Is It Easy to Buy a Home on Maui From the Mainland During COVID-19?

The short answer is, YES it is, if you use Dev! I will go through a couple of case studies of recent clients that have bought homes remotely, without ever stepping foot on the property until after they purchased the home.

Case Study #1

A couple, whom I have been working with for years, decided that now was the time. Oddly, they saw our Hawaii Life TV show on HGTV and thought, “Dev would be a great agent to work with.” They had a reservation number for a new development and finally, their number was pulled in May of 2020! Unfortunately, Maui (and the state of Hawaii) was under strict travel quarantine, meaning they could not come out to see the house in person, without quarantining for 14 days. Thankfully with new video technology such as Zoom, Google Meets, WhatsApp, and Facetime, I was able to make it an easy process.

We set a time that worked for both the developer and buyers. The buyers’ choice of a video call was WhatsApp. I initially gave the tour with the wife and couple. Even though the couple was in different locations, everything went smoothly. After the tour, they were sold. We went under contract via Docusign, and then they wired money to our local escrow office. As the process went on, they had questioned the location in relation to the neighborhood and the ocean. Well, the home was under construction, and I couldn’t just walk on the construction site. Sooooo, I pulled out my DJI Mavic drone and took the photo below.

After seeing how close the home was to the ocean and Baby Beach in Lahaina, they were sold!

After securing financing, it was time for the final walk-through. Again, we used WhatsApp for the video walkthrough. The buyers also opted to have a home inspection. The good thing about buying new construction is that almost all items are covered in the first year’s warranty. Typically, what’s not covered are paint and blemishes made by the buyer.

Closing day came and I went to the developer and got the keys for the buyer. Later that day, I picked up the buyers at the airport and took them to quarantine at their new home where they are living happily ever after! Don’t take my word for it see the testimony below:

“With Covid, we were not able to fly from Colorado out to inspect, do the walk-throughs or even close on the new build that we were purchasing. Dev stepped up to the plate and video-called us as he walked the property with the inspector, handled the meetings with the builder, and handled the closing and picked up the keys for us. It was extremely helpful and we are very grateful for his time and expertise! Dev rocks!” – Margo & Tim

“Perhaps buying a home remotely is becoming the new normal. We were worried at first, but because we have Dev, everything worked out better than we ever dreamed. Now we have our dream home. Thank you, Dev! We could not have done it without you.” – Margo & Tim

Case Study #2

The second case was very similar to the first, except the buyers weren’t set to retire for a couple of years and thought, ‘life is too short, let’s enjoy our Maui retirement sooner rather than later.’ Again, I had been working with the buyers for years and had shown them multiple homes. We initially found a property with a pool and we did a video tour with Android’s video call. After doing some due diligence on the home, the buyers decided the home was not for them.

We located another house nearby and conducted a second video-call. The buyers liked it so much they wanted to make an offer. After negotiating a price, it was time to get back to work. I recommended several home inspectors, and the buyers chose one they felt most comfortable with. I met the home inspector at the property, and at the end of the inspection, we did a video-call review with the buyers. There were a few minor repairs that needed to be done, and the sellers agreed to fix them.

The buyers were pre-qualified with a local lender, and the lender was able to handle the transaction remotely. The lender and escrow company permitted the buyers to sign their closing and mortgage documents at their kitchen table on the mainland. The buyers are very happy and excited to finally retire here in Maui.

Below is the buyers’ testimonial.

“Purchasing a home in a State you are not [in] presents some uncomfortable challenges. As buyers, we were not able to physically visit the property. We had to rely on the input from our Hawaii Life Realtor, Harry Dev Devery. We viewed several homes via video chat with Dev on site. Dev was able to show and provide information, such as the size of the rooms and advise on potential issues we may encounter. Not being on site took away our ability to use the 5 senses usually incorporated in viewing a home. One of those very important senses being smell. Dev was our proxy for this. Video viewing can present some challenges, one of those being connectivity. However, when the screen froze, Dev was able to backtrack and show us the areas we missed or wanted to go back to. Dev’s knowledge of the area provided insight into such things as HOA issues and personalities. Without Dev’s diligence, we would not have found the home we eventually purchased. While it is said that buying a home is one of the most stressful things a person will do in their life, our experience was virtually stress-free. Negotiations, purchase, and financing flowed without difficulty or worry. Additionally, Dev provided excellent information for relocation transport for our property we were taking over with us, utilities, landscaping, and assisted us in checking on our home until we eventually arrived.” -Joe & Linda

If you have any questions or would like to look at homes on Maui remotely, please do not hesitate to contact me at 808-870-0966 or devdevery@hawaiilife.com. To view homes similar to the ones sold here don’t hesitate to CLICK HERE!