Hey everyone! I recently bought a home, and I thought that there were a lot of things that could be improved with the home buying process. Also, I bought it at a pretty high interest rate and I want to know when I should refinance, but didn't find anything out there for this other than just asking my loan officer to reach out to me.

I was thinking about building some free tools to help other homebuyers through the process. I just created this quick 2 question survey to understand if people would even use this tool and if so what features people would want, would love to hear from you all!

https://forms.gle/FyhtiAixhkdcgsNx9

What online school do you recommend? I am looking for affordability. Mahalo!

we are looking to buy a bigger home but not sure because interest rates keep going up and down any suggestions .

What does 97% free simple mean. I though it was either fee simple or not

We purchased an acre in Ocean View as a diversification and it’s near family. While the answer might be “you can’t “, how can we monetize the property over the next 3-4 years?

It’s 10 blocks up from the road. It has electricity out front.

Anyone completely sell off their investments to buy a house here? Bad or good idea?

TLDR: Has anyone had experience with a seller suing a buyer for breach of contract, and what was the outcome? Backed out of sale after j-1 due diligence contingency ended, house appraisal contingency (appraised at contracted price), prior to expiration of financing contingency (obtaining conditional loan approval), termite inspection, and final walk through contingency.

A real estate attorney told us that they could sue us for the difference between purchase price and our contracted price. Has anyone seen this happen and what was the outcome?

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Hi there, questions regarding potential lawsuit? Active duty military, VA home loan buyers. Went into contract this spring on 72 year old home. J-1 "due diligence" contingency ended without having received inspections with quotes from various contractors (plumbing, electrical, and roofer). Home has original roof and plumbing. Tried negotiating with sellers regarding improvements or credit and also requested j-1 deadline to be extended by 2 days to allow for quotes to come through. Sellers agreed to small amount of credit as well as the extension, however did not sign agreement to extend until the day AFTER the new J-1 deadline, thus eliminating our opportunity to cancel our contract under j-1 contingency. When we received quotes we were very uncomfortable moving forward with the mortgage (interest rates being about 7%) and also the expenses necessary to update/replace the roof, plumbing, and electrical on such an old home. My husband is also deploying for several months which creates additional hardship. We notified our agent who called the seller's agent of our wish to cancel the contract, acknowledging forfeiture of earnest money. Received email from seller's agent that no, they prefer to continue to closing and reminded us of the seller's right to seek legal action for damages per the contract, and advised us to seek legal counsel should we breach the contract. We were worried and unsure how to move forward so then waited for the appraisal to be completed, and the home appraised at value. Regardless, we still did not want to purchase the home. We did not want to prolong the inevitable by waiting for the other contingencies to expire, so we wrote a letter to the seller with our intent to cancel, and offered our earnest money as well as the appraisal report.

We didn't receive anything by way of acknowledging receipt of the letter or the seller's decision. The seller's agent called our agent the following day and said something to the effect of, "Are your buyers sure they want to do this? $1,000 is not enough so my clients will be seeking damages in the amount of the difference between contracted price and the price the home sells for." Escrow cancellation papers were signed yesterday and we were notified today that the earnest money is being returned to us and the home has been re-listed. Have not heard from the sellers but I take that to mean that they are choosing to sue rather than taking the earnest money? I thought maybe they would have requested a specific number in order to cancel the contract if $1,000 wasn't enough? They never asked for a specific dollar amount that they would be more comfortable with. Additionally, they never sent us a counter offer to request a higher earnest money deposit when we initially went under contract. Is this common practice here? We are a little shell-shocked. We acknowledge that $1,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to the price of a single family home here, however there was never a request to increase that amount. We formally notified the sellers of our intent to cancel 23 days before scheduled closing, and the home has been on the market for a total of about 40 days now. Has anyone seen this happen before? What was the result of the lawsuit? Are they entitled to that amount? How likely is it that they would win? What is taken into account with these types of rulings? The current seller purchased the home 3 years ago and is now re-selling for $300k more than it was purchased for. This is all new territory for our family and we are losing sleep over this. If you read all of this, thank you for your time and please let me know if you have any follow up questions!

Sea level is expected to rise by a foot by 2050. This will erode 40% of Hawaii beaches and cause inland soil to become wetter creating destabilizing the soil and making it prone to erosion and collapse. This interactive tool shows all of Waikiki beaches eroding with just 0.5ft of sea level rise along with potential for severe economic loss.

Tourism, Hawaii's largest industry and source of private capital, will be at high risk if not completely devastated. People vacation in Hawaii for the beaches. No beaches, no tourists.

The interactive tool above also shows Hawaii Kai at risk at 0.5ft sea level rise, and of course the higher the rise, the higher the risk of temporary and permanent flooding.

My question is, what will happen to Hawaii's real estate? Will coastal real estate plummet? Will houses on the ridges become more valuable? Will a decimation of the tourism industry kill housing prices overall or will the reduction of coastal residences create higher demand for inland properties?

Answers based on similar historical situations seem most valuable here. But all speculation is welcome.

Sources:

SeaLevelRise.org.

Sea Level to Rise up to a Foot by 2050 (NASA)

By 2050, sea level in Hawaii could rise by as much as 1 foot (Star Advertiser)

I own my apartment but I have a 10 year owner occupancy contract that’s about half way through. This is because I got a loan from the City and County. I’ve been thinking about renting out my apartment. Does anyone know how strict these owner occupancy laws are or if there are any ways around them?

Hello! My wife and I are exploring the possibility of purchasing a second property as an investment, most likely a condo, to rent out. We've already secured a prequalification letter and started viewing potential properties. Our main question now revolves around finding a mortgage with the lowest possible down payment. While we have the means to put down 20%, we're hoping to find a mortgage that only requires 3-5% (or none if possible), so we’re not tying up all our money. Our recent conversation with the bank didn't make it seem like this was possible, at least not on Oahu.

I'm curious to know if anyone has secured a mortgage for an investment property with a lower than 20% down payment, in 2023. Specifically, I'd appreciate any advice or tips on how to go about it. We're aware that this might lead to higher mortgage payments, the need for PMI, and additional requirements. Our goal is to understand if such an approach is even possible here on Oahu and, if so, what steps might lead us in the right direction. Thanks In advance for any insights anyone can share!

I know what they are but I don't see Why are leaseholds undesirable? If I get a leasehold at half the price of buying, then they renew the lease at maybe 20% higher rate, I'm still saving

What other risks or things would discourage me from leaseholds

$995 for a 1300 sqft SFH on Maui

My building has 15 yrs left on the lease. There are no fee Simple units. If there is major work done, say new piping in the building, who pays for the improvements? The owner of the suite or the lease owner.?

Free Online Sellers Real Property Disclosure Forms (SRPDS)

https://srpds.com

https://srpds.com/hawaii

https://srpds.com/nevada

All 50 states soon!

Free Online Sellers Real Property Disclosure Statement (SRPDS) athttps://srpds.com/hawaii

So, if one was to get a leasehold does the origins all owner get to act like a landlord? For example, do I or him pay property tax? Does that mean he can do inspections or evict me or am I left alone? I'm not talking HOAs, just whoever I'm leasing from. I'm wondering too am I fully responsible for fixing things.

How does one go about for leasehold vs fee simple? I'm new to Hawaii, so I am trying to understand it. I know FS is better if you're wanting to get money at end of the day.