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 Williams 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!

ONO GRINDS; Hilo Coffee Mill! Their motto is “Paradise in a cup!” and that is so true, yummy yummy yummy! Excellent estate coffee from the entire island… not just Kona. As well as a wonderful line of Island goodies, even ice cream. All served at their GORGEOUS coffee bar. Check them out at http://www.hilocoffeemill.com/ and then enjoy your “cuppa” in the fresh Hawaiian morning light on the lovely lanai.

REAL ESTATE STATUS: Most subdivisions are holding pretty steady as far as home prices go, what has slowed is the quantity of sales but the selling prices of homes are still heads above where it was a few years ago and appears to still be rising. The median home list price in Nanawale as of January 25, 2007 has slid a little and is now at $210,000.00 a drop of $9,000.00 in the last month. In Hawaiian Paradise Park the median home list price is holding steady at $350,000.00. In Leilani Estates the median home list price has risen to $337,450.00 that’s a couple of months in a row. And In the Hilo area the median home list price has slid just a bit to $439,000.00

FEATURED PROPERTY; 20 acres of prime farm land in East Hawaii! Kopua farm lots is the perfect elevation for a number of the more desirable crops; coffee, tea, tropical flowers, etc…its also a great environment for live stock. Plant your house and plant some goodies, peace and privacy are easily obtained when you have a 20 acres square lot! Check out this “show” for some neat pics. http://www.realestateshows.com/78082

Like more info on these or other properties? Just e-mail or call me and I will be delighted to provide you with all the information you need.

FEATURED SITE; For a very user friendly site to search for property info in Hawaii… check this out,
http://www.hawaiiinformation.com/REsearch/

TIP OF THE WEEK; Watch out for mortgage fraud! When ever we have a market that is experiencing tremendous change (either up or down) we have a certain percentage of the population that feels that it’s a good time to get their pound of flesh;
1. Go to a reputable lender.
2. If it seems too good to be true…it probably is.
3. Ask questions, if the lender is uncomfortable with answering any of them, go someplace else! The answer can be “I don’t know, but I will find out” that’s OK, as long as its honest.
4. Consider this; If they are willing to lie for you, they are willing to lie to you.
5. Use a REALTOR®! Seriously, our Code Of Ethics enjoins us to “Prevent fraud”, and we have experience with many different lenders and circumstances, we can usually tell when something is “off”.
6. If your lender is uncomfortable with your REALTOR® or builder or auntie or whomever, sitting in on your conversations, don’t walk…RUN!
7. If your lender insists that you sign docs only at their office and will not allow it to be done at the escrow/title companies office, again, Don’t walk…RUN!
8. If there is any squabble or delay about a good faith est., or any question that they stall on answering, any Attitude at all… leave. You are paying this Person a considerable amount of money, they are not doing you a Favor, its their job and you have hired them to do it correctly. They have accountability to you!
9. And finally, you will receive a “Final HUD statement” READ IT! And then ask questions, if the lender wont or can’t answer them, cancel. If there is any financial agreements that do not show up on the Final HUD, cancel. (Check first, it may just be a oversight or a honest mistake).
10. Take responsibility for your own finances, buying a home is most people’s largest and most important expenditure in their entire lives, protect yourself. Practice safe borrowing!

ECLECTIC TRIVIA ANSWER; what’s up with that Hawaii state quarter? Why all the fuss? Well…the drama continues, it was finally narrowed down to 5 designs which featured the recurring themes of King Kamehameha, a Hula dancer, a Surfer, Diamond Head, etc… the folks at the mint couldn’t figure out how to spell the words, what the words mean, where to put the symbols, they kept trying to put a tank top or coconut bra on the hula dancer, had the surfer riding the waves from the wrong side (away from the shore), so basically a comedy of errors. Maybe we as Hawaii are more particular than other states or maybe it was simpler for them? See the final designs here; http://www.hawaii.gov/gov/commemorativequarter/
It appears that all the wrinkles have been ironed out and as the 50th state we are the last (last and best!) to be minted, the new quarter is scheduled to be out in 2008!

ECLECTIC TRIVIA QUESTION; Rain forest, sandy beach, snowy mountains…does Hawaii really “have it all”? Check in next week!MAHALO everyone…please don’t be shy about asking questions, sharing recipes andgreat 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!