Landlords need to read this. Tenants need to read this.

Hawaii Landlord Tenant Code Handbook

As more and more Americans face mortgage foreclosure, banks’ crucial ownership documents for the properties are often unclear and are sometimes even bogus, a condition that’s causing lawsuits and hampering an already weak housing market. Scott Pelley reports.

Biz

How to drive away business: Marketing Fail 101

I know, I know…In this robust economy you as an office/retail/showroom center and your tenants are doing soooooo well! All those overstocked showrooms with crowded inventory and huge tenant vacancies says “Who loves ya, Baby?’

And look how nice and open all the occupied tenant spaces are! No nasty clients cluttering up the pristine design space in this location!

I was planning on doing a nice Neighborhood Crusin’ Video and blog piece about Gentry Design Center; home to interior designers, kitchen and bath developers and miscellaneous furniture showrooms. Write up some nice background about the development in the ‘90s, a smart reuse of old Dole Cannery industrial space by developer Tom Gentry.

But much to my dismay as I was walking into the Center, a security guard accosted me and said “We don’t allow no pictures in this building!” (What, is this the Louvre? I was filming potted palms…) “Management has to approve all pictures first. Turn that camera off NOW!” Um…I walked right past this security guard into the Center with camera rolling, how courteous of them to wait several minutes to wake up and follow me down the hall! Nowhere is it posted that photography is not allowed.

I see… good publicity and positive word of mouth promotion about Gentry Design Center is not allowed, they are all doing SO well in there. Alrighty!  The Rocket Scientist Secrets behind the totem pole of showerheads in the middle of the hallway floor will remain safe with me!

And to top it off, I was hosting a @Bytemarks Lunch in the Private room at Eat, when the security told Chef Dave “Somebody needs to move a black Toyota or we’ll tow it”. Um, License plate? They didn’t know. Model? They didn’t know, but they were going to tow it!  The vast Mojave Desert expanse of empty asphalt was too much for one car parked wrong! Car belonged to our out of town guest from the mainland, here for a visit. How about that Aloha Hawaii Hospitality!  Yea, he’ll be back…NOT! Oh, and if you park for more than two hours, you will be towed. Seems to me it might take longer than two hours to meet with a designer to plan a new kitchen.

I don’t blame security, as it seems that they were just following orders from management. Hello, Management? This is a great example of not supporting your tenants and not encouraging the public to come in and spend money. *SHEESH*

Later,

Biz

Hey Kids! Go inside and eat!

What is “Loco Moco” you ask? A favorite local dish that originated in Hilo on the Big Island after World War II, it consists of a heap of white rice topped with a hamburger patty and a Sunnyside-up egg, and then smothered in gravy. Down Home Regional comfort food is found all over in every country on earth. Think Chicken Fried Steak, Matzo Ball Soup, Mac & Cheese… we all have our favorites we turn to.

Some friends of mine on the Mainland think it sounds disgusting. But break the egg first then blend the burger, egg, rice, and gravy at each bite and you will know the true meaning of why people don’t care about clogged arteries.

Plus I am getting a chance to explore really great places to eat I have previously sniffed at, turned my nose up and declared “Hmph! Tourist Trap!” I find myself now eating my words along with really superb food…

So lets cruise to some Waikiki eateries and see what’s “Fo Grindz, Brah!”

We start our adventure at Jimmy Buffet’s at the Beachcomber Hawaii. Located along the main drag of Kalakaua Ave., this funky interior design is not where you would hold an elegant candlelit dinner for two, but you are guaranteed a great time and awesome food at a reasonable price.

Here are some shots from some of the Twitteratzzi in attendance:

@PHOTOluluTV always takes great photos!

My friend @tweetpea has a great Loco Moco Pic here.

Our Pal @HawaiiIRL (one of the evil geniuses behind this “Thang”) has photos galore!

And me @biznaz rounding up with my contribution.

Loco Moco Challenge

And winning the prize for the poorest photos via the HTC G1 Phone: MOI! All those poor people that have to use the blur tool in Photoshop…I’m a contendah! (Cue “Rocky” theme song here)

Well, I’m stuffed! Need to take some time off to digest all this great food and soak up the fun atmosphere of the restaurants I’ve visited so far. But the quest isn’t over yet! We still have more places to seek out the Holy Grail of Loco Moco over the next few weeks. I’ll be sure to keep y’all up to date.

So, no matter where you live, get out there and find some local home grown favorite dishes that you may normally not even think about tasting, you may be pleasantly surprised! And in the process find some new locales to eat at that you had not tried before. Let’s hear it for Loco Moco!

Aloha,

Biz

So You want to buy a Foreclosure? *BWAHAHAHA!*

The judicial process of foreclosure involves the filing a lawsuit by the holder of the mortgage or deed of trust to obtain a court order to foreclose. This is used when no power of sale is present in the mortgage or deed of trust. The court declares a foreclosure and the property is auctioned off to the highest bidder. You will go to the auction with a cashiers check for 10% of the sale price and have to cough up the balance in cash at the end of the day if you are the highest bidder. These are usually held on the Courthouse Steps and can be called “Sheriff’s Auctions” here in Honolulu.

The non-judicial process of foreclosure is used when a power of sale clause exists in a mortgage or deed of trust. This states that the borrower pre-authorizes the sale of property to pay off the balance on a loan in the event of the their default. The lender or their representative, typically referred to as the trustee, may execute the sale.

There are all sorts of notices and time frames that have to occur in a non-judicial foreclosure, I’m not going to go into that here. Speak to an Attorney, Grasshopper…

Up until three days before the sale, the borrower may stop the sale by paying the lien debt, costs and attorney’s fees. Also, even if your sale goes through and you are the proud owner of a foreclosed property, in Hawaii if the property was sold because of outstanding taxes, the seller has up to one year to get current with the taxes and they get the house back. And YOU, lovely buyer, are out of your money.

I have done quite a few “BPO”s (Broker Price Opinions) for banks looking to do a Short Sale (more on that next post) prior to  foreclosure of a property. This consists of me personally going out to the house to place an opinion of sale price on the property for the bank. The home may be in pretty good shape at the time I assess it. And then I have gone back to those same properties after the foreclosure and the occupants have been evicted.

To say these properties have been trashed would be like saying Katrina was a Spring Shower. Plumbing ripped out, copper wiring ripped out, Appliances removed or destroyed, walls smashed in and bathtubs used as toilets. And those are some of the clean ones!  Vindictive former owners will destroy a property as a “Get even” with the evil bank that talked them into a big loan they could not afford.  Yep, it’s always the Lender and the Real Estate Agents fault, no personal responsibility there! I will be the first to admit there were quite a few lenders and agents that were crooked and went into a transaction just to make money, but don’t tell me there were not any greedy buyers involved. If you believe that I have a nice Bridge in Brooklyn for sale…

I’m not going to outline the process here, if you still want to buy a foreclosure you should probably saddle up with a good Real Estate Attorney. And I’m not going to help you buy a foreclosure. I have more fun things to do like Root Canal Surgery…

Commercial Market is great…

if you are a Tenant.

Even some of the Big Dogs are biting the bullet: Niketown in Waikiki is selling its flagship building and Chicago-based General Growth Properties just recently filed Chapter 11.

In Hawaii, General Growth owns Ala Moana Center,  the largest open-air shopping mall in the world, and Ward Centers. These are two of the largest shopping centers in the state. And if you stroll around either one of them, you’ll see quite a few empty stores…

Industrial is always a winner here because we don’t have much land to sprawl out on, and really tight zoning keeps growth to a minimum. So we are getting roughly $.85- $1.50 per square foot. Some a little lower, some a little higher depending on the property and the use.

I’ll be having an upcoming brown-bag lunch seminar in May for commercial tenants: “The Care and Feeding of your Commercial Lease- How not to get Bitten!” More on that as the date gets firmed up, or email me for more info!

Aloha from Hawaii,
The Real Estate Biz

Aloha from Lanikai Beach with Biz!

January Oahu Home sales came in at 281 closed and recorded; that breaks down to 122 single family and 159 condos. That’s out of an inventory of 1,903 SF and 2,494 condos (4,397 total homes) on the market in the Multiple Listing Service.  We now have around 10 months of inventory remaining.  And to top it off 496 single family and 674 condos came on the market to add another 1,170 to the inventory.

Aloha from Hawaii,

Biz