Ryan Oda

When you buy a condo, there's usually a monthly maintenance fee. This fee generates money for the association to help upkeep the building, grounds, and common areas. A maintenance fee is usually associated with condos. However, some single-detached homes can have a maintenance too. In addition, some neighborhoods have a community association. For example, Mililani Town Association (MTA). If you bought a condo in Mililani, you'll have a monthly maintenance and a yearly communi

When you purchase a condo, townhouse, or a home that belongs to a planned development, chances are there is a home owners association (HOA). Ideally speaking, each HOA has a board of directors. One of the board's responsibilities is to determine what the monthly HOA fee will be for each type of unit each year. In a simplified explanation, the monthly HOA fee is used for two things: - To cover the association's operations budget. This can include landscaping, common area maint

Real estate is purchased backwards. That is, a prospective Buyer tours the home for 15-30 minutes, and he or she submits an offer. If that person's offer is accepted, the Buyer then gets to inspect the property. Although this is standard practice, wouldn't it be better if the Seller provided all the disclosures prior to a Buyer submitting his or her offer? Just the other day, our real estate team was notified that our Buyer's offer was accepted. We were thrilled because our

If I didn't live in town, I probably would live in Kaneohe. Like metro Honolulu, Kaneohe has an array of housing options. There are single family detached homes, there are town homes, and there are condos at all different price points. A year or two ago, one of my millennial first time home buyers purchased a unit in the Windward Estate neighborhood. This was a split-level, 2-bedroom town home in a well established condo development. Unlike other 2-bedroom units in town, my

I was recently contacted by my friend, Courtney. Courtney informed me that she was purchasing her first home directly from her landlord. I was ecstatic to hear the great news. Since Courtney was a long-term tenant, Courtney’s landlord decided to sell his condo to her for a discount. During my conversation with Tim, Courtney’s landlord, Tim told me how grateful he was to have Courtney as his tenant. During Courtney’s 10+ years as Tim’s tenant, Tim boasted how Courtney was the

The Honolulu Board of REALTORS® recently released their October 2016 housing statistics. To no surprise, the median price for single-family homes and condos increased from the same time last year. During October 2016, the number of sales increased 7% from the same time last year. Interestingly, condo sales decreased 5.7% from October 2016 to October 2015. Despite a decrease in the number of sales, condo prices rose 7%. I jumped on the MLS and did a quick search of October 201

I recently read a CNBC article that said owners who purchased 5 years ago have doubled their equity in their home. This got me thinking. Real estate is an investment too. Like investing in the stock market, the buy-and-hold strategy seems to be the most efficient way to turn your home into a sound financial investment. Scrolling through the MLS, I chose three condos to analyze: (A) 1133 Waimanu; (B) Country Club Village; (C) Royal Palm at Waipio. Here is was my search criter