Looking back at Holomua, I knew the time was past making amends with my first choice. Bigger and Better were the two words that were my new mantra. I kept checking MLS (multiple listing services) with www.oahure.com looking around for things in my price range and consistent with my list of wants.
The amount of different architecture, floor plans, building pros and cons are staggering. Mankind is not created equal and neither is the housing that he builds. If you're looking, remember that you will most likely make a concession or two about something. There were many instances of this happening to me. I was originally interested in Kinau Lanais since it is so close to my work, however, the first apartment that really caught my eye was a unit on the 40th floor in the Regency Tower.
This is your view. You can see the appeal.
It so happened that this unit was a little out of my price range, and the seller was in no hurry to sell and stayed firm on his price. This door was closed, but seeing as I was interested, Christina helped me out by sending me MLS listings which often coincided with properties I was looking at on my own. Except for a few open houses, she started making appointments to see the often vacant units. I went to King St, Prospect St, Kinau, Date St, and a few others. There were different things I liked and disliked about each. Some were renovated, some needed renovation. We would usually check general building appearance on the outside, how many elevators, where is the parking located, and then we'd be in the unit and I imagined myself living there.
To make an analogy. It's like going into a clothing store. You really wanted a shirt, and then there's two that are similar, one fits better, one is a nicer color, and then you'll see a pair of shorts and etc. You get lost in options, because each property is going to fit you differently and provided you made some semblance of a list you can narrow down some and consider others. As a warning, you need to make your decisions quickly, especially in highly desirable buildings. When you are the first offer, you have some power to negotiate the price down. When you are in contention with other buyers, you do not have the luxury of naming what you think the unit is worth; you have to "put your best foot forward" and be OK with losing that property. Many units we visited that I decided not to act upon, ended up in escrow within a few weeks.
What also helped me get ahead was being pre-qualified for a certain loan amount. This gives you a time advantage because other serious buyers will need to be pre-qualified to put up an offer. No seller will commit to selling you a property you can ill-afford.
Having this one-up on the competition we went to Kukui Plaza and I really liked it. The layout was awesome, the space felt very large, the amenities were great. Only thing was community laundry (which isn't so bad there because there are washers/dryers on each floor and some units with w/d inside), and what seemed likea lack of open fresh air. There was a listing for an open house on a high floor the weekend after I visited a unit on the 15th floor and it so happened a Regency Tower open house on the same day. Valynn took me to both open houses and the start of a new lengthy process begins soon.
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