All Forum Posts by: Elias Halvorson

Quote from @Henry T.:

Hawaii - $17 for a gallon of milk. $10 loaf of bread. and very tenant friendly. Property taxes are relatively low. Nice beaches. High crime I think. Real estate seems to be its own market, unlike the rest of the US. For retirement, if you can afford it in a nice area, its hard to beat.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2024/05/30/hawaii-news/honolu...    it’s safe I tell you! Lol

Quote from @Henry T.:

Hawaii - $17 for a gallon of milk. $10 loaf of bread. and very tenant friendly. Property taxes are relatively low. Nice beaches. High crime I think. Real estate seems to be its own market, unlike the rest of the US. For retirement, if you can afford it in a nice area, it’s hard to beat.

Henry, violent crime is amongst the lowest in the nation. Property crime is higher than average. Not sure what article you read but in  the nearly decade I’ve lived here I’ve never seen a 17$ gallon of milk. Sure everything is more expensive, but not to the extent you’re talking about. 

For me, when you factor in insurance, the FL market is just not where I want to be. I sold 4 cheap rentals in Gulfport/Buloxi this past year because I got sick of the hurricanes and carrying insurance pretty much eliminated almost all cashflow. 

Pay all cash? Where you gonna live braddah, Waianae? As you likely know, the average 3/2 here is $1.1M. I know you have a finance background and to each their own, but leveraging debt is a much faster way. 

Hi Mary, not sure on Texas rules, I’m a HI lender and a second is very common with the assumables. Many local banks and credit unions will do a second up to 89.99% loan to value. So in your scenario, if the place you were selling was 1M, but the loan was at 700k, here, many local banks would do a 200k second leaving buyer to only need to cover the last 100k. 

Oh, and I live in Kailua too! 

Call me biased being a HI resident and HI lender, but I agree with Henry! Completely different types of markets though. Florida is easier for flips and most areas are much lower price points. In HI it’s more of buy and hold. At today’s interest rates it’s very hard to cash flow, but the appreciation is pretty consistent. 

That would be amazing but I doubt it. If it works you can create a course and sell it for $99…

For me I would just save your $$$ and use it towards your next house down payment, but If I were you I would ask the Credit Union Loan Officer to break out the different scenarios. 

Hey Sunny, Random HI Mortgage Broker here, 

Here is my two cents:

1) 1.5 bps a day is actually a very cheap lock extension price. On the conventional side, one of the biggest lenders, I belive they'll give you a few days free, but if you need to extend over 5 days then it is 2.5 bps a day, and if you need a 2nd extension then they double it to 5 bps a day. 1.5 bps is VERY reasonable. That's only 45 bps for 30 days, rarely is it this cheap. 

2) If you have time to move somewhere else, you can A) go to another broker and get other non-QM quotes and threaten to leave the current broker if they do not give you a free extension/come down in pricing as rates have improved, or B) Tell current broker to get other quotes from other non-QM lenders they work with. THey will not be happy, but if they believe you are serious about leaving they will capitulate. 

Cheers! 

Hi Josh, 

So, we are missing some details about your loan - I assume it is a primary residence with you renting out the other side of the duplex? Confirming they were originally asking 350 and you offered 430K? A few thoughts from a random Mortgage Broker in Hawaii...

1) Your friend likely isn't a mortgage broker as there is a pretty big delta (1 pt)  between what your friend is quoting you and what I am seeing in pricing . Most Mortgage Banks have the ability to broker some loans and attempt to call themselves Brokers now as consumers are getting smarter and starting to realize in most situations Brokers have better rates. I'm not implying she's intentionally deceiving you, sometimes Mortgage Bank workers say it so often, it just becomes part of their vernacular! 

2) Quote #2 is too low. I don't see that pricing anywhere. Ask him if he charges an origination fee. Typically, sleazy lenders will keep repeating no points and show you a great rate, then when you get under contract and see the Loan Estimate you see that there is a 1% origination fee - basically the same as points just packaged differently. By this time you have 25 days left in contract and feel it's too late to switch lenders. Extremely dishonest advertising and it infuriates me. Maybe he told you there was an origination fee? If so, that origination fee is the basically the same as points so treat it as such when you are comparing lenders. 

3) This seems like the best rate and fixed or 7/1 seems like the best deal. No, you dont need 20% equity to refinance. I like that ARM option the best.

4) Chase - no comment other than unless you are an extremely high networth individual I would go with someone else. 

Hope this helps. Im only licensed in HI and WA so not trying to get you to go with me, just giving some advice! lol.