In February 2021 in the midst of Covid, we moved to Hawaii with stars in our eyes looking for a home on the east side of Oahu. At this time, inventory was very low and buyers like us were plentiful. We were anxious because the competition was so fierce. It would have been very easy for our real estate agent to rush us into bidding too much for a property with hidden drawbacks. Not Scott Startsman. He protected us from buying something that was not in our long term interest. He could protect us because, after 20 fruitful years of buying, selling and building properties in Oahu, he has the knowledge of full time appraiser and general contractor in addition to being a real estate agent.
For example, we were all set to bid on one property until Scott pointed out that most of the family room was below grade and would be under water after a good rain. Raising the floor would require raising the roof as well.
Another property really had us spinning until Scott pointed out the 20' easement next to the busy street in front of the property and the sump pump in the Ohana unit. We wouldn't have been warned without our high-integrity, highly skilled agent, Scott Startsman.
We found another home walking distance to Kailua Beach that included rental units. We offered well above asking price and got into escrow. Scott smelled a rat. He called in some favors at the county clerk's office and got copies of the CC&R referenced by the preliminary title report but not available online. It showed that any and all rentals were banned by the CC&R. All it would take to shut down our rental income would be for a neighbor to threaten legal action. In addition, Scott noticed that all three structures on the property encroached on offsets. If we ever wanted to make major improvements to them under permit, we'd have to either move them or rebuild them completely. Scott deftly submitted a lower offer and the sellers cancelled our escrow. He got this done just in time for us to submit an offer on another home at a lower price. We were fortunate to win this competition as well and are now safe and sound in our Hawaiian dream home! read more