Stay Informed on the Local Market

Buying foreclosed properties is getting more popular and more profitable every day. There are dozens of foreclosed properties hitting the Kauai Hawaii market every day. These properties can be both gold mines and land mines. In this article, we'll go over several simple tips to help ensure that your first foreclosure purchase is a successful one.

Opt for a Low-Repair Property for Your First Deal

We've all heard about people who make thousands of dollars buying fixer foreclosures and fixing them. The reality is, however, that doing such a deal requires a high degree of expertise.

Do you know how to fix a broken roof? Can you estimate how much it would cost to replace an entire shed? Can you estimate how much the repairs will cost and compare it to your selling price in the end?

Although you can make a lot of money doing fixers in Kauai Hawaii, you can also make a lot of money just by buying foreclosed properties, doing minor cosmetic repairs and selling them again. For your first foreclosure deal, look for houses that don't require much work so you can get some experience under your belt.

Research the Markets Surrounding Kauai Hawaii Real Estate Market

There are generally three reasons you'd buy a foreclosure in Kauai Hawaii: To rent out, to sell or to live in. If you're buying to repair and rent out or sell, then market research is absolutely essential.

If you're buying to rent, it's important to know what other properties in the Kauai Hawaii real estate area are renting for. It's also important to know what the vacancy rates are. Based on these numbers, you can accurately predict what your cashflow will be like.

If you're buying to sell, it's important to know what you can expect to sell your property for once your repairs are completed.

You should know these numbers before you make your purchase. Remember that with any real estate investment in Kauai Hawaii, the profit is made on the buy end, not the sell end. You must know how much your property is worth or how much you can rent it out for before you can make a profitable investment.

These tips will help you avoid some of the biggest pitfalls beginning investors tend to fall into with their first investments. Foreclosures can be a very lucrative business, but it also has its dangers.

There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in Kauai Hawaii real estate. For complete information about the Kauai Hawaii real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything Kauai Hawaii real estate at http://sheilamorales.com. Please feel free to contact me with any of your real estate or mortgage related questions and I will be more than glad to answer your questions. Call me on my cell at 808-652-1900 or email me at kauaipropertyshop@gmail.com.

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It appears that finally things are starting to move in the Kauai real estate market.  Where 6-12 months on the market is now the normal time frame, one segment of the market seems to be gaining momentum.

Foreclosure REO properties are being snapped up by smart buyers, both investors and homeowners.   Typically REO listings will go into escrow in 30 days or less.  What does this mean for buyers and sellers?

Buyers need to be prepared to move quickly on a property they desire.  This means being preapproved by a lender, and/or having proof of your cash funds available.  Most sellers of REO properties will not want to look at your offer without proof of cash funds or a preapproval letter from your lender.  Also be ready to make your best offer quickly.  Working with your Realtor and lender ahead of time will make the process smoother for you.  You can contact me at kauaipropertyshop@gmail.com or on my cell 808-652-1900 if you would like more information. 

Sellers should be aware of what the homes in the area are really selling for.  Be aware of properties like yours that are on the market as REO and short sale listings.  This is the pricing range that buyers are seeking in the current market conditions.  Pricing is key to affecting a successful sale in this market.  For a market evaluation of your property contact me at 808-652-1900 or by cell kauaipropertyshop@gmail.com.  Or for more Kauai real estate information visit my website.

By all accounts 2008 was a year of challenges for nearly everyone in Hawaii.  From soaring fuel rates, and failures of airlines serving Hawaii, to stocks plummeting, unemployment skyrocketing, bank bailouts and falling housing prices.

Kauai Hawaii real estate in 2008 saw prices dropping, but lending becoming more difficult to obtain. The failure of the financial community has put an end to the "if you're breathing you can buy a house" lending that was happening in the past. 

The cold hard fact is if you bought a house in the past couple of years, it is probably worth less now than when you bought it.  But, prices will go back up, they always do, if not always in the way we would like.  A rock rolling down a mountain imoves a lot faster than pushing it back to the top of the mountain, and so it will be with prices of real estate.  Coming down takes less time than going back up.

What about 2009?  It continues to be a "buyers market".    There are some excellent deals to be had, and these tend to sell quickly.  The best course of action is to be prepared.  Have a loan preAPPROVAL, have your deposit ready, be ready to make a decision when you see property, and be ready to wait patiently.  Most of the  really "good" deals will be "short sales" which require the sellers lender approval, which can take weeks to months to process.

Most of all work with a Realtor ahead of time.  Your realtor will keep you informed when the type of property you are looking for is available and many times will have knowledge of what's coming up for sale that may work for your needs.

Great deals in the Kauai Hawaii Real Estate market move quickly. 

I can be reached at 808-652-1900 or by email kauaipropertyshop@gmail.com

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One of the many dire predictions done these past few months by many Kauai Hawaii  ‘bubbleologists’ out there -

that is all those who indulge in the contemplation of bubbles in the Kauai Hawaii real estate market of all sizes and colors, whether real or imaginary, coming our way - was that by now real estate markets everywhere would be inundated and swept away by a tsunami of foreclosures of apocalyptic proportions.

The general rationale among those specializing in the fine art of staring at crystal balls (or perhaps at several empty bottles of rum) was that the steady increase in interest rates, the consequence of a tightening monetary policy implemented by the Fed since mid-2004, would have led by now to a collapse of the adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) market, since consumers could not possibly cope with the increased monthly payments. This, in turn, would dramatically increase mortgage defaults and foreclosures, with the end result that real estate markets everywhere would be flooded with excess inventory at deflated prices, thus causing markets to crash - the tsunami I was talking about.