Aloha all…E Komo Mai…Welcome to my blog about Living (and Buying) in Paradise!“Paradise” is the Big Island of Hawaii and by “Buying” I mean purchasing your dream home or land, My name is Trevella and I am a REALTOR® Salesperson with Hilo Brokers, Ltd. 1+808-969-3900 ex. 27 This blog will be primarily devoted to Real Estate on the Big Island of Hawaii, of course we are going to sneak in plenty of talk story about ono grinds, aloha spirit and great beaches as well!

What a beautiful weekend we had on the Big Island! And it shows every indication of continuing this way thru the week, yeah! The conditions were perfect Saturday for Boogie Boarding at Hapuna beach (received a top ten beach rating from Conde Nast magazine!), sometimes Hapuna can be a little windy but generally it’s perfect…lots of golden sand, bathrooms and showers. But if you want shade you’ll need to bring it yourself, and don’t plan on the concession booth…it is notoriously undependable. http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html/beaches/hapuna_beach_state_park.html


This fine weather has definitely made it easier for our current crop of Ironman Triathlon racers to get acclimatized to the Big Island in preparation for the big race on Saturday the 21st of October, this incredible race consists of a 2.4 mile swim across the bay, a 112 mile bike race across the lava and finishing with a grueling 26.2 mile marathon that travels through some of the most inhospitable country there is. Talk about tough! And these incredible athletes come back and do it again next year! The 2005 womens winner was Natascha Badmann with a smoking time of 9:09:30! The mens 2005 winner was Faris Al-Sultan with an unbelievable 8:14:17! www.ironman.com An extra special Mahalo goes out to all of the support staff and especially the tons of volunteers who come out weeks and even months in advance to make this event come off smooth, that’s a 10 out of 10 Plumerias for your sharing of the Aloha Spirit!
Good Luck to all the racers!



ONO GRINDS; ok, we all love Kona Outback Steak house right? Consistent and good, with a fun environment. I am not usually into franchise restaurants… but I have to say that the three lobster dinner is way to good! And the Illegal Sex on the Beach on the Rocks was the best I ever had! (Oh stop it! It’s just a fruity drink with more alcohol than normal! And yes, hubby drove not me!) Great bartenders and great service!



REAL ESTATE: Still plenty of inventory at good prices. Prices are continuing to drop though the decline seems to be slowing somewhat and the actual buying (or at least buying interest) is picking up.
The median home list price in Nanawale as of October 11th is $217,000.00. In Hawaiian Paradise Park the median home list price is $363,750.00. And In the Hilo area the median home list price is $449,000.00.



FEATURED PROPERTY; Sweet home site in beautiful Nanawale Estates, a great east Hawaii subdivision with parks, pool and playground!... http://www.realestateshows.com/95094



FEATURED SITE; Check out this great informative site for everything you ever wanted to know about Leilani Estates on the east side of the Big Island (yes I am tooting our own horn!) WWW.leilanirealestate.com


TIP OF THE WEEK; SELLERS! Stage your home! (Especially if you live there). To maximize your sale price and minimize your days on market; Clean out the clutter! All of those treasures only equate to clutter in the cameras eye and the buyers mind. Take a minimalist approach and focus on one nice photo or a simple arrangement, not a entire wall of the family gallery. And that ceramic rooster collection…box it up, rent a storage unit if you have to, but get it out of the house (you can even get away with using a spare bedroom if you have to). You have to pack it for the move anyway and it’s much safer to have these fragile belongings safely away from a potential buyers three year olds happy little hands (or sadly enough, that klepto with sticky fingers). Keep the house spotless and smelling great (but not overwhelming), we humans depend on our olfactory equipment greatly and it can be the single biggest turn off. Febreeze is a wonderful tool for this. Find someplace to put your pets (especially dogs) during showings, I know they are our babies but not everyone has the same sense of humor about the dog sticking their nose in your crotch to say hello, it can be really hard on our pets to have strangers tromping through the house at any time of the day…they are creatures of habit and this can really disturb them. Also they raise your potential liability, happy little Fido goes off the deep end after having some kids fingers in his face one to many times and snaps, well who is responsible? That’s right…Mr. Homeowner may be receiving a summons and you can just bet you won’t be getting an offer from those buyers! And please don’t try to sell if you have tenants in the home! There are exceptions of course (and I have known some tenants that were as responsible for the successful sale as the agents and owners), but across the board it makes selling your home more challenging and unpleasant, many times tenants will actively discourage potential buyers with stink talk about the neighborhood or noise problems that may or may not exist. They are also a concern when setting up showings, you may not be able to reach them, their schedules are going to conflict, the house wont be clean, the husband works graveyard and no can come over until after 4:00, etc… in Hawaii you have to give renters at least 24 hours notice sometimes 48, your property will usually sell faster and easier with out them there.


ECLECTIC TRIVIA FOR THE WEEK; What/who is Kaikaimalu? Well, SHE is a Wolphin…a hybrid cross between a female bottle nosed Dolphin and a male false Killer Whale, she was born in 1985 and was the first captive born Wolphin. She is fertile unlike the common hybrid mule and had her 3rd calf, named Kawili Kai, in December of 2004. They both still live at the Sea Life Park on Oahu but are not part of the normal tour and require special permission to view. Cool huh?

NEW TRIVIA; What is the curse of Pele?


Mahalo everyone…please don’t be shy about asking questions, sharing recipes (I am still looking for a recipe for Lilikoi mochi with crunchy peanut butter instead of aszuki bean? A wonderful woman bought them to an open house I hosted on Kai’ei’ei road and I haven’t been able to find her since, I am seriously craving them!), great beach locations, or a story of Aloha Spirit…always love hearing about some aloha, no matter where it is coming from!Remember; Big Island Hawaii No Ka Oi!