Ryan Oda

February was a hectic month! There was a period when I had two closings, three new escrows, I drove 100 miles in one day to show properties to four different clients, and I submitted six offers for four different buyers. Overlapping from late January, I worked over 30 days straight. Buying and selling real estate can be an emotional roller coaster, especially when our housing inventory is low and when owners receive upwards of 30 offers. Let us think about this for a second.

Here is February's housing update.

Robin and I are helping an international non-profit negotiate a lease. Here are some of things I have learned during this process. Deal Or No Deal COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on certain sectors of the commercial real estate industry. Many companies are allowing their employees to work (permanently) work from home. You would think the office market would be pretty soft. Well, not really. As we were searching for properties, some landlords were firm on their price. Also, Robin a

When I was growing up, I would help out at my Uncle's real estate company. Uncle Sonny's speciality was association property management. In addition, he also did residential property management and sales too. Uncle Sonny had a team of people who specialized in niche tasks. One person who always fascinated me was the employee who sat at the front desk. At the beginning of every month, people would be lined up outside the front door to drop off their maintenance fee or rent pay

Facebook recently reminded me that I have been a homeowner for two years. It seemed like yesterday when my wife and I were signing our closing documents! Here are a few things that I learned... Mortgage Rates When we were looking at properties, mortgage rates were almost at 5%. When our offer was accepted, our mortgage lender informed us that rates went down. Rather than taking a gamble, we decided to lock in 4.65% at half a point. Around 6 months later, mortgage rates droppe

Here is November's housing updates.

Greg, Robin, and I closed three buyer transactions last week. One was an off market, new development, single family home in Windward Oahu. The second was a single-family home in town; our clients bought it below list price. The third was a vacant, residential land on the outer island. Our residential real estate market has held up well during the pandemic. Why? Mortgage rates are historically low. No one knows how long mortgage rates will stay in the 2-3% range. The clients w

COVID-19 hits hard again. Last week, Regal Cinemas announced they will close all 536 movie theaters in the United States. There are eight theaters in Hawaii with four on Oahu. With no end in sight, how will landlords relet these large spaces? Will landlords repurpose the space? Regal’s Iwilei location poses an unique situation. With people working from home and Regal closing, could Castle & Cooke repurpose their commercial space to residential? With much of Kaka’ako being bu

Here are October's housing updates.

Archimedes of Syracuse, the famous Greek mathematician, once said, "Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth." The use of leverage makes owning real estate unique. For example, let's say you have $100,000 cash. With that money, you could purchase a $100,000 home. In Honolulu, I doubt that will buy you more than a parking stall. The other, more common option is to get a mortgage through a lender. Most buyers try to put 20% down. If you were to buy a $500,000 condo, 2

Open Door is a private company that specializes in iBuying. If you are a homeowner, companies like Open Door will purchase your home and they can offer a quick closing. What is the catch? iBuying comes at a price. iBuying companies are not charities; they need to make money. Due to that, iBuying companies will purchase your home at a discount. Although sellers might benefit from a shorter closing, sellers are leaving money on the table. If you do not list your property, you w

Our housing market is usually one of the shining stars in our local economy. Despite COVID-19, Oahu's housing prices have remained steady or have increased in certain neighborhoods. While there were many uncertainties when the stay at home order was put in place, our housing market seems to have regained traction. One reason mortgage rates are in the 2-3% range is the FED is buying mortgage backed bonds. If this sounds familiar, the FED did something similar in the 2008 housi

Here are September housing updates.

I am constantly trying to get a better pulse on our housing market. Despite the unknowns that our COVID-economy has presented us, I have been fortunate to be on many successful transactions this year. No one has a crystal ball on what our housing market will do next. In addition to studying mortgage rates, housing market reports, and local and national news, I also read up on the stock market. For a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there are a handful of publi

COVID-19 has changed the way we lived. Some people are financially struggling and many businesses are closing. With increased COVID cases in Hawaii, I wonder if we will ever make it back to our old normal. Just last week, three well known restaurants announced that they will close. Chart House, Nobu's Kakaako, and House of Pure of Aloha at Ala Moana Center. Let's not forget retail giants like Pier 1 Imports and Jimmy Choo closed up shop too. What business is next? Not all com

The COVID-economy has contributed to our low mortgage rates. I had a client who just got prequalified for a sub 3% rate. We are actively looking for his first home. Due to a lot of economic uncertainty, will mortgage rates eventually fall to 0%? Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac, Tweeted, "Following the Great Recession, mortgage interest rates fell 4 out of the next 5 years, falling a total of about 3 percentage points. Are we going to have a 0% 30-year fixed

Working at Forward Realty taught me the importance of being full service Realtor.

The news can be depressing. COVID-19 cases are on the rise, businesses are suffering, and unemployment is still high. Despite all the chaos, Oahu's housing market is remaining steady. Although median single family and condo prices slightly decreased in June 2020 from the same time last year, some sellers are still receiving near full price offers. Every home and neighborhood are different. However, I have recently been on some exciting transactions. Just the other week, my c

Shortly after getting married, my wife and I decided to purchase our first home. Since we were planning to start a family, we decided to create our "must have" list. As we were writing down what was important to us, we both noticed our needs and wants changed. Over the past few years, Kaka'ako has been getting a lot of attention. The once industrial area is now the home to many luxury condos. After we got prequalified, we decided to checkout a bunch of condos. Midway through

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