One thing about Hawaii is we feel more secure in knowing someone who knows someone they used rather than just calling a company from the yellow pages.  It isn’t always true that the one with the biggest and best ad is the best company.  I rather use tried and true, and if we have had good results at a fair price from one person or company, we will use them again.  I also trust in the recommendations of friends who have had good experiences.

On this page, I will share some of those with you.  ** Update:  please see note at the end of this page regarding using recommendations based on people’s friends.

Lowe’s has 10% off coupons on RealtyTrac and you can also get them from the US Post Offices if you ask them for a change of address packet.  Good way to save money on your rehab or repair projects.  While you are there, stock up on incandescent light bulbs.

Craigslist.org is a great free website that can be used whether you are buying or selling just about anything.  I like to post free stuff – beats throwing things away when someone else can make use of it.  Good place to search for building materials.

Re-Use Hawaii is a non-profit recycling company that has stuff nobody else has.  Old stuff as well as newer stuff.  I am still looking for 5′ redwood fencing material, and if I keep checking often, I am sure they will have it.  They also accept donations of materials and even come pick up if it is a big load.  Hard to find and easy to miss.  Head makai (towards the ocean) from the old Comp USA.  It is Ewa of the UH Medical school.

My pal Wanda has the most beautiful master bath counter that I have ever seen.  It looks like a 4″ thick block of celadon clear jade with inclusions.  Drop dead gorgeous, no seam in sight or touch, a work of art.  On the pricey side, but worth every penny.  Nice young man who used to do marble/tile/stone work for homes in Beverly Hills – Jason Carroll.  Phone #(808) 478-8453, email HawaiiKaiCustomStone.yahoo.com.   He will be installing a slab and a half of a different kind of onyx in our bathroom – a mysterious looking jade-like stone with yummy splotches of burgundy and wine.  I just have to get down and dirty and redo the flooring, walls, and bring in a vintage looking console for the slab counter top.  It will be beautiful!  Maybe even more beautiful than Wanda’s!

Tile suppliers and showroom:  In my quest to have a 4″ hole cut in the middle of a piece of porcelain tile, I missed International Tile Inc. and I kind of got lost near the Nimitz area.  I headed back to town and saw a big sign “Pacific Stone Center, Inc.” 140 Puuhale Road (808) 847-3412 and buzzed in hoping that they could cut the hole.  Florence Fernandez helped me at the desk, and unfortunately they did not cut porcelain tiles.  However, on the wall were the most gorgeous natural stone samples – one had me drooling – some kind of Picasso marble or stone that looked like it had fossilized leaves in colors and layers of unreal beauty.  I rank this company A+ in customer service because of the way they treat anyone who walks in.  She did give me directions to International Tile on 2223A Hoonee Place.

International Tile Inc. moved from their former location years ago.  The president of the company, Richard Thompson took a look at the tile, said they could cut it, and I was so pleased that here is another company with excellent customer service and the willingness to help me with a small dinky little job.  When we re-do our bathroom, I will look to these guys first.  They are not as convenient as Home Depot or Lowes, but the level of expertise and workmanship, along with such excellent people in place deserve my future business.  They also have MUCH more choices to choose from.  Delightful dilemma.

Plumbers:

C&W Plumbing – good work, very reputable.  Clyde Watanabe is the man.  Shop is located in Kalihi, phone number is 842-0222.

Electricians:

Mike Wall of Haleiwa Electric, 226-7617.   Mike is usually busy because he is always in demand because he is a terrific electrician.  One of the most reliable and “correct” contractors out there.  He follows codes – they are there for your safety and important to pay attention to.  Such a hard worker, and reasonable prices for top quality work.

Cary of Power Wise Electric.  Good work, mostly for commercial jobs, also makes fantastic seasoned pork strips.  He is another busy electrician – most of the good ones always are.

Framing, carpentry:

Gary Iwane, 864-1911.  Gary was referred to us by Alvin Arasato, the best house painter around.  Gary does beautiful neat work and leaves the workplace clean and tidy.  This is a true craftsman at a fair price.  Almost makes me wish I had more things needing to be renovated.

House Painter:

Arasato & Sons.  737-2419. Alvin’s sons don’t work for him anymore, one is a world class boxer and the others have gone on to excellence in other fields.  If you want a cheap paint job, don’t call this company.  However, if you want the best for a reasonable price, Arasato & Sons will fit the bill.  The hardest and longest process of painting an old house is the preparation – extensive sanding, filling in, removing of old to prepare for primer and however many coats of paint necessary.  Use the best paint if you want the best results.  What I like most about Alvin is that he not only has a wonderful sense of color, he also appreciates and values good construction.  He has an eye for making everything look its best, i.e. trimming out doorways and details, giving suggestions on problem areas, figuring out how to get those old stuck cabinets to work better.  He is like an encyclopedia of good taste and high quality.  He also has great references for plumbers, woodworkers, etc. that will work with him on the job.  After Alvin is done, the house looks brand new and gorgeous.  [Aunty has heard that Alvin has retired from the business, boo hoo.]

Wood floor installation and refinishing:

Nishimura Floor Service 737-4721.  Peter will come to your place, look around, measure, and jot a number down on the back of his business card.  That’s the price he will do your job for, and he does it very well with employees that have been with him for years.  Beautiful quality work, your wood floors deserve him, and his price is so very reasonable!  Pricing that will fit on a business card.

Vinyl/alternative flooring:

Call Mike Tai See from Homeowners Design Center on Kohou Street in Kalihi.  Phone 847-0216 or email him at mikets@homeownersdesign.com.  He knows his flooring and if you tell him what you want, he helps narrow down your choices by looks, budget, and application.  We found the most wonderful vinyl sheet with great texture, warranty, and appearance at a reasonable price with installation.  If I had a company that sold things, I would definitely want Mike on my team.  He was even an AYSO bronze team soccer coach in Waipahu when his girls were younger – that shows real character in my soccer book.

Driveway contractor:

Darryl Imai 772-2769.  We had several estimates for a huge driveway.  Lots of problems with big big rocks that needed to be busted and removed, a slope down towards the house which could result in a river of water hitting the front door, and tree roots everywhere.  Darryl gave us the best price without hesitation or delay, and then began work coordinating dumpster, excavator rental, operator, concrete pour and finish.  We now have a beautiful smooth driveway with a gentle imperceptible rounding in the center that diverts the water flow away from the house and off to the side.  He and his crew sometimes have pau hana hour after the job each day, so just be sure to let him know if you don’t want them hanging around after hours having a few beers.  On the very last day we bought a catered menu feast from Gina’s BBQ, 2 cases of beer and some poke´as the local way to say mahalo for a job well done.  My reward was a hug and “Tanks Aunty!”  Almost makes me wish we had another driveway to pour – the end result is beautiful and perfect.

Grass supplier:

Quality Turfgrass in Waimanalo, phone 259-8191.  Don’t limit yourself to those trays of grass at Home Depot, Lowes, and the like.  When I want “fresh” healthy grass, I call Gumi  of Quality Turfgrass and ask them to bag up rolls of grass that can be cut into 2’x4′ sheets.  Not that much of a price difference from the trays, but you do save a little and tend to get more.  The quality is great, and a good excuse for a lovely drive into Waimanalo’s beautiful valley.  Prepare your ground with good dirt and sand, then lay the sheets down.  Keep dogs and people off until it takes, water at least twice/day for the first 2 weeks.  I also cut them (use those small branch trimmers) into plugs and plant them that way when I feel cheap, lol.

Tree Trimmer:

Tai 372-7660.  One day Uncle and I were feebly trying to cut a limb off of a mango tree up front.  It was taking a very long time partially with a dinky home electric chain saw, and then with a saw blade on a pole.  Along comes T in his truck and asks if we want him to cut the tree for us.  After a bit of macho maneuvering on Uncle’s part, a fair price was struck – well actually, T gave a very reasonable price and Uncle said “okay”.  Then T hops up on the tree and starts trimming from the bushy to the branches to close to the stump with his gas chain saw.  Very impressive.  The next day he returned to remove all the rubbish.  A man walking by with his 2 dogs commented about the bolohead tree and said he had the same thing done.  Uncle told him what a good price we had it done for – $250, and the dog walker said his tree was bigger and he got it done for $280.  “Samoan guy”, he says.  “Yup” says Uncle.  Turns out T had also cut the dog walker’s tree too!  Small world, small neighborhood.  If you need your tree trimmed/cut, call Tai.  He decided not to relocate to Reno and came by the other day to let us know that, as well as ask if we needed any stone wall built.  We didn’t, but we are glad he is back to cut trees again as needed.

Stone wall builder

Tai again.  372-7660.  We had a stacked rock back yard wall holding back 5′ of dirt height erode after a big rain and we were in a pickle because at least half of it was inaccessible due to the back neighbor’s home made shed.  Tai to the rescue, and in a few days, a new stone wall with new pipe posts was put up for a super reasonable price.  He also cut off a few huge limbs of the mango tree again.  Very happy.  Now Aunty has a new redwood fence that replaced the ugly weedy chain link fence on top of a brand new retaining stone wall!

General contractor:

If you have worked with a general contractor that you have had great results from, please leave a comment below.  Aunty usually works with sub-contractors, but it is good to know someone who does it all.

*if I don’t have the contact info or phone number, etc. for any of these contractors, write to me at Aunty@hawaii.rr.com and I’ll give you the info.  I am still in the process of checking with them if I can put their phone numbers on my website.

**Uncle and I are in the process of rehabbing a property here and have been very pleased with the great work of the people we have hired.  The transformation of the house has been wonderful and neighbors walking by love to comment and get tours of the inside.  The only glitch so far has been our gutters.  Rather than go with an established gutter company with a good reputation, we went with someone’s recommendation of a friend.

Lesson learned:  make sure the craftsman knows exactly what you want (i.e. cover up the ugly stuff and keep the integrity of the style) and be there at the beginning and at the end of the job for final approval.  Also, the recommendation that “my friend does gutters” is not good enough.  “This person did my house and it came out really really well” is a much better recommendation than friendship.  We will get this re-done, maybe not by the moonlighting gutter man since he was already paid (big mistake), but this eyesore will be taken care of one way or another, and we consider this the price of education.

Uncle would make a great real estate agent.  I never wanted him to be one because he is so handsome and charming – call it jealousy and control; I call it being smart and safe.  Well, we are getting older and it’s time to let kites fly and dogs run.

Paul Xavier & Co. (formerly Real Estate Xtreme) have presented a great opportunity to anyone who is already a licensed realtor or agent, or thinking of becoming one.  To kick it off, they are re-naming and re-branding to Nextage Aloha Realty and moving into a bigger office in the same Pearl City complex at 98-029 Hekaha Street behind Cutter Ford.

Nextage is a different way of compensation for realtors.  Traditionally, an agent and broker have a pre-determined split of commissions, and if an agent sells, he/she makes a cut of the sale and the broker makes a cut.  If an agent doesn’t sell anything, he/she doesn’t make anything.   A wise friend of Uncle was a realtor for the very reason that real estate is the most expensive item people buy, and has the highest commission.  The next most expensive item is their car.  So, if you are going to make commisions, make it with real estate (followed by automobile commissions I suppose).

Imagine combining the multi-level marketing concept of companies such as Amway, Shaklee, Mary Kay Cosmetics, etc. to real estate.  All those spokes that radiate out from your base also help to feed your base.  At the same time, whatever sales you make are credited to you and help to raise you to a higher compensation level.  The more people that sign up under you increase your compensation level, and so on.

Well, when I first heard the presentation from Paul Xavier and saw the slide presentation, I dismissed it as a MLM (multi-level marketing) gimmick and not for me.  However, the more I thought about it the better it became.  This is passive income in the most lucrative and desirable market of real estate, with the option to get more active and generate even more income.  The fluctuations of selling one month and not selling the following month are padded with the team commissions from your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. generations of agents.  The bottom man on the totem pole will still get the biggest share of the commission since he did the most work, but you also get to share in the “remainder” portion whether you had a hand in the sale or not.  It becomes one big team and it would deserve a great big team party at the restaurant of our choice every year!

Seriously, I might have Uncle get his license, or I’ll get one [Got mine!].  Aunty signed up under Nextage Aloha Realty – for $125/year + $80 start up fee.  I’ll soon have a website for anyone wanting to become a Nextage agent, so ask me about it before you do sign up and Aunty gets credit.  [Aunty has decided not to renew her license as a real estate salesperson – it IS a lot of responsibility and a whole lot more to learn!] Paul Xavier doesn’t believe in Las Vegas investing (yet), and we probably have more differences in politics, philosophies, and poop, but he is a straight shooter.  I respect straight shooters even if I don’t like their brand of bullets.

Meanwhile, check out Paul & Co’s new website NextageAlohaRealty.com. This gives a brief overview of the “we” instead of just “me vs them” kind of company concept. Make sure you let the know Aunty sent you so I get credit.  [Or so Paul thinks that Aunty is cool.]  Paul also runs info meetings about Nextage every Monday evening at 7:00 pm at the new office in Aiea.  Contact them at:

808-483-5777

and let them know you want to attend their free info seminars to learn more!

I took my pre-licensing course from Abe Lee Online Seminars.  I find his audio lessons really entertaining and educational at the same time.  It costs me $425, but well worth the money – as it teaches me as well as prepared me to pass the State and general tests in order to get licensed.  I am also interested in his Ninja training – the cadillac of systems for realtors.  So much to learn, it’s a wonderful time.

Here’s a website that compares rental prices in your area:  rentometer.com.  Pretty cool stuff for a realtor, renter, or landlord.

MySmartMove.com is a site that helps landlords by taking online tenant applications and checking their credit and criminal information for a fee ($25 or $30, depending).  Fees can be billed to prospective tenants, though it is up to them to accept those conditions.  Check out their video (rather long) tutorial to see if this will work for you.

When we were just married and starting our family, an incredible opportunity arose for us to buy the house we loved and currently lived in.  We were renting, and kind of half arsedly looking for a place to buy.  I liked almost every house we looked at, but Uncle would say, “too hot”, or “junk”, or “no more lichee tree”.  Then, the owner of the house we lived in offered the house to us for a great price (Hawaii prices in the 1980’s were good) of $165,000.

So, we did what almost all local young couples do – ask our parents for help with the down payment, and get a loan for the rest.  Because it was our very first time borrowing money from the bank for such a large amount, it was a big learning curve and a great victory when the loan was approved and we signed an inch of paperwork.

Now, financing is a different animal.  After the sub-prime loan fiasco that resulted in thousands of foreclosures, banks’ underwriters are like bloodhounds looking for a reason to deny your loan.  You must be very diligent in knowing where every dollar was spent and keep copies of any check deposits.  However, only give them what they ask for, otherwise you open up a can of worms and they want documentation for a whole bunch of other unrelated stuff.

I have been unimpressed with Bank of Hawaii, the “best” bank in the nation.  I thought loans were how banks made money.  I also thought loyalty to a bank should give a lot more credence to service and help streamline the process.  Although it would be convenient to have my banking and mortgages at the same bank, it didn’t happen, for whatever reasons. [Update, Bank of Hawaii has gotten better at lending now.  Which goes to show that it pays to ask around because institutions change their policies all the time.]

Cyrus Robinson at Territorial Savings Kahala branch is great to talk to.  It’s nice to have the branch manager as your point of contact.  I had my call returned immediately by him, and 4 loans processed, all at the same time.  Unfortunately that meant 4 hits to my credit score at the beginning and at the end of the loan approval process, but the main thing is the loans were approved.  I love the tellers at the very small Kahala branch.  All of them happy, fast with their fingers, and very nice.  I just opened a new business checking account with them – very easy, very fast, very personable.  This might not be the biggest bank but they sure know how to make you feel like family.

Robert Kiyosaki stated that the most important question to ask a loan officer is if their income is based on salary or commission.  The one you want is a person who is paid on commission.  They are more driven and able to find you what you need rather than be constrained by their employer’s restrictions and rules.

We currently use Noreen Ho, a loan officer with Savvy Realty and Loans who also performs as a traveling notary public.  Noreen is sharp, focused, and has never disappointed.  Her email is nho398@gmail.com, phone (808) 398-8528.

Hard money loans.  Yikes.  In this I am like a chicken.  High interest, high points, short term, with almost the same scutiny and qualifications of a bank.  Maybe I need to get over it, but for now, I’m not ready to deal with that venue.  On the flip side, being a hard money lender does sound appealing….

Joint ventures – this is something I am really really thinking about.  There are a myriad of ways to enter a joint venture.  Uncle and I are maxed out on conventional loans.  Someone who doesn’t have many loans can qualify and get conventional loans.  This takes a bit of time on my part to learn how to do joint ventures where everyone wins.  Currently, we are participants in joint ventures with Real Deals Hawaii, with them in the driver’s seat.  For now, it’s good.  In the future, we might want to call out for fellow investors to enter a joint venture with us.  I’ll let you know when we do.

Tempting, but full of tension, are those blank checks the credit card companies send to us.  0% financing for a year with a 4% transaction fee, or 3.99% interest with no transaction fee.  I suppose they are good for short term use, and I keep all the offers in a drawer, just in case.  This is potential good debt that can turn ugly if it isn’t paid off by the end of promotion date.

Check the newspaper and see what is out there.  I just saw an ad from First Hawaiian Bank offering a 30 year conventional mortgage with zero points!  That is pretty awesome.  Bank of Hawaii has a 1.99% HELOC for the first year.  Haven’t really looked into more ads, but I will and suggest you do too.

At Thursday’s Hawaii Real Estate Investors‘ monthly meeting, Peter Savio of Hawaiian Island Homes, Ltd. gave an educational talk about building wealth with real estate.  Peter has been in the business of real estate for 48 years.  He is Hawaii’s expert when it comes to understanding leasehold properties, and has been successful in a number of complicated and near impossible transactions because of his expertise and ability to think creatively, as well as always giving back with good deals.

Peter’s talk was about the 9 wealth creators in real estate.  They are: Continue reading →