Update on Kohala Coast Foreclosures

At this point I have about a dozen people I am working with who contacted me because of one of my earlier blog posts about foreclosure (bank-owned) or short sale buying opportunities at Halii Kai or Kolea on the Kohala Coast. In fact, I’ve been so busy showing property, preparing offers, and dealing with offers on my short sale listing, I haven’t been able to write an update, which is long overdue!

The ugly truth is that I have yet to be successful in getting a client into one of the best buy situations I’ve blogged about. An opportunity like Halii Kai 16C which closed at $385,000 or Kolea 9F which is in escrow at $460,000 is going to attract multiple offers within the first 48 hours. If you aren’t a cash buyer or one with a solid prequal letter, who is prepared to pull the trigger INSTANTLY and make an offer with few or no contingencies…you will be just a bit too late.

The good news is that I am also working with savvy buyers who are cutting tough deals with motivated developers, buyers who are patient enough to pursue a short sale opportunity, and ones who understand that the best deals are not always short sales or foreclosures!

For example, at Kolea at the moment there are two REOs in escrow, and my short sale has multiple offers in. There is one REO that continues to sit on the market, because its asking price is $499K and the same floor plan in a better location is in escrow at $460K. There are a few more 2BRs in the pipeline, but lenders will wait until the current transactions close to list them.

View of Anaehoomalu Bay from Kolea

The next wave of best buys at Kolea will be in the larger, 3 bedroom floor plans in the front row. There is a new REO on the market that is a fabulous opportunity, because the lender/owner is a small California bank that is easy to deal with and listed with the agent who has worked with the property throughout the process. The asking price is $695,000 for the 3 bed/3 bath ground floor unit which sold in 2005 for $1.3 million.

My other best buy pick is not even a short sale or foreclosure, just an owner with the ability to be competitive in today’s market…the largest floor plan, over 2,000 sq. ft. of interior with over 400 sq. ft. of lanai, with a peak of the beach…asking $1.2 million for a condo that originally sold for over $2 million.

At Halii Kai, a ground floor 3 bed/2 bath with ocean view is scheduled for auction at the end of September. Generally we don’t see these properties actually sell at auction as the lender is pricing at what is owed rather than today’s market value. This would then be hitting the market as an REO this fall, a perfect example of the kind of opportunity that WILL be snapped up as soon as it hits the market. Meanwhile, developer inventory further back on the property is selling strongly, with two more units in escrow in the past week! My buyers were lucky enough to get the nicest remaining ground floor 2-bedroom. Remember, the pick of the litter will get sold first.

A hui hou,

Beth Thoma Robinson, R(S)
Direct: 808-443-4588
Email: beth@hawaiilife.com