listeners know we always devote a few minutes to community doings and Easter weekend is coming up, there's the Celebration of the Arts at Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua. It's a great weekend, and there's many, many famous artists, and Clifford Naole, the cultural advisor at the Ritz-Carlton has put together an extremely interesting program of cultural activities and entertainment. So check the Maui News for details on this.

B: You know, also this weekend I believe is the opening of Art Maui at the art center in Kahului, the MACC. And that's a really exciting time, Chris Scharein I think is hanging it for the group and has been involved in it for a bunch of years. Chris Scharein who we all know as one of the top tennis players around Maui and very tuned in to the arts and I know he's been working diligently with the group in order to get it set. And my understanding is it's going to be a very, very exciting show and I'm hearing great things about that also. So it's a big week for art.

R: It is, it is. It's at the Schaefer Gallery at the MACC and Maui-and you should go take a look, there are some fantastic artists here on Maui.

B: You know, one more thing that I think is this weekend, Roy, is Lori Castillo is going to be here with the girls' golf team from the University of Hawaii and there's going to be a one-day Pro Am. I think it's probably full right now but if it isn't and you were looking to play in it I think it's $500 a person, the proceeds go to the University of Hawaii girls team. And it's going to be a lot of fun, the girls, there's girls from all around the country that are coming in to play, you know with the Pro Am team. So it's the college kids, it gives them a great opportunity to play in a Pro Am format. So we're really looking forward to it, we're going to be playing in it. Not sure I should be, but I'm doing it.

R: It's actually a week from Sunday dear, it's a week from Sunday, it's a College-AM, and universities like University of Oregon will be here, University of California, a college from Japan, from Osaka, and there'll be 8 colleges in all. It'll be at the Bay Course in Kapalua.

B: So that's always, the Bay Course, is always fun-play, and there's going to be a couple of events that go with it. A breakfast, a dinner, or kind of, some sort of gathering immediately following the tournament. And I think it will be fun for all, so again give us a call (808) 669-0070, and we'll hook you up with Lori Castillo. And she's one of the most famous golfers of all time for the state of Hawaii, so it's going to be a real pleasure to have her back, spending a little bit of time on Maui as this happens and she now travels a lot with the team and is living in Honolulu where her family all are. So anyway, interesting time and a lot of special events that are coming in, or coming up. So now, I mean, I think we should talk a little bit about some real estate.

R: It’s time for “Betty’s Picks”.

B: Betty’s Quick Picks. We always try to come up with this and what is it that we’re thinking is really going to be great? There’s so much that’s very exciting, and again it’s a time that if you’re thinking about buying real estate, this is when you ought to be doing it. This is the time, and I think people are losing track of that and we’ve said over and over, “a recession is a terrible thing to waste”. And I think we’re going to wind out of it for a lot of the properties here in Hawaii before you know it and you’re going to have missed it. So you’re going to be the one saying “oh good grief, I should have invested then”.

R: We're getting close to 600 escrows here on Maui and that's a lot of properties in escrow and the numbers keep climbing so something's happening, people are buying.

B: We're finding in every area you're seeing that somebody comes in to town and they're thinking short sale or they're thinking bank-owned or all these things. Well those properties are becoming fewer and further between and a lot of them aren't that great, so it really is a whole different world happening today but you know people are still being able to find some great buys you know people that are ready to move up and are trying to get out of a property and you know they're still getting a great buy by trading up so again that's another whole arena. If you've been thinking of getting a property sold let us help you get it sold but it is the time for you to be investing in to the property that you want to be in for the next five to ten years.

R: How about some of our new listings? 114 Woodrose

B: 114 Woodrose, pretty fabulous property there. That's a property that, construction wise, is probably one of the finest properties built on Pineapple Hill.

R: It's very solid, it's a great floor plan, the most popular floor plan at Pineapple Hill. And the view is great, it's a corner lot, it's an oversized corner lot, it's about 50% larger than the average lot at Pineapple Hill. It has its own private gated entry into the driveway so it's one-of-a-kind.

B: It's not only gated, the entrance to Pineapple Hill, but what you're saying is then you add a second privacy gate as you come through. It is one of the most protected and secure properties because it does have two gates.

R: It is, it is. And how about our newest listing at 208 Crestview?

B: 208 Crestview, oh that is a fabulous property. And again, that one was built on 2 lots you know, so that's like another 5,000 square feet larger from the standpoint of land. Listed at $4.9 million, large home, let's see 5,700-5,800 square feet. But again, fabulous construction, huge, huge expansive open areas, exterior lanais just go on and on, over 1,000 square feet of pool, private spa, everything you could want.

R: And a view to die for.

B: A view to die for.

R: Sunsets, Molokai, Lanai, the ocean, unbelievable, and there's whales out there this time of year.

B: Pineapple Hill right now does have some of the greatest values. Another fabulous one Roy that I know you like a lot 1212 Summer, which was built on three lots so now we get triple size. But it really is an amazing property built on three lots, and again built by someone who had an EAR to being here and having it be their second home forever. And some changes have happened; they're going to probably be building somewhere else. But I think it really is a great buy.

R: It's an 8-bedroom, eight and a half baths, about 8,100 square feet under roof, air-conditioned, it's also got an indoor atrium. And the floor plan is just dynamite. It's from Rick Ryniak, one of Maui's foremost architects, he designed this all. It's right on the 11th green of the Kapalua Bay Course, fantastic views also.

B: You can actually, up front, you're on the 11th green you can look out over the par three 12th hole and actually watch the hole from tee to green. And I think that's pretty fun also. It is, again, location wise one of the best locations at Pineapple Hill.

R: Oh, no question. And we can show this to you very easily, (808) 669-0070, that's the office number. Betty's cell phone is (808) 870-7062, or you can email us at [email protected] or [email protected] . And it's very easy to show you these homes.

B: And of course our website at www.sakamotoproperties.com. So look it up, I mean, if you're thinking of real estate and you've got some ideas in mind take a look at our website www.sakamotoproperties.com. It's very easy to surf around it, see some things, I think that you know if you find something again give us a call, or you can get to us by just replying to us on the website, and letting us know what you've got in mind, and we're pretty good about getting back quickly. And again keep those phone numbers, and in particular our office (808) 669-0070 and one of us will be available to help you. Again, I'm Betty Sakamoto, Roy Sakamoto

R: It's very easy to show you these properties. How about one of our good clients at 229 Plantation Club Drive? He was on, yeah, he was on TV a lot this last weekend.

B: Jim Furyk, Jim Furyk from the PGA Tour, amazing athlete, amazing golfer, and came so close to winning, he lost in a playoff Sunday. So very, very difficult loss I'm sure but it happened, I checked the newspaper, big win, no matter what. I think it's over $400,000 for second place.

R: Well we were cheering for him for a lot of reasons but Jim's home at the Plantation Estates is on the market. Asking price is $6.9 million, 3-bedrooms, three and a half baths, and well over two-acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, a lot of fruit trees, beautiful.

B: You're kind of in the center of a lot of different fairway golf course holes so that you've got a lot of space around you before you get to the golf course but you can actually see out in so many different places to different holes of the golf course. An unbelievable ocean view, you know, you've definitely got every sunset and beyond every sunset. So a property that again, we can get you into usually fairly easily and we're all ready and available to do it. Someone at our office is usually at the Plantation Clubhouse seven days a week that can meet with you and give you some ideas. Usually it takes a little bit of notice to us, as the listing agents of these properties to get you actually in to see it. But the person at the desk will be available to get it started, call us, and we're pretty on the spot to have you see anything that you want when you're here and looking to purchase.

R: It's a great location for us, we're easy to find at the Plantation Clubhouse, we're right outside the Pro Shop, there's the Sakamoto Properties Information Desk, and as Betty mentioned it's manned 7-days a week from 9:00 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. and any of our agents would be more than happy to help you.

B: I was kind of thinking, another thing that I think we'd like to, but we don't have as many listings in the price range let's say that a lot of people are thinking for a first home. But a couple of our agents, in particular Elizabeth Quayle, has a lot of contacts and a lot of properties that she's been working on and has done some amazing contracts for people over the last three or four months. So if you're looking for a first home, call our office, ask for Elizabeth Quayle, she is one of the agents that really has put together a good plan for people that are looking to buy their first property. So again, call us on that and she will really work to see to it that you talk to a couple of lenders, that you understand what it's going to take to buy a property, she'll get you in qualifying with one or two lenders so that you know what it takes, but you can make a purchase today. And a few years back, it wasn't as easy but today the prices are lower than they've been, the interest rates are lower than they've been, and they have the lower prices and interest rates collide as they have for the last year or so, it's never going to be like this again, I don't think Roy.

R: No, you'll never see a combination of low interest rates and low prices before, and what a great time to buy, it really is. And besides Elizabeth, our professional sales staff includes Hank, her brother, Hank Quayle, (808) 669-0070, Marcy Rhody, Mitch Mitchell, Dean Otto, he's our broker in charge, and that's pretty much the nucleus of Sakamoto Properties. So any of our professionals will be more than happy to help you (808) 669-0070.

B: You know, there's actually, we've got a couple of interesting properties that one of them that I think is a great first home or second home is Kaanapali Plantation #50 which is listed today at $549,000. And that's a property, 62 units located on ten acres. We happened to have lived there at one time when one of our kids were graduating from Lahainaluna High School, and we had to have made forty or fifty leis from the fabulous trees that are on the property. We sat that day and made leis for all of her friends, Julie Ehu Flynn, she really put together leis for all of her friends as they do that fabulous exchange. So it's a property that I think you'd be real proud to live on or have a second home. Ten acres, 62 units, and fabulous, I mean another really, really great one, so give us a call on that one.

R: We also have some condominiums in the $300,000 price range, ideal for owner-occupants, or first home, Napilihau Villages #3-104, two-bedrooms, one and a half baths, listed at $320,000, it's a wonderful unit, it's got a nice little landscaped backyard, a great buy.

B: You know another one that I like, you know Maui Lani Terraces, you know, we've got one right now that has some really nice upgrades listed at $125,000. It's a 1-bedroom, 1-bath, but for a lot of people this is something that you can step in, it's got a partial ocean view, affordable payments, and I think it is something that I think you can get qualified for and live there for a lot of years. So again, for a couple or one person looking to own something I think that is a pretty fabulous value, $125,000, Maui Lani Terraces, in the Kahana area. It's really a great, great property.

R: What about Napili Ridges? Speaking about affordable, $40,000 for a 1-bedroom, 1-bath.

B: You know, that is a great property and again, that would be, I think that one is leasehold, but the fee is available, and it's worth kind of stepping in. Elizabeth is the one that seems to have a handle on how to make those deals work, but again you'd probably, you might want to buy the fee but we have seen a couple of those sell, leaseholds, over the last couple of years, and again for $40,000 that gives you the ability to not pay rent. So again way worth it, way worth you know, giving a thought to that. And it's been upgraded, the project, over the years, a good place to live, great management, and when you see something like that in West Maui for $40,000 I think it's pretty fabulous.

R: Oh no question, no question. How about the Vintage?

B: Love the Vintage, love the Vintage. We were talking about that one earlier today because we had someone that's kind of interested in a property there. But you know the Vintage has it all in that it's a condominium development, but it's free-standing homes, 2-car garages, it's on the Kaanapali Golf Course, and it has a separate building that has a workout area, a pool, I think there's a Jacuzzi there, isn't there?

R: Yes.

B: So, again it's an easy place to walk around, to get around, pet friendly, and a great group of owners where you've got more people. They don't really do a regular short term daily rental program there which is kind of nice because it does promote more owner-occupants.

R: And more community awareness, it's a great place to live.

B: It's a great place to live, and in the heart of Kaanapali, and a lot of people there have their own golf carts so they'll head down to Whaler's Village for dinner or something and it really is a fun, fun group of people that live there.

R: We've got three different listings there, starting at $975,000 for a 3-bedroom, 3-bath, right on the golf course, it's listed by Marcy Rhody. We also have one listed at $1,095,000 three-bedrooms, two and a half-baths by Kathy Halpin and Dean Otto has a 3-bedroom, two and a half-bath at $1,299,000.

B: Yeah, I think again, the Vintage, really great, great property. You know, last week Mitch was here with me and we had a lot of conversations in regard to Napili Point, and that's been an interesting, you know, like everything it's been a little bit slower in getting sales together but we have a great recording there a couple of months ago: $9,075,000 two-bedroom, two-bath unit. And we're in the middle of another transaction right now, another property, that's listed at substantially less, at $699,000 but same floor plan, great views, oceanfront, and we've got some really great properties there also, and it's one of those that has still a lot of Hawaiiana going on there. They still have parties weekly, or maybe it's biweekly now that they'll have all of the owners to a cocktail, or the people that are there visiting cocktail party, etcetera. So I think it really is you walk right out to Napili Bay. You just go down and it is a little bit across some rocks to actually get to the beach, but it sits there on a rocky area. There's Honokeana Cove on one side and on the other side you're at Napili Bay. Again, fabulous, fabulous property.

R: Great snorkeling in Honokeana Cove, a lot of turtles, constantly I'm seeing turtles.

B: You know another great value, you know, I'm kind of looking at this today, I'm kind of looking through our sheets.

R: You said Betty's Picks.

B: These are Betty's Picks, and I picked this one right now: Royal Kahana, unit 504 which is $249,500. It's a studio, so it's not large but you're there right on the water. You know, great property, you can get around easily from there, you can get to a spa, you can go pick up some groceries just across the street, and it's a pretty fabulous spot. Good rental program, so if you're purchasing this to be a second home and then you'd like to have it rented when you're not here, what could be better than that. It really is another great property.

R: And listed at only $249,500. Elizabeth Quayle has that listing and Marcy also has a 2-bedroom, 2-bath.

B: That's the 635. Again great ocean view from the top floor, recent upgrades, carpet, refrigerator, etcetera, and that one is basically 1,140 square feet so it's almost three times the size of a studio.

R: Good size.

B: Yeah, good size place, and again great, great, great value. Great pricing.

R: How about your Sands of Kahana listing?

B: That's another one. Elizabeth Quayle and I have had that listed. It's about 1,660 square feet, unit #363. Totally, totally oceanfront, it is so oceanfront that I had this great picture in our multiple listing service and somebody called me to say that I couldn't just put a beach shot there, I had to put a picture from the unit. Well this is, if you take a look at MLS, go to our website and look for Sands of Kahana 363, it is one of the most fabulous oceanfront properties. It is fully furnished, including artwork from Robert Lynn Nelson and Christian Reiss Lassen. Lots of storage on the same floor, outside from it, there's a 1998 Mercedes 500 SL with a rag top and a hard top that are being sold with it. So again, way, way, you've got to see this.

R: And the artwork is included, that's fantastic.

B: It really is, Christian Reiss Lassen and Robert Lynn Nelson. So again, great, great property.

R: Why don't we shift our focus a little bit to another new listing that we have: 4695 Honoapiilani Road?

B: That's fabulous, on the lower road and the most, do you how many linear feet of ocean frontage?

R: No.

B: I don't know it offhand either.

R: Not offhand, we do have a survey map but not offhand.

B: Well if you want to know call us, it's bigger than anything you are ever going to find on West Maui for linear feet, oceanfront.

R: You’ll never find this, it’s zoned “single-family”, it’s actually got four older homes on the property right now but there’s 2.34 acres and a beautiful sandy beach. It’s almost a mini Kapalua Bay with the reef and so forth, and the fishing is incredible right off of there, there has to be lobster in the reef there somewhere.

B: Sandy beaches, it is really amazing. The homes on it right now are fairly old, they are occupied, I think that the odds are whoever buys it, there’s been talk of people that have looked at it that have thought of developing it or making it into a couple of lots, but my hunch is that it’s going to be bought by someone that wants to develop the property as one home. And they’re going to probably tear down these other homes, but it is so fabulous that it’s again got to be, that’s my word today “fabulous”. You know, we are winding down pretty fast here, we’re probably coming to the, oh, to one minute. So we’ve got the one minute warning happening.

R: Okay, I've got one more thing.

B: Okay.

R: How about the Arrow One Ranch?

B: Oh, upcountry?

R: Upcountry, Kula. It's almost 3,300 acres and it goes from Kekaulike Highway all the way up to the Observatory. A one of a kind parcel, listed at $17,500,000 and (808) 669-0070 is Sakamoto Properties.

B: We need a little notice to show that one so give us a call, again, (808) 669-0070, check out our website www.sakamotoproperties.com and we have Danny Couch back here with “I Love Hawaii”, and I love Hawaii.

R: Aloha.

B: Aloha.