Buying and Selling Princeville in today’s market

If I told you that I just went from representing 50% of the sellers of Princeville homes currently under contract to only representing 33%, you would probably wonder what happenned to “ALL” the other houses to cause such a percentage drop. After all, if you’re assuming there’s maybe 30 or 40 homes in escrow in Princeville at any given time, that’s a loss of approximately 5 or 7 houses. You might wonder if some fell out of escrow, if they all closed or if it was some combination of the two. Not only that, but myself and one other agent actually represent the sellers on ALL the homes currently in escrow in Princeville, excluding Queen Emma’s Bluff, where there is only one home under contract.

Now you’re probably thinking, Wow – those are two lucky agents with ALL those homes in escrow but here’s the truth — up to this morning when my Nalani Lane house closed, there were a total of 4 houses in escrow in Princeville and now there are only 3. That’s right, between myself and Jeanne Bierlien, who also has two houses in escrow, we represent all the seller’s who have Princeville homes in escrow. So you see, dropping from 50% to 33% simply means that one sale closed. Right now there are 64 homes listed in Princeville and 7 in QEB. Of the 64 in Princeville, 45 of them are priced above $1M. There is one home in the $600K’s, 5 in the $700K’s, 6 in the $800K’s and 7 in the $900K’s.

As for condos, there are (hold on to your seat for this one) 161 listings excluding Queen Emma’s Bluffs and a total of 185 when including QEB with the Villas on the Prince and Ka’iulani. Of the 161 Princeville listings, only 5 are in escrow: Mauna Kai 21 listed for $490K, Pali Ke Kua 210 (LH) listed at $635K, Pali Ke Kua 111 listed for $1.1M (I don’t know what is going on with this unit as it came on the market in escrow back on 3/3/08 and has stayed that way since then…), Hanalei Bay Resort 4101/2/3 for $1.350M and Nihilani 34A for $731,500. That’s it — that’s all the Princeville units in escrow. As for QEB, there are 3 — one Villas on the Prince and 2 of the developer’s Ka’iulani units.

So what’s my point? My point is this: now is an EXCELLENT time to buy. Not a good time, or a pretty good time but an EXCELLENT time to buy. Forget about waiting for the bounce. You know how you can see the bounce has occurred? Prices start trending up then guess what, it’s too late. Yes, I know the market may go down some more, but NOW is when you can pick and choose what you want. Now is when you can pit one seller against another (especially when it come to condos) and get concessions and pricing like never before. In fact, you don’t even have to do much more than just step into a great deal because many-or should I say some- sellers are noticing that their properties have not sold, and are finally lowering their prices so that they are competative.

There is something for just about everyone in this market, and as the summer comes to and end, so does the hopes of those sellers who were holding out for a “sale during the busy summer season.” Oh well. That never materialized and as we head into fall and year’s end, serious sellers will be jubilant to see a buyer express even the most remote amount of interest in their property.

And if you are a seller reading this, just know that it really doesn’t matter what you think your property is worth. It is only worth what a willing and able buyer will pay and not a penny more. I found that out when I sold my Sandpiper condo. My offer came in at $379K and I countered back at $399K. After all, I had a brand new kitchen with birch cabinets, silestone countertops, new paints, carpets — you name it, I had fixed it. When I countered back at what I thought was a very reasonable $399K the buyers simply said “No thanks. We only want to pay $379K.”

I took me a week to come to my senses…and I called the agent back and put the transaction together. I am happy to say that I have been spending my Sandpiper money since last September while many others in the complex who are higher priced are still waiting. So if you are a seller and you want to sell, and you’ve had your property on the market for $XXX amount of dollars for the last zillion days and you haven’t gotten an offer, I call that a clue. Reduce! Apparently, no one wants to pay what you think your property is worth. If you don’t want to reduce you may want to consider taking your property off the market until such time that we have a seller’s market that can once again support your desired price. (Am I being too harsh here? If so, please excuse me….)

If you’re a buyer, rejoice, because it’s truly a great time to be a buyer. You just have to have faith that even though the market may go down a bit more, buying going down is a better way to go that buying on the uptrend. Don’t forget we are talking about Paradise here. Kauai really is Paradise and the more time you spend here, the more you’ll be convinced, especially if you have the opportunity to travel to the Mainland and back a few times. Trust me, you will always to be glad to be back Home, even if for now, Kauai is your Home away from Home.

Need help making a buying or selling decision? You know who to call. In the meantime, start fantasizing about your own piece of Paradise because it’s a dream that could easily become a reality in today’s buyer friendly market. That’s my two cents worth for today. Have a great weekend!

Aloha, Elaine

Elaine Schaefer (R, GRI, ABR)
Broker in Charge – Princeville Resort Office
Graduate, Realtor’s Institute
Accredited Buyer’s Representative
Top Producer 100% Club

RE/MAX Kauai
Princeville Resort Office
POB 223632
Princeville, HI 96722
cell: 808 639 2935
home fax: 1 808 440 4552
email:soldonkauai@yahoo.com
website: www.kauairealestatenow.com
blog: www.blogs.alohaliving.com/princeville-condo-sales

……you can have your own piece of paradise
ask me how!

August 22nd, 2008