Moving or PCSing to Oahu, Hawaii?

Hawaii Bound

Aloha! Are you moving Or PCSing to Oahu, Hawaii? Are you considering buying a home in Hawaii? Hi Everyone, this is Fawn Bertram with Homes by Fawn and Hawaii Life Real Estate.

Moving to Hawaii is really exciting. We PCS’d to Oahu in 2014 and fell in love with the island and its culture. Island paradise awaits, but here are 5 tips you need to know before buying a home.

Home Buying

Homes are usually priced higher and are smaller than homes are on the mainland. Land is premium in Hawaii. We’re on an island, there’s only so much land available.

Pre-Approval

One of the first things to do if you’re deciding to purchase a home is start the pre-approval process. This can be done even before you arrive to Hawaii.

The pre-approval process will let you know:

• What you’re pre-approved for
• The different types of loans that are available
• What your monthly mortgage payments would look like
• What credits or incentives you can receive and so much more

When you find a home you would like to place an offer on, here’s a “pro tip”, a pre-approval letter accompanies the offer. Not sure who to contact? We can send you a list of top lenders in the area.

Showings

Showing appointments are a little different than the mainland. Typically, we can’t expect to be granted access to see a home within a few hours. Some showings require a day’s notice up to 48 hours notice. If the home is owner or tenant occupied, showings require more time to show. If a home is vacant, we may be able to see the home sooner.

When we’re visiting a home during a showing, it is customary to take off your shoes or slippers when entering the house. It is highly recommended you wear slippers or sandals on the day of the showing. This makes it easy to slip off your shoes when seeing a home.

Open Houses

Sunday’s are typically the day when you’ll see open houses occurring in Oahu. These are open to the public and are usually held between 2 – 5 pm. An open house can occur any day of the week and any time, but by far, most happen on Sundays.

Island Time

Are you a stickler for time? Everything runs off of island time. Remember, things are slower on the island. There’s not a rush to do things and everything will happen at a slower pace.

These are just a few tips for purchasing a home in Oahu. We would love to go over more with you. For more information, please reach out by clicking the link below. We can’t wait to hear from you. Fawn Bertram with Homes by Fawn. We’re here to provide you with a smarter approach to real estate. Make it a great home buying and selling day.

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