The Maui Goodness

We’ve decided to open up posting to Maui Realtors as well as Maui Developers for FREE on our Maui Real Estate and Development Blog!  We will continue posting about Maui real estate, but we now want to offer this site to other Maui Professionals. Already we’ve had Maui Realtor Sherri Vann promote her open house on here with great success.

What you need to do:

1. Email us at the above address in red.  Let us know that you’re serious about writing blog post(s).
2. In the Right Column of this page, at the bottom you’ll see a REGISTER link under Subscribe.  Click.
3. Register.  We will then accept you within 24-48 hours.
4. Write Blog Post(s).

Rules for Writing:

• You may only write about Maui related subjects.  We prefer only Maui Real Estate and Maui Development posts.  These can include a home for sale, new project in development, Maui news, or any other related subject.
• You MAY NOT write solely to promote yourself our your company.  This means the post must have some substance.
• The post must be at least a paragraph long.
• Grammar and Spelling must be checked before submitting.
• The post MAY NOT be duplicate content from another website.
• Only 2 links per post.  These links must be Maui related.
• PHOTOS: They must be saved for web.  We don’t want people posting huge files.

If all of this is done, your post will be accepted and posted.  If not, you will be deleted as a user immediately.

Why are we doing this?

Our site gets over 1,000 visitors per month and growing.  We’ve projected that this site will hit 3,000 in less than a year.  It takes quite a lot of time to promote this site, and we need your help in posting relevant, helpful Maui information.  This is a great way for you to promote your business, real estate, development, or any other Maui subject.  We’re open to any relevant topic.  Please don’t write short, crappy posts; you will be deleted forever.  Mahalo!

The island of Lanai is likely moving into a new phase of housing development.  The county has proposed a project for over 400 new homes in a $23 million affordable housing development to be completed over the next 17 years.

The housing development would be built over 73 acres behind Lanai High School and the Elementary.  Along with the housing, area would be set aside for more empty lots as well as 2 parks and a full community center.

The county will be looking to process the project on a fast track set up to allow exemptions from community plan amendments and change-of-zoning processes.  Being affordable housing will allow it to move faster through the system for approval.

But with anything in Maui County, even if everything goes perfectly, we won’t see construction of new homes anytime in the near future.  Everything takes 100 times as long to process and complete in the state of Hawaii.  That’s probably why most of Hawaii is still beautiful.

You may also be interested in rading about the Lanai Wind Farm.  If you want to learn more about new projects in Maui, Check out Maui Real Estate Development.

The recent crack down on illegal transient vacation rentals has become a reality for many Maui landlords and especially for one in particular. California resident and Maui homeowner Stephanie Rager is having legal action brought against her by Maui County. If she is convicted, she will have to pay up to $200,000 for repeatedly renting her home after having been warned. The case against her is strong, and it seems that the County will be making an example of her. Though the maximum penalty is not anticipated, Maui Lawyers are licking their chops.

Meanwhile, condominium communities zoned for vacation rentals will continue to prosper as well as hotels and resorts.

To read more about real estate and future developments, see our Maui Real Estate website.

Like most of the nation, our economy in Hawaii is taking a hit. Hawaii Real estate prices have steadied, but not fallen like those on the mainland. Thanks to the bankruptcies of both ATA and Aloha, the cost of flying to Hawaii has dramatically risen. This, combined with the rest of the nation’s belt-tightening, has had a major effect on our level of tourism. Hotel and resort capacity is down and projected to stay down through the summer. Concerning Hawaii and Maui in particular, there are definite good and bad factors involved in our present economy.

THE BAD
Hawaii is the most oil dependant State in the most oil dependant Country in the World. The rising fuel costs affect everything in our lives. With everything being shipped from overseas, Hawaii’s economy is a slave to the oil industry. Signs of this changing are slim to none. With the rising costs, Hawaii is becoming ever more expensive to live and visit.

THE GOOD
Hawaii seems to get hit by a slumping economy a little later than the rest of our Country. Hawaii real estate is still highly valued because the people that can afford to buy here are of a different breed. Wealthy people tend to weather storms better than the masses, and the wealthy are the ones buying second homes in Hawaii, especially when the economy is struggling. Decreasing value in the dollar can only help Hawaii tourism and industry. A huge portion of visitors to Hawaii come from Canada and Japan. With the dollar becoming worth less, tourism will rise with international visitors. These visitors will help us grow and stay afloat through the rough times.

WHAT WE CAN DO
American visitors and residents of Hawaii both need to concentrate on buying American, and traveling in America. Keeping money in this country will ensure our prosperity. As the dollar falls, local production is more attractive and will help our economy. Signs of this are already present. The film industry rushed to Canada to save money in the last 5 years. Just in the last year, we’re seeing filming move back to the USA. With major tax incentives, the state of Hawaii has enjoyed industry revenue with recent filming on Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai.

With concentration on continued spending within Hawaii, this rough spot in our economy will be lessened, and we’ll be better prepared for the next wave of prosperity.