Hawaii Life Agent Sells Kaanapali Hillside Home to Happy Buyer

A few months ago, I had the privilege of meeting Jerry and Kathy from North Dakota. They had come to me through our Hawaii Life website looking for a possible second home. They were quite specific about their wants and I did as much research as I could to show them homes in their criteria.

Jerry and Kathy’s Criteria

We spent 2 great days together with them and their family showing both Kihei and West Maui. They really wanted a great ocean view and a pool, or room to build one. They wanted to stay around the $750K price range. I really enjoyed my time with them as they were great people, but I could tell nothing really clicked with the houses we saw. They left and I tried to stay in touch by email.

I received an email a few weeks later from Jerry saying they had decided to stay in the mainland and were going to purchase in Palm Springs. I asked then if they would ever consider Maui again. Jerry told me that he would never say never. I continued to send them new listings I thought might pique their interest.

After a few months of this, I starting getting more interest from them on things I was sending, especially from the Kaanapali area. I was very diligent in my research and keeping them up to date.

A foreclosure came on the market and I looked at it for them. They were interested, but we both agreed from the photos it needed a lot of work. We came in low on our offer and it sold for much more than we thought it was worth.

A Fantastic Property for Jerry and Kathy

Finally, another home in Kaanapali Hillside dropped its price to $1,050,000. It had a huge pool and great ocean views. They were very interested, but being in North Dakota, weren’t sure of its real condition. I told them I would go and take some personal walk through video for them, so they would have a much better feel for the condition and layout. (Something I will do for all my clients.)

Video Tour

Here are samples of the video I shot for them, which really helped them see what they were going to buy

Video Tour #2

Making a Deal

After seeing my video, Jerry (being a contractor) decided it needed lots of remodeling and we offered $900K. I loved working with Jerry as he didn’t beat around the bush – it was this or move on!

We received a counter of $980K. I explained the comps in the area to Jerry and what true value was there. He decided that the place needed too much work (from my videos) and held tough at $900K. I called the seller and said, “thank you, but we are moving on.”

A day later I received a call from the seller telling me they really wanted to work with us and asked if we could come up at all. I was able to convince Jerry to come up to $920K and we had a deal. It was a great negotiation and we got a fantastic property for a fantastic price. Jerry and Kathy were very grateful for my help as I was for their trust.