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. Again, we had Danny Couch bring us into the start of Betty's Real Estate Corner. Today in the studio is Mitch Mitchell, a salesperson extraordinaire ?

Mitch Mitchell: Aloha Betty, and thanks for having me back here on your corner. I quite like this corner.

B: It's a good corner and we have Jesse from Meyer Computer who's here. We were just thinking that he's got a little bit to share with you in regards to web sites. They've been kind of taking us kicking and screaming into the current century. We're getting there somewhat slowly but he's getting us there and I just thought that it would be a good chance for people listening to know that whatever stage you're at they can do a website for you. Everybody has one so you should too.

M: Betty, isn't it amazingly great that they have such patience for us that, we slow people, in getting into this new century. So, I want to thank Meyer Computer for putting up with me.

B: So Jesse, a little quick hello?

Jesse Conboy: Hello everybody, and thank you Betty and Mitch for having me here. I'm Jesse with Meyer Computer. We do your website, we create your website and we create websites for everybody, technically, any business or any person that needs one out there. We can help you out.

B: Perfect.

J: Well, we're bringing you along.

B: Yeah, he's bringing us along. Well just so you know, check out our website. Go to SakamotoProperties.com and take a look. You can go and take a look through a variety of things. You can get into the top properties, the lowest properties, and you can really learn a lot about Maui real estate in there. You can actually go into properties from around the world because you actually end up, also, on the LuxuryRealEstate.com website. So, you're going to be able to get everything that you want to know almost anywhere in the world from our website. Now also, Jesse and the Meyer Computer people would like you to know that they also have us on Twitter at "Maui Sakamoto" so check us out and find us on Twitter at "Maui Sakamoto". Connect with us using the hashtag #BettyMauiRadio. So again, that's a lot of information. We'll get some phone numbers to you in a little bit but I think we'll go ahead and get ourselves moving along. So Mitch, you had a couple of ideas going on that you might want to talk about. We we're going to talk a little bit about Pineapple Hill and the reasons that those properties are fabulous and then you've got one or two that we were going to tell people that they might want to give you a call and take a look at.

M: Yes Betty, as we all know Pineapple Hill has been a big part of our lives and Pineapple Hill is like the center point of Kapalua Resort. It's got the beautiful, Olympic-sized swimming pool, a clubhouse, and it's just a wonderful place to live with great views and some fantastic homes.

B: It really is pretty fabulous. The homes in there are all relatively luxury homes ? the smallest one is about 2,700 square feet, the largest is over 8,000 square feet ? and then you'd move on from there to the Plantation. But this one does feel like a more integral part of the resort and we're finding that people will select that over, let's say, the Plantation because it is closer to the hotels, etcetera. So it's really, really a pretty phenomenal place to be taking a look at real estate. There's condominium developments, there's larger homes, but again Pineapple Hill, I think is fabulous. You've got one, Mitch, that you wanted to chat about on Pulelehua?

M: Yes, you know 107 Pulelehua is a wonderful three-bedroom, four-bath home that has a media room that the owners kind of planned ahead in case they ever needed another bedroom and bathroom. It's already got the plumbing in the ground and it's built around the entrances, the front courtyard, and looking from the back yard out at the great sunsets and the islands of Molokai and Lanai. You can sit around the swimming pool and barbecue and it's just a wonderful way of life. It's the orientation of this house that's really, really great.

B: Now to look at any of these homes call our office (808) 669-0070 and/or check out our website SakamotoProperties.com and that will really get you into all of this. Mitch is available, again, call our office (808) 669-0070. So Mitchell, we had a couple of other thoughts that we wanted to talk about. One I wanted to throw in even though we're in the middle of some things was yesterday we had, we're going to call it, an "incident" where we were trying to get someone to go to the hospital. As it turned out we did get the person into an ambulance with a bit of a struggle and it turned out to be vital to her welfare and we're really happy that we were able to do that. But I think for each one of you you're going to have an incident sometime in your life, whether it's with a stranger or a family member and in your heart you're thinking, "Call 9-1-1" but they say, "Oh, just drive me to the hospital". Don't go there, call 9-1-1. If they think it's nothing then they're going to tell you it's nothing, but if they want to put you in the ambulance and get you to the hospital or get your friend, do it. I mean, they've done an amazing job for her, she's fine, everything is really great but we just want to say to all of you, "Think about that". Don't allow yourselves this little game of "I'm fine; I'll drive myself; I'll wait for my husband to come home; I'll wait for Mitch to get me in there."

M: Well, you never know about Mitch. But, you know, let's remember that they're professionally trained. This is what they're here for, this is their job. They want to help so let's let them. Let's stop with our trying to control our own lives and take advantage of this professionalism and all the training that they've gone through.

B: Right, we do have now a really fabulous cardiac care and stroke unit at what I still call the 'Maui Memorial Hospital'. I know that it does have a different name today but you all know Maui Memorial Hospital and if you get there and you're having some sort of a heart incident, or some sort of a stroke incident, we have fabulous care here on Maui and you've just got to do it. Don't wait, call 9-1-1. Those guys are really, really amazingly good and they make people feel very comfortable and they're going to take care of you and your loved ones. You can't get them to the hospital any faster and the ambulance will get you the fastest of all service. If you go there, you're going to be in line with everybody else but if you really need the help, the ambulance is going to get you there. They're going to get you in to be seen and they're going to be taking care of you all the way. So, maybe enough of that for now.

M: Enough of that. Betty do you realize how many escrows there are today in Maui?

B: I do, but I think that we had better let the public know that one because it's an amazing statistic and Mitch has all of them. But, listen to this because what you want to do when you hear all of this is know that it's time to call us or someone and be getting into the real estate market right now, today, tomorrow, not next week or next month.

M: Yeah, today there are 595 escrows. That's amazing, you know, we're moving along. 244 are homes, 287 condos, and then some vacant land and commercial properties so ?

B: Well, that's like almost 70 vacant lots that are in escrow and again, that's pretty huge when you think about the amount of inventory and the fact that there's fewer vacant parcels available than there are all the homes, etcetera. But we're definitely, Mitch, I think in a shrinking inventory that's going to keep getting smaller and smaller and it's time.

M: Another thought is, you know, the construction market. Get in there and get your contractor. Get some nice things done, even if it's remodeling the home that you have now before the market gets too full and it'll take too long and much more money to do it.

B: Yeah, you know that is another great point Mitch. Even if you had to refinance, you know, so that you can do the construction that you wanted but stay in a home that you already love, you love your neighborhood, etcetera. Same thing: get to a lender. You know, you can call one of us and we'll try to direct you but often you can just walk into your bank. Whether it'll be First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii, wherever it is walk into them and tell them what you've got in mind. You might want to refinance, you might want to do a line of credit to be able to do it now, but the mortgages right now, the interest rates are still great. They've gone up a little bit but, again, it's not going to be better than this, I don't believe. It may go down a little but Mitch is right, if you want to do something today and you want to add on to your home or build an ohana or whatever it is you're never going to, I don't believe you're ever going to get a better interest rate, do you Mitch?

M: No, I think that this is pretty much time to get things going. You know, another thought that I had Betty, since you were talking about building. I just had an experience and I'm sure many of us out there have, with the county building department. I have a Bay Villa at Kapalua in escrow and they did some remodeling back in 1981 and of course it comes up, there's no building permits on file. Oh my gosh, what do we do? Well, I happen to find in an old file a building permit, a copy of the building permit from 1981, a file there at the Bay Villas office and the county had no record of any of it. With this permit they were able to take the number, find it, and find out that there was one but it was never recorded because they never had the final inspection. And the county was great, they said, "You know, a small fee needs to be paid and we'll be out there next week". They walked out, the guy was there, they did the inspection, closed the county building permit and it's not part of a public record. I just really wanted to say that this was great help from our county and our building department and I just think that this is the time. It's great, thank you.

B: You know, another great help was the Bay Villa office when you think about it because they got you in and got into the records so that you could look through things and actually dig that out because everyone always doesn't think that there's anything and there's nothing that can be found. But Mitch was able to go in because he does provide great service, always, to his clients. So in order to get this transaction closed on behalf of the seller, it was imperative that we get this information. And they had always said that there was a building permit, there was this, there was that. But all of a sudden when push came to shove, so to speak, we couldn't locate it but Mitch was able to do it. He went to the Bay Villa office and made it happen. He got it, got to the county and it was great that our county provided really great service for you. That's fabulous.

M: It was super.

B: So as long as we have Jesse in here, which we don't usually have, I'm thinking, Jesse, we're into our thing, it's all about us. I'm thinking it might be nice for you to be able to say to someone ? whether it's an individual, a small company, a large company ? a little bit about what you can do. You know, like you can do a little website for someone or a large one.

J: Yes, exactly. You know, like you mentioned, if you're a big business or a small business we can create a website for you that would work on your computer and on your mobile phone. Like right now, if people go to SakamotoProperties.com on their mobile phone they'll find a mobile optimized version of your site so that they can find their properties quick and easy.

B: That's amazing by itself, Jesse. So if I'm with someone right now and I want to show off and I want to show them what I've got, I can take out my phone and in a second, have our website up, point to the property that they own or show them the property that they're thinking about that they ought to be buying. So yes.

J: Exactly, and the mobile is getting bigger every day, so it's very important to have a mobile site and we can help you transition into that. Of course, we can also help you market your business across social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, Instagram, all the big ones. We do all of that. So anybody out there interested give us a call or give Betty a call. You can reach us, Meyer Computer, at (808) 249-0970 or you can shoot us an email at [email protected] and visit our website MeyerComputer.com or you could just give Betty a call.

B: Call me, I'll get you to MeyerComputer.com. But you know, another interesting thing on it all is that if somebody wants a website, let's say they've just started selling real estate with whoever they're with but they want to have their own something started. You don't have to spend a fortune. You could call Jesse or call Chris at Meyer Computer, hook up with them, and just say, you know, we don't have a lot of money right now but this is what we're trying to do and what can we do so at least I'd get the process started. They can direct you a little in some of the social media things that you probably already know how to do and you, at the moment, have the time to do it. They can help you through that. But I think they can help get you started in a way, that whether you're a small or big business or the little in between guys, I think it's an amazing thing that you guys do.

J: Yes, that's exactly it. We've got plans that fit all budgets, big or small.

B: That's perfect, perfecto.

M: Great. Betty, I want to push you back into your corner.

B: Yes?

M: Besides living at Kapalua and all the great things that Kapalua has to offer, the west side of Maui has Kaanapali. There's just a lot of great things to me. People who don't want to be, well they want a little more active life or they want to be down near all the hotels and restaurants. I think that Kaanapali is a great place to live and I have the perfect house for you.

B: There we go.

M: I knew I could segway into that. 14 Puu Hale St. It's a beautiful home, stained glass doors, views straight on out to Molokai and Lanai, again, and perfect sunsets. You can jump in your golf cart and go across the bridge, down in, and have dinner or enjoy the beach down in Kaanapali and watch the silly tourists ? excuse me, silly visitors ? run around and play. It's, you know, it's great fun.

B: It gives you the opportunity to be a visitor yourself and we all lose track of that sometimes. We're so, so busy doing the things that we're doing that we lose track of it. Being a visitor on Maui is one of the greatest things in the world and the world is trying to get here and do it.

M: Exactly.

B: Isn't it Mitch?

M: I think you, this week, have kind of dropped back into being a visitor because you had your grandchildren.

B: Yes, we've had my daughter, Ehu Flynn Sherlock, here from Lahainaluna class of 1982 with her husband Dan and her three kids. They have been on the beach every moment. It's hard to get them off Napili Bay or Kapalua Bay or Kaanapali Beach or Lord knows where they are. But, it's pretty amazing. You know, Kaanapali has been one of their year marked places. We have a listing, Mitch, the Masters. That's really worth talking about.

M: Oh boy, that's a great, great unit. She did a great job at remodeling that.

B: It's fabulous. One of the biggest views at the Masters.

M: Perfect view, and her unit is, her little building, is pushed out forward a bit so that you don't have the buildings alongside of you. You feel like you're alone out there in the middle of paradise looking at that 360 degree view of ocean, islands, sunsets, and you're right on the golf course ? the Kaanapali North Course or is that the Kai Course now? I don't know.

B: Yeah, they confused us once they started changing the names around. You know, a visitor, on the visitor question. Here's an interesting thing that we did this last week with my daughter here. We met them when they came from San Diego in Honolulu and we went out on the Missouri and we had an amazing couple that helped us: Wally and Dolores Lassen. Wally was on the Missouri at the time of the Japanese surrender and he got us set up on this very, very specialized tour. But, I learned so much about the Missouri and what it's done and any of you that have watched Battleship have seen the Missouri go in and save the world.

M: Again.

B: Again. But here's an interesting thing that I didn't know. My son-in-law, Dan Sherlock, was a Marine during the first Gulf War. And I'll probably, my history, and I don't always pay enough attention to the tiny details but that ship went over into the gulf and it was shooting from seven to nine miles out, onto the shores there. Most of these guys were already in Kuwait and they're expecting these horrible battles, I mean, they're expecting the worst but as it turns out the Missouri is there and the Missouri is putting so much firepower into the shoreline there that people are petrified and will all remember the Iraqi soldiers that were just surrendering themselves to our troops by the thousands and thousands and thousands. In a way, the Missouri, I think saved a lot of our men because it could have been a lot worse if they didn't quit. So another thing, go over and check out the Missouri when you're over there. You can go to the same place you know, as you do. Well, you'll find it. Get over there to Pearl Harbor and take a look. So Mitch, one more property and I'll get us back off of the visitors' angle. We should all be visitors ourselves every so often.

M: Absolutely, that's what brought us here. A lot of us, if we weren't born here and I've been here for thirty-two years and I forget all the things, all the great things, that we have here. Another great thing that we have here is Napili Point. At Napili Point we've got some great condominiums. They have a wonderful rental program. It's right on the little cove there at Honokeana and oh my gosh there are so many turtles there and they're huge. I've got a couple of one-bedrooms there so give me a call. It's Mitch at (808) 870-5548.

B: I think we have a little, quick public service announcement coming up right now and then we'll be back with you.

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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
This is a special bulletin from the Maui county Civil Defense. At 11:45 this morning the Civil Defense will be testing their emergency sirens. This is only a test. Once again, the Maui county Civil Defense will be testing their sirens at 11:45 am. This is only a test.

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B: You know one other thing, this isn't exactly a public service announcement but did you know, because I really didn't, I kind of did but not really until recently, but on Maui we have a pro baseball team: Na koa Ikaika Maui. There, I think we finally got it. But you know, if you check on the games go to www.MauiProBaseball.com and go to these games. I mean, I think it's really great and look at the fabulous baseball players that come out of Maui. So, I think that, there's young people, take your kids, grandkids, it's got to be a great way to spend an evening or an afternoon. Check it out, again, MauiProBaseball.com and we should all be doing our best to support that. At KAOI Radio they're definitely supporting it so try to get out and see a game. We know that we're going to. So again, I think that we're winding down a little bit. We've maybe got three or four minutes left here but Mitch, you have the Masters we talked about. The Masters has every amenity that you could want but the Masters when you said being able to take the golf cart, get that golf cart in Kaanapali. You could get it from the Masters or from Kaanapali Hillside, anywhere in Kaanapali they allow you to take a golf cart and then head down to the beach. You've got to be very careful, obviously, they aren't supposed to be driven up and down the highways, but you can get over there. There's a way to go across bridges, etcetera, and it really makes Kaanapali an amazing place to live.

M: Yeah, Dean lives down there and he goes down and paddleboards with his board on top of his golf cart. You know, it's a pretty special area in West Maui, it's a nice neighborhood.

B: Yeah, I totally agree. Again, remember to check us out on our website SakamotoProperties.com. I keep forgetting, and they keep pushing me to remember to tell you to find us on Twitter at Maui Sakamoto. Connect with us using hashtag #BettyMauiRadio: B-E-T-T-Y Maui Radio. There's a lot of ways to reach us, (808) 669-0070 and let us help you with your real estate needs. Mitch what about, quickly, financing right now? I'm still feeling like, I don't feel like we need to get into exact rates, but rates have gone up a tiny bit but again, time to do it.

M: Absolutely, time to do it. There are the mortgage professionals out there as well as the banks that Betty mentioned earlier. But now's the time that you really get yourself going. Go in and figure it out. Go in and call us and we can help you, we can give you several people to call, but go in and talk to them. Find out how you can make a new dream happen. This is the time for new dreams to happen and let's move forward and enjoy our families and the life we have here on Maui. So don't sit back and say, "Oh later, later" because time will have passed.

B: Yeah, don't sit back. Here's another interesting statistic. Right now, residential real estate on Maui is up twenty-seven percent from 2012 for the first six months. Condominium real estate is up fourteen percent from 2012. The total dollar value of vacant land is up forty-nine percent from 2012. So according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, they're saying the visitor count is up four point seven. There's so many things on Maui that say, "This is it". If you're going to be buying real estate and you want to have a home on Maui, this is the time you do it. Get in with your lender, let them tell you what you're supposed to be doing in order to qualify for a mortgage. See if maybe you've got some parents that will help you out or they'll direct you in what you need to do to straighten out your credit report. But Mitch, we've got to get these people buying real estate now.

M: I love Hawaii.

B: I love Hawaii. Danny Couch is back, buy a Danny Couch album today. Aloha, thanks Jesse.

M: Aloha.