THE BUZZ
Compliments of Anne Diola of Old Republic Title & Escrow of Hawaii

April is a pivotal month in real estate. There’s just something about spring blossoms and long-awaited days of sunshine that spark home buying. Families start making plans to move over the summer months. Historically, from April through mid-July, the rush is on.
March marked a time of unseasonably bad weather and international tragedy, which affected real estate across the nation. Nationwide, existing home sales fell in February following three straight monthly increases.
Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, observes that “housing affordability is at record levels and the economy is improving. Still, home sales are being constrained by unnecessarily tight credit and appraisals that do not reflect rising prices. This tug and pull is causing a gradual but uneven recovery.”
All-cash sales were a record 33% in February and investors accounted for 19% of those sales. The balance of home sales was from first-time homebuyers or repeat buyers.
There are many great deals now. A prequalified buyer can reap substantial rewards. I work with some great mortgage consultants – let me know if you would like an introduction. Let the sun shine!

JUST ASK
Q: My house is stuck in the winter blues. How do I freshen it up for a spring sale?
A: The way you live in your home is not necessarily the best way to show your home when you’re trying to sell. If you are like most people, you enjoy your collections of things and your home probably doesn’t look like those on the HGTV tours. In order to sell for top dollar, you have to get rid of clutter.
Do you put off spring-cleaning? Does each item seem to call out to you and beg you to not put it away? If so, here is an easy method to reduce clutter.
Label four boxes:
Storage – Put things you don’t need for the next three months in here.
Put away – These are things you want to keep and enjoy regularly (for example, small picture frames of family), but need to be stored in a closet or garage temporarily to reduce clutter.
Give-Away/Sell – Who else will be happy to have this item? Be generous.
Trash – Damaged and broken items go here.
It sounds simple, but this really works. Move quickly. Your give-away box may end up in storage for a while. But the more you declutter, the more your home will appear more spacious and inviting to potential buyers.

FYI
This is the second in a series of articles on painting your home.
What is paint sheen and why does it matter? The sheen of the paint is the level of reflective light that can be seen when looking at the painted surface from an angle. The following are the various paint sheens available today:
Flat: The matte finish of a flat paint looks especially good on drywall and plaster. While it hides surface blemishes, flat paints are prone to show scuffs and grime and they are harder to clean. Ceilings are a good place to use a flat sheen.
Eggshell or Velvet: Eggshell is often used in place of a flat finish for walls since its surface is washable and more resistant to smudges. Some manufacturers now create a velvet finish, a lower-sheen cousin to eggshell that’s growing in popularity.
Satin: A satin finish is ideal for children’s rooms since they’re easy to clean up. It’s also good in bathrooms, kitchens and exterior applications. Excess moisture beads up in the surface instead of being absorbed into the paint.
Semi-gloss: This finish is good for woodwork and trim, when you want to set it off from a low-sheen wall. Some people like to use semi-gloss paint on kitchen walls since it’s durable and can be cleaned up easily. But keep in mind the higher the sheen, the more imperfections you’ll see.
Gloss: Gloss is best used when you want a dramatic shine on floors, woodwork or a dark accent wall. Smooth surfaces can appear like “plastic” when coated in a gloss finish, so use with caution.
Be sure to get samples of your paints before you purchase – though the types of sheen may have universal names, the actual sheen levels can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Next month we’ll consider the uses of color and how to pick the best colors to suit your home, look, and lifestyle.

Contact Info:
Anne Diola
Real Estate Marketing Specialist
Old Republic Title & Escrow of Hawaii
33 Lono Ave, Ste 195
Kahului, HI 96732
W: (808) 281-8430
M: (808) 281-8430
adiola@ortc.com

Canadian dollar extends gain after U.S. jobs, firm oil prices

Article from: http://www.yahoo.ca

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar rose to three-year highs against the U.S. currency on Friday morning after a strong U.S. jobs report underpinned hopes of an economic recovery.

The currency touched its highest level since November 2007 at C$0.9643 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0370, shortly after data showed U.S. nonfarm payrolls notched a second straight month of solid gains in March. A fall in the jobless rate to a two-year low of 8.8 percent also marked a decisive shift in the labor market that should help the economic recovery.

Firm oil prices also supported the Canadian dollar.

At 9:20 a.m. (1320 GMT), the Canadian currency stood at C$0.9645 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0368, up from Thursday’s close at C$0.9696 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0314.

“The technicals still favor a higher Canada. I think it will be a slow grind higher based on the strong oil prices and prospects of global recovery, which will get more traction I think…because of the U.S. employment data,” said Michael O’Neill, managing director at Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange.

“It was stronger than expected, but the market was looking for stronger than expected. The risk is then you don’t get as big a move.”

He said it was too early to tell if the break through the quadruple bottom of C$0.9680 was a move with conviction, putting the daily range between C$0.9640 and C$0.9720.

O’Neill said the Canadian dollar would also draw solid support from the price of oil, which was above $107 a barrel, trading around its highest since September 2008 as fighting in Libya, an OPEC producer, helped underpin the strength.

Canadian bond prices slid across the curve, tracking U.S. Treasuries, after the higher-than-expected growth in U.S. payrolls and the fall in unemployment, bringing closer the day when U.S. interest rates may rise. Investors shed safe-haven assets for stocks and other riskier bets in response.

Canadian interest rate hike expectations also firmed slightly, with the odds of a September rate hike gaining following the U.S. data. Traders maintained bets that there is little chance the central bank will raise rates in April, according to a Reuters calculation of yields on overnight index swaps. Odds of a May hike were also seen as low.

The two-year bond fell 7 Canadian cents to yield 1.867 percent, while the 10-year bond lost 17 Canadian cents to yield 3.371 percent.

(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; Editing by Leslie Adler)

Lehman Bros. to auction off Ritz-Carlton Kapalua

The giant investment banking firm is owed $268 million on the foreclosed Maui property

By Andrew Gomes
Article From: Star-Advertiser

The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua is headed for auction after a foreclosure lawsuit was filed in September.
The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua hotel is headed for a May auction, potentially giving the 404-unit luxury property a new owner after loans taken out to finance a lavish renovation in 2008 couldn’t be repaid.

Lehman Bros. received approval earlier this month to put the oceanfront property in West Maui up for auction after filing a foreclosure lawsuit in September against owners that include institutional investors and Maui Land & Pineapple Co.

The investment banking firm issued $232 million in loans to finance a $180 million renovation and condominium conversion plan that the hotel’s owners envisioned would be repaid by selling 107 units in one hotel wing as residential condos.

But downturns in the economy and real estate market inhibited sales, and the owners defaulted on the loan in early 2009. As of November, Lehman was owed $268 million including late fees, according to the foreclosure suit.

A new owner, which could include Lehman if no one is willing to pay more than the investment bank is owed, would be in a position to resume condo sales efforts or restructure the existing operating plan.

The original plan was created by a partnership led by Miami-based hotel investment and development firm Gencom Group, which bought the then-548-room hotel on land leased from Maui Land in 2006 for about $200 million.

At that time, Hawaii’s real estate and tourism markets were peaking, with annual visitor arrivals topping 7 million and luxury resort condos selling for eye-popping prices.

Initially, Gencom and partners Highgate Holdings and an investment fund affiliated with Goldman Sachs announced plans for a $45 million renovation. Then in 2007, the Gencom-led partnership said it would spend $95 million on the renovation and convert 107 units in the hotel to condos by reducing the number of hotel rooms.

Maui Land sold the land under the hotel in 2007 to the partnership for $25 million plus what ended up being a 16 percent ownership stake in the project.

The hotel was closed from July to December 2007 for the redevelopment work, which swelled to $180 million as the real estate market was cooling.

Still, the plan appeared on track for success as Gencom announced in early 2008 that it had signed 93 binding condo sales contracts for an average of $1.9 million, or $176 million in total.

Most of those sales, however, failed to close. Ultimately, only 34 sales were completed. Since then, the market has struggled with recovery, as one unit in the project that sold for $1.48 million in 2008 was resold last June for $700,000, according to property records.

Up for auction will be the 73 unsold condo units, 297 hotel units, common areas, commercial space and 21 acres of undeveloped land. The assets are being sold in bulk, not separately. The auction is scheduled for May 5 on Maui.

Local real estate industry executive Chris Lau is serving as foreclosure commissioner handling the auction.

Lau said early interest has been strong. “I’ve had many, many calls,” he said.

Under auction rules, Lehman could assume ownership if no one is willing to bid more than what it is owed, though the investment bank could let a bidder acquire the property for less.

A winning bid is subject to confirmation by a Circuit Court judge.

Joseph Toy, principal of Hospitality Advisors LLC, noted that several other Hawaii hotels that went to foreclosure auction during the economic downturn were retained by lenders, though he said it is too hard to predict whether someone will outbid Lehman for the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. “You just don’t know,” he said.

If the hotel changes hands at auction, the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua would have its fourth owner since it was built in 1992. Japan-based Nissho Iwai Corp., Ritz-Carlton Co. and Maui Land developed the hotel in 1992 for $206 million. After the hotel struggled financially in the mid-1990s, Nissho bought out its partners in 1996, and in 2001 sold the hotel to Marriott International and investment firm Blackacre Capital Management LLC for $144 million.

Sun and waves might be good for the soul, according to a new national survey naming Hawaii as tops in well-being among U.S. states — but the sunshine doesn’t necessarily elbow out Northern Lights and snow, as Alaska also made the top 10 happiest states list.

The 2010 telephone survey was conducted by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31. Results showed the South may need some smile help, with 10 southern states falling into the lower range of the list. Many western states, however, shined in well-being, with five of the top 10 located in that region of the country. [Related: Happiest States Revealed by New Research]

The survey — which included a random sample of 352,840 adults ages 18 and older living in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia — looked at six categories of well-being. These categories included life evaluation (self-evaluation about your present life situation and anticipated one in five years); emotional health; work environment (such as job satisfaction); physical health; healthy behavior; and basic access (access to health care, a doctor, a safe place to exercise and walk, as well as community satisfaction).

The top 10 states and their average well-being scores (out of a possible 100 points):

1.     Hawaii: 71.0

2.     Wyoming: 69.2

3.     North Dakota: 68.4

4.     Alaska: 68.3

5.     Colorado: 68.0

6.     Minnesota: 68.0

7.     South Dakota: 68.0

8.     Utah: 67.9

9.     Connecticut: 67.9

10.  Nebraska: 67.8

11.  Massachusetts: 67.8

The bottom 10 states

1.  West Virginia: 61.7

2.  Kentucky: 61.9

3.  Mississippi: 63.0

4.  Arkansas: 63.7

5.  Alabama: 63.7

6.  Ohio: 63.8

7.  Delaware: 64.2

8.  Nevada: 64.2

9.  Louisiana: 64.3

10.  Michigan: 64.6

(Full list of happiest states)

Hawaii’s stellar placement was due to its scores on three well-being categories: life evaluation, emotional health and physical health. At the other end of the spectrum, West Virginia came in last by performing worst on those same three categories.

Delaware residents reported the worst work environments in the country, while those living in South Dakota were most positive about work conditions.

Compared with 2009 well-being results, Vermont still boasted the best overall health habits in America, and Kentucky continued to have the worst. Massachusetts residents indicated the best access to necessities crucial to high well-being, while Mississippi residents again reported the worst, with a score on this index even lower than it was in 2009.

Climbing the well-being ladder

With many states encountering fiscal problems that have led to layoffs and salary cuts of public employees along with public-school closings, Gallup experts say it’ll be an upward climb to improve states’ well-being scores. [5 Things That Will Make You Happier]

They say states must find a way to increase residents’ access to good jobs and basic necessities — including medical care — while decreasing costly, chronic conditions, such as obesity and diabetes. These steps, Gallup says, will be the most likely ways to improve well-being.

But the role these factors play in a person’s happiness has been up for debate. Happiness, it seems, is a pretty complex state.

Research published in December 2009 issue of the Journal of Research in Personality looked at the relationship between 2008 well-being scores and various factors, including economic indicators, education levels, personality traits and levels of inclusiveness. They found the states with higher gross regional product (GRP) per capita (level of productivity and standard of living), higher income levels and higher median housing value were significantly happier than poorer areas.

In addition, the happiest states in 2008 tended to have more residents with advanced educations and jobs that were considered “super-creative,” such as architecture, engineering, computer and math occupations, library positions, arts and design work, as well as entertainment, sports and media occupations.

Researchers conducting another study, which was published in the Dec. 17, 2009 issue of the journal Science, generated a different happiest-states list that relied on people’s self-reported evaluation of well-being. The team of researchers reported the self-evaluations matched up with objective measures of well-being.

The team publishing their work in Science used their data to statistically create a representative American. That way they could take, for example, a 38-year-old woman with a high-school diploma and making medium-wage who is living anywhere and transplant her to another state and get a rough estimate of her happiness level.

Other studies have shown being happy means being old, male and Republican.  

You can follow LiveScience Managing Editor Jeanna Bryner on Twitter @jeannabryner.