Caleb Yamanaka's Q&A

Mack has a point... what was the information that they wouldn't give up.  There are many times a prospective Buyer asks for information that is just not available or the Seller will not answer.Case in point.  Person called today to ask "what is the bottom line price that Seller would accept?"  well the Seller will not disclose that info.  That is the Seller's perogative.  What the Seller was willing to say is "make an offer.  I will review any and all offers."Now this could be a serious buyer and it might not.  If that line scares you off then you really are not as serious as you might think you are, because you can still make any offer you wish.

The big island is made up of 5 volcanoes with many valleys, gulleys, etc. and usually the best views are on steep inclines.  We also happen to get a lot of rain (on the east side of the island).  water flow is extremely important and if you develop our land without proper controls for run off you can drastically affect your neighbors.

good point.  water flow is important for any property.

with any vacant lot, there is the question of water flow.  not only from the river in high water situations, but run off into the river.  How does water flow through your property?  Does water flow through your property when it rains.  If you are in a subdivision, are your neighbors run-off being filtered into your property?

for example my family has practiced real estate on this island for the past 40 years.  That would give us some historical perspective on various real estate issues.

the idea of "knows my community well"... I agree and diagree with NWHome.us.  I agree that competent person with access to the data can look at a market and tell you what is going on in that market at any given time.   I disagree with the notion that this somehow makes up for "local knowledge".I guess it depends on the location, but if we are talking about my neck of the woods in Hawaii.  There is no data that you can pull up which will tell you how water will flow through your property.  A person who is not local cannot tell you the various transactions on specific property, the problems the developer had with not using the correct fill in making a subdivision, etc., etc...  When it comes to raw numbers, I agree, anybody with access to data can interpret that for you, but if you are not familiar with the immediate area, you cannot tell the client why one subdivision is performing much better then another subdivision, and although exactly the same on paper, why one is worth more then the other.Now I might agree that these are specific issues, and maybe specific to my market, but I can tell you time and time again I hear "my agent didn't tell me that" from a person who used a non-local agent.  And the answer to that statement is "they didn't tell you because, how could they have known?".I am going to run on here, but if you start to call your Agent "local" just because they've lived in the area for a five years, then you might as well use the outside Agent too, because you cannot expect that Agent to have much more historical perspective then the other.So... if you require historical knowledge of a certain locale make sure that the person claiming to be "local" really has been there for quite awhile.

Gregorio,I think he is talking about those that are protected class as in the example of OMI (Owner Move In) evictions that were mentioned in the link I posted.  There are some class of renter who are protected from being evicted due to the Owner moving in eviction, but as also pointed out in the link there is a standard procedure to an Owner Move In eviction that must be followed.

better double check the 30 days notice for California.  Hawaii is 45 days notice on a month to month.Something about the questions about relatives or owner rings a bell.  I would talk with an Attorney before taking any eviction action, especially if you are breaking a lease.This article mentions such evictions, but pertains to San Francisco.although, since your tenants are on month to month I would assume there are easier ways to move towards eviction.* I am not a licensed Realtor in the State of California nor an Attorney in the State of California.  Please consult with an Attorney to answer your questions.

Without seeing your contract nobody can answer this question.  What contingencies are there in the contract?  Many contracts are written these days with many various contingencies that will allow for many different scenario.  I would suggest getting an Attorney to look into your contract, but you already have one.  What does your Attorney say?

By the sounds of it they are already in escrow.  Not sure what a release will do in regards to the Agents commission, as the Agent started the transaction as the Buyer's representative and is the procuring cause for the agreement.Commission agreement is between Seller's Agent and Buyer's Agent, regardless of if homeresearch fired their agent, the Seller's Agent is probably obligated to compensate the Buyer's Agent.