Beachfront Kolea's Best Buy – Oceanfront Single Family Homes

This oceanfront Kolea home went to foreclosure, and is now for sale at $4,366,000 (MLS# 242410)

The value of the luxury Kolea condos over the long run is enhanced by two factors that won’t change:

1. Its beachfront location with the private path to Anaeho’omalu Bay
2. The developer’s choice to sell 17 lots around the oceanfront perimeter for single family homes

Although several of these lots were sold to purchasers who immediately began construction on a second home, or primary residence for themselves, others were bought by investors with the plan to build spec homes. Timing is everything, and although the first spec homes offered for sale found buyers while the market was hot, those that came late to the party are struggling. One of those homes, on Lot 4 next to the Beach Club amenities and the path to A-bay, is already listed as an REO (bank-owned post-foreclosure) for $4,366,000.

Let’s trace the history of this home. The lot was sold in 2004 for $3,000,000 and flipped the following year for a tidy $500,000 profit. At 5 bed/5 bath and 4,784 sq. ft. with a pool separated from the ocean only by a lava, $4,366,000 (less than $1,000/sq. ft.) is well below replacement cost. The home was designed by architect Todd Schooler as were several of the other homes at Kolea.

Is there an upside for today’s purchaser? The house flanking the other side of the Beach Club was a similar Schooler project, and it sold for $7,500,000 in 2006. And in 2009, at the bottom of the real estate doldrums, what many thought to be the most beautiful of the homes constructed for resale still commanded a $6,500,000 price.

Surprisingly, the REO is not the lowest priced residence of the six offered for sale at Kolea. The house on Lot 16 is asking only $4,199,000. Although I’ve heard some consider the west side of the community less desirable than the south-facing side closer to the Beach, the advantages of the lot 16 location is that it gets sunset views, and doesn’t listen to the luau at the adjacent hotel as nearer homes and condos do. Who cares that you are a few steps farther from the community pool when you have your own!?

Three residential owners other than the REO are delinquent on the modest monthly dues, which means they may also be considered distress sales.

That does not apply to my favorite home for sale, the one on Lot 7, asking price $6,499,000. I consider the location ideal among the 17 lots, and have long admired the floor plan and finishes (yes, it has been on and off the market for years, but after a big price reduction, today’s asking price is more in line with comps).

The attention to design detail in this home—floating walkway entrance, pool cabana, wine cellar—is what one would expect of a home at Hualalai or Kukio…where a front row location would double the price! Another sort of best buy, in other words.