Is your Real Estate Agent Legitimate?

If you are selling your home, or buying a property you want the best, right?  After all you are going to trust a real estate professional with a lot of confidential information.  How do you even start to pick an agent to represent you? 

Well, there are a lot of ways to choose a pro, and I'll go over some of those tips in a later blog post.  Right now, lets concentrate on step number 1.

Determine if your agent has a valid, active real estate license in the state in which you are buying or selling.  This seems obvious doesn't it?  Unfortunately many folks think that just because they know of an agent, or have used them in the past, they are still legitimately an agent. 

In Hawaii, an easy way to find out if your agent of choice is licensed is to go to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA).  The link for looking up a licencee is: http://pvl.ehawaii.gov/pvlsearch/app

Enter in the name of the agent(s) you are considering.  The site will show if they are active, current, valid and in good standing.  You can also search to see if there have been any complaints against the person or company.

For Real Estate Agents, there are different license codes for Brokers and Sales Agents. The screen shot above is showing my license status. In Hawaii we renew our licences every two years, the next expiration is on 12/31/2012.

You may want to keep this site handy, it also lists other licensed professionals from Appraisers, to Contractors, Dentists, Electricians and more.

Eddie!...almost

Every winter surfers from around the world wait and keep watch on the waves coming into the north shore of Oahu.  Why is everyone so interested?  Why do people pack the lookout areas of Waimea Bay Beach Park and bundle up in hoodies, blankets and sleeping bags?

Why, the Eddie, of course!

What is the Eddie?  It's the best big wave surfing contest in the world! 

Waves have to come in consistently in at 20 feet, Hawaiian. This morning some sets had faces of 30 feet, but the sets were not consistent. At least 15,000 spectators streamed into Waimea Bay Beach Park before dawn in hopes that the Eddie Aikau big wave surf contest would be a go today.  Unfortunately, it wasn't but the crowd still got to see some world class surfing.

The Eddie is named after a fearless and humble waterman who saved many lives as a lifeguard at Waimea Bay. In March 1978, Aikau paddled toward Lanai on his surfboard to seek help for his fellow crew members after the Hokulea double-hull voyaging canoe capsized in the Molokai Channel. It was the last time Aikau was seen. The crew members were rescued after a Hawaiian Airlines pilot spotted them during a flight. A massive search and rescue effort for Aikau was initiated but he was never found.

The surf event in memory of Aikau moved to Waimea Bay from Sunset Beach in 1986.

Part of the appeal of the competition is its rarity. Conditions have to be perfect and the contest has only been held eight times in the 25 years since its inception.

When you are in Hawaii and you see the bumper sticker that says, "Eddie would go!"  Now you know what it means. :)

Mahalo Honolulu Star Advertiser!\

It's Whale Watching Season!

During the winter months, humpback whales migrate from their icy Alaskan waters 3,000 miles to Hawaii.  They mate and calve in our warm tropical waters.  Swimming at speeds of 3-9 mph and it takes them three months to get here!

On a sunny summer day, the excitement builds when a whale is spotted off the coastline. It is easy to see the familiar blow and sometimes we can spot a back or tail out of the water.  If you are lucky, whales can come quite close to shore and really put on a show.

Last year, I was touring a property and a pod of whales was frolicking directly below the lanai in Moanalua Bay in Hawaii Kai. They played for about half an hour before moving out further from the shoreline.

If you want to see whales up close and personal, there are many tour operators that have watching cruises.  You can choose from small mom and pop tours, to big fancy boats with luncheon provided. It's really exciting to hear their huffing and puffing breathing, and sometimes they will swim right beside the boat.

The whales only stay until early spring, then they migrate home again with their new family members.