Our friends have been asking us about our house. Will we stay or sell? And when? To better answer these questions, we have put together some information. Enjoy!
Retirement: We will be retiring after 18+ years at BYUH at the end of February 2016, and we will move to Oregon to be closer to grandkids.
What is your asking price? We are asking $799,000. We are willing to entertain offers above or below that price.
When Will You Move? We plan to stay in Laie through March 3, 2016, and then move when the house is sold. As usual, the new owners can take ownership when the loan funds, but we intend to stay in the house until March 4.
When Will the "For Sale" Signs Go Up? We will probably put up a "For Sale" sign sometime after Christmas, maybe as early as Dec 26, maybe later, but we have been showing the house from time to time to people that are interested in buying it.
Major Features: Location, Location, Location We are walking distance to the temple, to BYUH, to Hukilau beach, to Temple beach, to Foodland, and to PCC. (Granted, most of Laie is also walking distance to everything.) We are literally right across the street from the temple grounds, and just one house away from the traffic circle. The PCC/Temple Tour trams go right in front of our house six days a week. It is a beautiful location.
Major Improvements: Solar Hot Water We do have solar hot water, and it has reduced our electric bill greatly. We have an 80 gallon tank, which is enough for a small family but probably not enough for a large family. You might need to add another panel to the roof and more tanks to hold the water. As far as PV (photo voltaic), we have been waiting for the prices to come down even more, and they have been coming down, but we will not be getting PV before we leave. That will be up to the new owners.
Major Improvements: Siding New siding (pressure treated T1-11 with borite treatment to prevent termites) was added in early 2015. The house was tented for termites in September 2014, and some damage was found and repaired. We also got ground termite treatment August 2015 just to be cautious.
Major Improvements: Windows As we were upgrading the siding, we decided to also replace all the old wooden slat jalousy windows with new thermally insulated windows so the house can be air conditioned. (We have not actually gotten air conditioning, but it is more feasible now.) The inside areas around the windows still need some plastering work.
Major Improvements: Kitchen We massively remodeled the kitchen, installing new appliances and cupboards and quartz counter tops as well as new tile flooring. It looks really nice.
Other Features: Breadfruit We have two large breadfruit trees in the yard and a variety of other food trees.
Problems: Does it Ever Flood? Yes. The location is pretty much a low spot, so every year or two we do get flooding. During the 2015-10-12 flood we got a couple of inches of flooding under the house. The most flooding we ever got was about 17 inches during the 2008-12-11 flood. Obviously the living areas of the house are elevated but the under-house storage areas get water sometimes.
As Is: Although we are in the midst of making some needed repairs and upgrades to the house, there are other things that will not get fixed before we leave. Really, as with almost all Hawaii real estate, the buyer and the lender are responsible for deciding if the price is right and for noticing any problems that they consider to be important. The seller (us) is responsible for disclosing all defects of which we are aware so nobody gets fooled. But in the final analysis, the house and property will be sold "as is."
Statistics:
Address: 55-579 Naniloa Loop, Laie, HI, 96762-1239.
5 bedroom, 2 bath, Single Family Residence
1768 square feet, 9903 lot size with large backyard.
built 1988, remodeled 2015 (new kitchen, windows, siding, general repairs)
Zillow Zestimate
Honolulu: Taxable Value, Tax Map Key: 550120190000
How Will You List It? We will take a "For Sale By Owner" approach. We have announced it on Facebook and by email to some of our friends, and eventually will put a sign up in the yard. We will direct people to this webpage. Laie is a tight-knit community, and word-of-mouth is both helpful and inevitable.
How Does For Sale By Owner Work in this case? (Don't you need a real estate agent?) There is certain paperwork, such as a Purchase and Sales agreement, that is needed. All of it can be gotten from a Title Insurance company.
The first step for the buyer would be to get a pre-qualification letter from a lender. Basically they certify that you can afford to buy a house costing the amount you are willing to offer.
The second step is to identify a title insurance company that will handle the closing and process the deeds. They have all the forms. Your lender may be able to recommend a title company for you.
The third step is that we fill out the forms.
Contact Information: You can send email to doncolton2@gmail.com with any questions or comments.
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