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We have a wonderful assortment of articles, Big Island Calendar of Events, resources, tips and industry
updates for you this month and we hope you enjoy. Some of these include:
- Here on the Big Island: That Jumping Flea!
- Home Selling Tips For Spring Buyer's
Market
- Are You Leaving a Tax Deduction on the
Table?
- Five Reasons Houses Beat Stocks
- Provide An Honest, Complete Mortgage
Application
- Six Signs It's Time For Home Buyers To Buy
Also, an area favorite event ... the 45th
Annual Merrie Monarch Hula Festival is just around the corner! The
famous festival draws Hula dancers from all over the Pacific and holds the
focus here for an entire week around Easter. This year, it begins the week
prior to Easter Sunday, March 30 - April 5, 2008. See the finest hula halaus
(schools) perform both kahiko (ancient) and auwana (contemporary) hula in a
competition that draws thousands to Hilo every year. Hotels and car rentals
book early (some hotels are already fully booked) and performances are
packed. Contact Merrie Monarch Office direct for early ticket purchase
information: (808) 935-9168 between 10 am - 2 pm (Hawaii time -- 2 hours
before Pacific time; 3 Hours during daylight savings). Keep your eyes
open for an upcoming blog post highlighting the festival.
Speaking of ....
Don't forget to sign-up to receive regular
updates throughout the month from
Kelly's blog. If
you're not very familiar with signing-up for blogs, we've made it super
easy. Just click the email sign-up link in the right area, enter your email
address, and you'll receive each blog entry (about 1-2 per week) in your
email box. You can unsubscribe at any time. Of course, the traditional feeds
are also available.
If you are having any difficulty reading the newsletter below, you may view
the current (and past) newsletter here:
http://www.hilobrokersnews.com
In addition to the featured articles, don't forget to dig a little deeper
for additional articles located in the "Daily News & Advice" area, as well
as the "More Articles" section.
Mahalo,
Kelly & the Hilo Brokers, Ltd. Team
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Your
Big Island REALTOR®:
Kelly H. Moran
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Quality Big Island Real
Estate Service & Experience
for Over 20 Years!
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Some Articles Copyright © 2008 Realty
Times
All Rights Reserved.
Hilo Brokers, Ltd.
400 Hualani St.,
Bldg 21
Hilo, Hawaii, 96720
Office:
808-969-9400
Direct: 808-938-5757
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 Here
on the Big Island: That Jumping Flea!
- By
Kelly H. Moran
The
Hawaiians had never heard anything like it. In the late 19th
century, Joao Fernandes, a Portuguese musician just off the
boat, began to play a miniature guitar that he called a
brauginha. So quickly did his plucking fingers jump among
the four taut strings, that the islanders were laughingly
reminded of a flea hopping about. So they called his little
instrument a “jumping flea” - uku lele - which you had
better pronounce “oo-koo-lay-lay” (not “yuke-a-lay-lee”) if
you want to be recognized as taking its music seriously. For
folks in Hawaii do consider it a serious instrument.
The rest of the world first noticed
the ukulele in 1915, when Hawaiian entertainers were among
the featured acts in the expositions that both San Francisco
and San Diego hosted to celebrate the opening of the Panama
Canal. Soon, an ukulele craze was sweeping the U.S. During
the 1920s and ’30s, thousands of youngsters were strumming,
and a few virtuosos arose. By the 1950s, though, the craze
had passed: songs that had been recorded with ukulele
accompaniment were dismissed as ditties, and the instrument
was widely disdained as a toy.
But in
the ’70s, with the revival of traditional Hawaiian folk
music, some of the men and women who had taken up the
ukulele began plucking out the intricate melodies and
sophisticated chords of popular songs, vintage swing and
jazz standards, and even selections from the repertoire of
the classical guitar. One of the most comprehensive websites
about the ukulele is:
www.fleamarketmusic.com
With the musical revival came an instrumental revival. The
small figure-eight-shaped “soprano” ukulele is the most
popular; some performers use a larger “tenor” size, for a
deeper tone. The most desirable instruments are made from
mahogany or koa; those crafted by
Kamaka
Hawaii are particularly revered, though the most famous
Kamaka ukulele is shaped like (and hence called) the
Pineapple.
Today,
ukulele virtuosos give sold-out concerts, and hundreds -
perhaps thousands - of folks are taking lessons or
practicing. So don’t be surprised when you see teenaged boys
and girls hanging out at the beach parks, not with
boom-boxes, but with ukuleles, playing and singing much as
youngsters began doing a century ago.
To read more about Hawaii Musics
(Plural), here are a couple
February blog entries for your enjoyment.
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Mortgage Rates
U.S. averages as of February21, 2008:
30 yr. fixed: 6.04%
15 yr. fixed: 5.64%
1 yr. adj: 5.37%
View current rates
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Featured
Listing
An
elegant oceanfront oasis four miles north of Hilo,
just across Honolii Bridge on the Big Island of
Hawaii. At the driveway end, on a bluff overlooking
a Hilo Bay panorama, you'll find a private and
elegant estate home. Very few homes in Hilo are
truly oceanfront - this is a rare offering. Situated
on an extra large lot overlooking one of east
Hawaii's favorite surf spots, this residence offers
panoramic views from most rooms.
Virtual Tour, Images & Current Price:
Click Here
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Click Here for Local Market Conditions:
Hilo Update
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Are You Leaving a Tax Deduction on the Table?
If
you refinanced your home recently, you're not alone. According
to Plunkett Research, approximately $1.1 trillion dollars in
mortgage loans was refinanced in the United States in 2006.
But did you remember to take an increased mortgage interest
deduction on your tax return if you were entitled to one?
Here's how it works. You are allowed to take a deduction
on your personal tax return for mortgage interest you pay on a
loan that is secured by either your principal residence or a
second home, up to one million dollars in acquisition
indebtedness. That means mortgages, lines of credit and home
equity loans all qualify, as long as they are secured by your
home, and you are the primary borrower, and legally obligated
to repay that loan.
What you call your first and second homes can be pretty
open to interpretation. Pretty much anything will qualify if
it has sleeping, cooking and toilet facilities.
CONTINUED >>>
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Upcoming
Island Calendar of Events
IMAGES OF GRATITUDE:
An Inner and Outer Journey with Doug Beasley
Date: March 7th - 16th, 2008
Akiko's Buddhist Bed and Breakfast located along the beautiful
lush Hamakua Coast 15 minutes North of Hilo will be our home.
Everyday we will embark on a new adventure to explore and
photograph the Sacred landscape of waterfalls, ocean, volcano
and old rusty tin-roofed plantation villages with an eye for how
things in nature, worn by time and wind and rain and crashing
ocean and volcanic eruptions reveal their "postures" of
gratitude. Go to Doug's website for registration and more
information. Extra days at Akiko's can be arranged before and
after workshop.
http://www.vqphoto.com/workshop/2007/hawaii/
45TH ANNUAL MERRIE MONARCH HULA
FESTIVAL
Begins week prior to Easter Sunday, March 30 - April 5, 2008
The premiere hula festival. See the finest hula halaus (schools)
perform both kahiko (ancient) and auwana (contemporary) hula in
a competition that draws thousands to Hilo every year. Hotels
and car rentals book early (some hotels are already fully
booked) and performances are packed. Contact Merrie Monarch
Office direct for early ticket purchase information: (808)
935-9168 between 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Hawaii time).
HAWAII
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK EVENTS:
AFTER DARK IN THE PARK
Date: 2 or 3 Tuesdays per month
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium
After Dark in the Park is a series of free evening programs on
topics of geology, biology, Hawaiian culture and history. Call:
(808) 985-6014 or
visit their site.
RANGER-LED PROGRAMS
Date: Daily
Ranger-led walks and hikes enrich your knowledge of the Park's
resources and Hawaiian culture. Walks may be wheelchair
accessible or may be longer hikes. The daily schedule of ranger
presentations is posted each morning at 9:00 a.m. in the Kilauea
Visitor Center. Call: (808) 985-6000 or
visit their
site.
VOLCANO ART CENTER
Date: Ongoing
Place: Kilauea, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
The Volcano Art Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, educational
organization created in 1974 to promote, develop and perpetuate
the artistic and cultural heritage of Hawaii's people and
environment through activities in the visual, literary and
performing arts. Under a cooperating agreement with the National
Park Service, Volcano Art Center presents ongoing programs in
the Park. Call: (808) 967-8222 or
visit
their site.
For additional Island events, see the
Big Island Calendar of Eco-Cultural Events.
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Home Selling Tips For
Spring Buyer's Market
If
you're planning to put your home on the market in time for
spring, now's the time to get it ready to show.
But wait, it's still a buyer's market. What can you do
to catch the buyer's eye and get them to make an offer?
It's going to take more than a fresh coat of paint and
a new welcome mat. A buyer's market raises the stakes, and
you'll find you need to do a lot more work on your home than
you think, if you want to get the highest price possible.
You've heard that you should clean, paint and repair,
but that may not be enough. If your home is cluttered and in
disrepair, buyers won't pay top dollar.
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Knowing how buyers
reason should help you pick which updates are most likely to
help you sell your home.
Let's take the most basic selling suggestions and
explore why these are such important mantras.
Boost your curb appeal. A clean house with cosmetic upgrades
like painting and planting flowers can help form a fantastic
first impression of your home.
Why? Eighty-four percent of homebuyers use the Internet
to search for homes. One-third of homebuyers use the
Internet first, before any other source. That means that
people are making decisions whether or not to even drive by
your home based on how it looks in video, virtual tours and
photographs.
Keep in mind that the rate of new home building
accelerated during the housing boom, and buyers are used to
CONTINUED >>> |
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is now available.
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What
Your Home is Worth?
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Daily News and Advice
Read about the events shaping the Real Estate
market today, find current interest rates, or browse the
extensive library of advice and how-to articles written by some
of the top experts in Real Estate. Updated each weekday.
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More
Articles
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Five Reasons Houses
Beat Stocks
Despite
what Wall Street wants you to believe, owning a home isn't the same
kind of investment as stocks or bonds. What you get is a USE asset
that depreciates over time, while it grows in market value. All you
have to do is keep the home in good repair to max out your take.
Here are five reasons why you get more for your money with a
house than a worthless sock puppet.
Leverage: with stocks, you put in all your money for a little piece
of a company. With a house, you put in a little money to get all of
the house.
Tax benefits: Uncle Sam knows that owning a home is a pain in the
neck, that's why you get subsidies. These are basically government
bribes to get you to buy. What other investment can you put in 5
percent of the cost of the asset, reap all the appreciation and pay
no capital gains? That's right: live in your home two years, rent it
for three, sell it, and pay no tax on capital gains up to $250,000
for singles, $500,000 for married couples. And you're worried about
paying too much?
And that's not all - think about the benefits of fixed-rate
mortgages, property tax write-offs, interest rate deductions,
depreciation. Is this a great country or what?
Control: When you buy stocks, you're
paying some CEO 500 times the average worker's salary for results
you'd lose your job for. With a home, you have control - what you
buy, how much you pay, and where you live. You can improve the value
with repairs and updates. Compare that to getting heard at the next
shareholders' meeting.
Lifestyle: Do you want to look at a
dumpsite or your children playing in their own back yard? With a
home, you're purchasing a vantage point for yourself and your
family. The neighborhood you want to be in, the size and style home
that fits your needs. And the more wisely you choose, the better off
you are.
Value: Unlike our little sock puppet
friend, your house will seldom become worthless. Barring a
catastrophe, your home will retain a major portion of its value,
even in the worst of times. So don't freak out about a losing a few
percent this year. You'll make it up. Housing has lost value only
one year out of the last 35. It's more normal to beat inflation by
one to two percent.
Let's get a little perspective here. You lost a greater
percentage on the stock market this year than if you owned a house.
You lost more on your SUV. And you sure lost more on your iPhone.
And keep this in mind -- when it rains, which would you rather
have over your head, a roof or a stock certificate?
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Kelly H. Moran, CCIM, CIPS, REALTOR®
E-mail:
Kelly@hilo-brokers.com
Web:
http://www.hilo-brokers.com
Office: 808-969-9400 x11
Toll Free: 800-769-4456 x11
Mobile: 808-938-5757
Fax: 808-969-7900 |
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Hilo
Brokers, Ltd.
808-969-9400
400 Hualani St.
Bldg 21
Hilo, Hawaii, 96720
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Equal Housing Opportunity
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