Smart Money Hawaii

Attention Home Buyers - Strategies to Get Your Offer Accepted by Sam Paltikian, Realtor-Associate® (RS-79996) OahuHomes808.com Buying a home is very competitive due to low inventory and buyers competing for the same properties. When you find a home you like, make a strategic plan with your real estate agent to make your offer enticing and too good to pass up. A few items to consider include: How long has the property been listed? Properties listed within the past week means it could be competitive, as it is still fresh. Longer days on market typically has less competition, since potential buyers have already seen it, and did not want to make an offer. Study the market pricing of sold properties in the area, over the last 6 months (check out the interactive below!) When you apply for a loan, an appraiser will determine the market value by reviewing recently sold properties in the area similar to the home you are purchasing to determing the value of the property. Think like an appraiser!...

Owning a home in Hawaii means you own property worth protecting. A trust can serve as a useful estate planning tool to do just that. With property planning, you can use a trust to express your wishes and instructions, avoid probate, help to minimize taxes, maintain harmony in your family, ensure a legacy for your loved ones, and keep your affairs private and out of the court system. A trust is simply a legal arrangement to care for property and is usually expressed through a written document. It requires that someone owning property transfers that property to a “trustee” who cares for the property on behalf of a “beneficiary.” In the typical case, you or your spouse act as both “trustee” and “beneficiary,” meaning that you care for and manage your property for your own benefit.  After you're gone, or in the event that you were to become unable to care for your own property, whether through accident, illness or aging, then someone who you have designated takes over as trustee. On yo...

  The Feds raising rates might be a good thing for all of us! Today the Fed moved the Fed Funds rate up by 0.50%, which is the second increase this year.  In March they increased it by 0.25%.  The expectation going into the rest of the year is that the Fed Funds rate will continue to move up until it has met its goal of containing inflation pressures. Whenever the Feds increase or decrease the overnight rate, we receive an influx of inquiries for mortgage refinances and purchases.   Today I wanted to explain the relationship between the Fed Funds rate and mortgage rates.   One of the biggest misconceptions is that when the Fed Funds rate goes up, mortgage rates will go up.   And when the Fed Funds rate goes down, mortgage rates will go down.   I do admit that sometimes it does happen that way, but in many cases, it is pure coincidence.   Truth be told that there is no direct correlation between the two.   I think the first thing to un...