All Forum Posts by: Paul Garcia

@Blair Poelman Thank you for such an insightful response. 

Thanks to everyone for such awesome and quick replies. Bottom line is it doesn't effect my offer (much). Since the listing agent doesn't want to offer any discount I'll likely bring in an agent of my own.

I respect that the listing agent would have to do some extra work and needs to get paid for their time. The listing agent I'm working with has been upfront and honest about all of this. 

If the seller is forced to pay the full commission in my transaction either way, I am at a huge disadvantage if I don't have someone in the transaction looking out for my interests. The listing agent has no financial incentive to offer me dual agency, either. And, sure enough, he declined to do so.

I appreciate everyone's help. I know negotiating over realtor commissions becomes a very sensitive topic. I'll invite in an agent to represent me if we can't find a way to work in a rebate or other concession (unlikely).

Today I submitted a verbal offer on a purchase for land in Hawaii. I contacted the listing agent directly and told him we're not currently working with an agent. I offered that the agent could either represent us as a "dual agent" or that we would represent ourselves without an agent. 

He preferred not to operate as a dual agent since we hadn't worked together. I understood and was happy with that, figuring that meant some savings on commission, too. However, after I submitted our offer and he presented it to the seller, he informed me the seller would still be responsible for the full commission. He said that, since I don't have an agent, he would be taking the full commission since "he'll be doing twice the work."

Can anyone help me out with how to approach making an offer without an agent? I have several people I could invite in on the deal to take the commission over letting this listing agent take double and he's literally offering me nothing. Up to this point, I've been marketing and hunting for a deal without an agent. My expectation is that this offers the seller savings and, indirectly, gives me the ability to offer a bit less.

This listing agent trying to take it all definitely hurt our offer. I specifically stated that our price was assuming "no buyer's commission" but that does not appear to have been communicated to the seller. In this cases, the seller has a counter-offer out to another buyer that they could of withdrawn since we basically offered list price. As it stands tonight, the seller is giving the other buyer priority at least until the counter expires.

My wife and I are moving to Oahu and have some colleagues we're working with to help build our primary residence. We currently have our eye on a tear down sitting on less than about 7,000 square feet of waterfront land. I'm curious if anyone has experience with the shoreline certification process and pulling permits to build waterfront. We would tear down and rebuild. We are familiar with many of the limitations the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permits places on such a project. We're comfortable we've come up with a workable solution that fits these limits if we can just cut through some of the red tape and compete the project in under 12 months. I'm told the certification alone can take 6 months to a year. And that's before we submit for the building permit. Anyone with experience in this process? We could try to structure an offer contingent on the certification but I don't think the sellers would be willing to wait. Instead, we may just lower our offer. Any words of wisdom or suggestions?

Bump. Anyone wholesaling the east side of Oahu?

@Sean SiskOur budget is $400k-700k before construction if buying land or a demo. We would love to be $800-1.2mil invested, with equity to show for our work, at the end of the project.

As I mentioned, our friend contracted his own build in that area with his father, used sub-contractors for nearly all the construction, and came in around $150/sq ft for the construction. We would like to do the same. My military training timeline would be an additional consideration when trying to run the project ourselves / with our parents.

Any wholesalers out there!? We're trying to find something that is no more than 15-20 minutes from Kailua, reasonable commute to HNL, and land that will accommodate a great view. Sloping terrain towards the bay should allow us to build up, views from the 2nd and possibly 3rd floor would be ideal. Beach or park access nearby would be a plus.

@Ingrid J. I would love to get started on the project before we move there. My hope would be that between multiple trips to the island, maybe relocating a parent there, and my friend in the area it would be manageable. 

Ideally I could knock out at least the demo and permitting from afar. I will likely move to the island before my wife is eligible to rotate, so there is a chance that we could wait until I get there to start the process.

One question I have, is it common to have to stop construction a few times throughout the building process to seek new permits?

@Billy Khaliidi can you tell me more about your experience with Atlas? Would they be willing to subcontract parts of the build?

My wife and I are both active duty military officers with an exciting opportunity to move to Oahu in about a year! We have a considerable stash of cash and will likely have high salaries to help us invest in a piece of property we would be proud to live in. 

We are considering buying land or a tear down in Kailua or Kaneohe Bay. One of my friends in the area completed a similar project for their own home, in the same area, for about $150/sq ft after the tear down. They used an architect to help develop the custom home, then sub-contracted the work over 9-12 months.

Neither of us are contractors but we're very excited about real estate and are here to learn. Both of our fathers' have great knowledge in flips, rentals, and new construction and have been doing that for the last few decades. We hope to put them to work for us in exchange for free trips to Hawaii to hang out with their family.

Can anyone suggest reading material for a tear down/rebuild? Any experience in Hawaii interested in offering suggestions? While a tear down is exciting, we're also considering a single family home that could be lived in for a year or two and then "added on." Ultimately we want to build up to capitalize on some incredible views with a nice deck.

First post after a long time lurking. Thanks for any help in advance. Love BP!