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Nick Kawakami

Real Estate Service Powered by Innovation

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Articles

Koa Ridge Proposed Floorplans Released

June 9, 2020 By Nick Kawakami

For decades, this planned project has seen enough road blocks to make this announcement that much sweeter! Koa Ridge, the planned development above Waipio Costco and along H-2 freeway, has just released proposed floorplans for their initial phase! It’s a big step for the Castle & Cooke developers, and is a sign that a sales release is coming soon.

The smallest plan calls for 3-4 bedrooms w/ 2-baths, starting around 1,300 square feet.

What Are Rumors and What Are Facts?

We live in Hawaii, so your Aunty heard from her cousin that they faked the moon landing. Or, your nephew’s sister-in-law told you that Governor Ige is a robot. In our tight community, it is hard to tell facts from fiction, so let’s start with what we actually know about Koa Ridge and what we’ve heard in rumors.

Quick disclaimer, the following “facts” are known to be true as of writing. Castle & Cooke reserves the right to make changes without notice.

FACT: Floorplans will vary between 3-bedroom and 6-bedroom configurations. There are six floorplans released (A-F) for the first phase of development with different layouts and configurations.

RUMOR: Pricing will start in the $800,000s. Prices are rumored to start in this range for their smaller unit, but won’t be confirmed until they do their public release soon.

FACT: Koa Ridge will be a self-contained development. There’s planning for schools, parks, commercial spaces, and even a medical center.

RUMOR: Sales will start this week! Most likely, sales will start sometime this summer, but it’s hard to imagine that it would be as early as next week.

The largest plan could be as big as 6-bedrooms with over 2,200 square feet of living space!

How to Prepare for the Sales Process in Koa Ridge

There are two big steps that you can take to prepare yourself now. First would be to contact your favorite real estate agent and let them know that you are interested in this development. Koa Ridge will be allowing Buyers have representation for their own agents, and projects like this typically release information to the real estate community first. If you don’t have an agent beforehand, you can always contact me and I’d be happy to keep you updated!

Important Note: If you contact the Koa Ridge sales team directly, you may be giving up your right for representation from your real estate agent. This rule has not been confirmed by Castle & Cooke yet, but other developments have had this caveat in place.

The second step is to get yourself financially ready for a quick sales process. When you contact your real estate agent, discuss your current financial situation and have them advise you on how to get in the best position once sales are announced. This could mean paying off debt or getting advice from a lender, but specific action steps will vary depending on your personal situation.

Important Note: Developments like Koa Ridge might require buyers to use certain “Project Lenders” that are pre-approved to do mortgages for Buyers. If you work with an unappoved lender before these Project Lenders are announced, you may have to restart the loan process from scratch.

Where Can I Get More Information?

For now, public information is scarce. The best way to stay informed is to have a licensed real estate agent representing you and updating you. I understand that being one myself makes me a little bias in these recommendations, but it’s the plan of action that makes the most sense. You as a buyer do not pay your agent for this purchase (Castle & Cooke will pay them directly), and we will have the most current information and be able to position you in the best way possible.

Even if it’s not me, reach out to your favorite real estate agent today and let them know. These processes tend to move fast, so preparing as much in advance will be your best advantage!

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: castle & cooke, development, koa ridge, new development

Seller’s Will Dictate Post-Corona Market

May 21, 2020 By Nick Kawakami

Before I get into the meat of my argument, I’d just like to point out that (obviously) this is an opinion piece and should not be taken as advice or fact. I shouldn’t have to make that disclaimer, but I also know we live in a litigious society that needs more and more disclaimers. That out of the way, let’s begin…

TLDR; “Until Sellers start pumping in more inventory, Buyers will be left with less options and continue to compete over good opportunities.”

[Read more…] about Seller’s Will Dictate Post-Corona Market

Filed Under: Real Estate, Thoughts Tagged With: coronavirus, covid-19, market report, opinion

May 2020 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

May 6, 2020 By Nick Kawakami

December stats show…wait, it’s April, right?!

Hi Everyone, hope your dealing with quarantine safely and happily! There was an obvious affect on the local real estate market, but not the effect that some were thinking! Let’s look at the stats from April and see what kind of market we had while under quarantine…

[Read more…] about May 2020 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

Filed Under: Real Estate, Thoughts Tagged With: market report, market stats

Dual Agency vs. Single Agency vs. Customer

March 7, 2020 By Nick Kawakami

Why it’s not the advantage you think.

Buyers and Sellers of real estate are often confused when I bring up the concept of “Agency Relationship.” In a nutshell, agency relationship refers to the relationship between client and brokerage and establishes the responsibility that each party has. This post will go over the different agency relationships that are available here in Hawaii and will cover some of the pros and cons of each.

[Read more…] about Dual Agency vs. Single Agency vs. Customer

Filed Under: Investing, Real Estate, Thoughts Tagged With: agency, brokerage, education, relationship

October 2019 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

November 11, 2019 By Nick Kawakami

With Halloween under our belts, was the month as SPOOOOKY as it seemed?

Hi Everyone, hope your Halloween was a smash hit! We all gathered in Manoa for another busy Halloween night, and it was crazy how many people showed up! Hopefully that means overall spirits are high, and people are gearing up for a good holiday season. Let’s see what the stats have to show us…

[Read more…] about October 2019 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: market report, market stats

September 2019 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

October 9, 2019 By Nick Kawakami

Homes Down & Up, Condos Up & Down. HUH?!?

Hi Everyone, it looks like some rain has started the fall season! It’s been a welcome change on our end, especially after the super-hot summer we had! Plus, I’m enjoying all the well-watered, green mountains too! It was an interesting month in the Oahu real estate market, so let’s see what kind of trends we saw in September…

[Read more…] about September 2019 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: market report, market stats

August 2019 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

September 6, 2019 By Nick Kawakami

August Tempers Late Summer Price Push

Hi Everyone, hope you are finding awesome ways to beat the heat! It seems like everyday I look at the weather report and it says “feels like 90+.” Luckily, we’ve seen sprinkles of showers here and there, so maybe the real estate market is mirroring the temperate weather we are experiencing too! Here’s a breakdown of the numbers, and some key points I’m watching as we move along the second half of 2019.

[Read more…] about August 2019 Real Estate Market Stats & Opinion

Filed Under: Real Estate Tagged With: market report, market stats

Why I Don’t Have Live Listings on my Website

August 29, 2019 By Nick Kawakami

Search where you want.

TL;DR — Because it’s expensive, messy, and that’s not the real reason you’re here. You should search where you feel comfortable, but I recommend here.

What is the MLS, and why does it matter?

An MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, is the common acronym for the database that a real estate industry uses to reference real estate transactions. Here on Oahu, the Honolulu Board of Realtors (HBR) uses an MLS software called “Matrix” where brokerages input their listing data for the real estate industry to access. Think of it like a central database where all the independent brokerages across the island come to share their information across the industry.

This central database also allows websites to have a central point to access real estate data. A site like Zillow, for example, accesses the MLS database several times a day and scrubs any new data that it finds for it’s own site. You’ll also find many broker websites, including our own Marcus & Associates, who have installed this feature as well. Each website pays the HBR MLS for access to that data, as well as fees to the software company who harvests that data for you. Those costs can add up.

My website is not set up for listing data.

Getting the MLS data is expensive, but displaying the data can be even more costly. Between the time and money it takes to setup your basic website alone, adding in a searchable database compounds that cost even more. I decided years ago that it was not worth my it to setup my website to handle MLS data because there are other websites (like our HBR’s own HiCentral) that do it much better than I ever could.

As a side note, HiCentral is the only website I know of that has live listings for public search. Even Zillow can only “scrape” data a few times a day, and my own website would be the same.

I also see a real danger in how some websites implement MLS data without any thought to user experience. It can get messy, hard to understand, and reflects poorly on the customer experience. I don’t want to create any experience, no matter how insignificant, that is not beneficial to my clients. MLS data is no different.

Let’s be honest, you’re not here for MLS data.

When I was laying out my website, I gave a lot of thought to “why” you would be accessing my site. I quickly realized I don’t have the resources to be the first result for a Google search of “hawaii real estate listings,” and I would always send clients customized websites directly from our MLS instead. There would never be a reason that you came to this website to access MLS data, and I didn’t want to waste anyone’s time and energy just to have the feature on my website.

Instead, I have put that time and energy into designing a user experience that I think you’ll like, and hope you understand why that doesn’t include MLS listings (maybe, for now??).

Filed Under: Journal, Real Estate, Thoughts Tagged With: listing, mls, real estate

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All information contained in this website is not guaranteed, and any questions should be directed to your trusted real estate agent (hopefully me!). All media is property of Above The Stream LLC, and all opinions are my own. All listings are properties of the owners, and requests for removal can be made using the contact page. Thank you for visiting!

Nick Kawakami, Realtor Associate
RS-76713, Marcus Realty
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Copyright © 2025 · Nick Kawakami, VP, Marcus Realty
Licensed in the State of Hawaii, RS-76713

All information contained in this website is not guaranteed, and any questions should be directed to your trusted real estate agent (hopefully me!).
All media is property of Above The Stream LLC, and all opinions are my own.
All listings are properties of the owners, and requests for removal can be made using the contact page.