Is it Really Green?
Often the best answer is not yes or no, but try a Third Way The great frustration of trying to live sustainably is the false dilemma —being asked to decide whether to do this or that, when in fact there…
All Stories
Operating Music
We all know gentle music can be relaxing, but it can also promote healing, says Hawaii ophthalmologist and classical pianist Jorge Camara. That’s him on the cover of his new CD, “Live from the Operating Room,” the first such on-site…
Leaving it at Work
Helping people balance their work, home lives and down time. Hawaii attorney Mark Murakami discovered a secret of success early. “My priorities, in order, are: husband, father, attorney, Coast Guard Reserve officer,” says Murakami, a member of the law firm Damon…
Where is the Bottom?
When will it recover? Just about everyone in the Hawaii housing sector – brokers, lenders, economists, appraisers, analysts – says the crystal ball on prices is murky. A lot of outside factors make it difficult to predict where prices will…
Hawaii's Top 25 Realtors
Welcome to our 2009 list of Hawaii’s Top 100 Realtors, based on sales volume for 2008. We hope you find it informative and useful. On this page we rank the top 25 sellers and on the following pages we list…
Cold Calls and Shoe Leather
What makes commercial real estate so complicated? “Downtown” Jamie Brown, a CRE All-Star and president of Hawaii Commercial Real Estate, looks puzzled by the question. “Have you ever seen a commercial real estate contract?” he asks. Fishing out a thick…
The Storm Warning
Will commercial real estate be the next crisis? “There’s an old adage,” says Steve Sofos. “Pigs get fat; hogs get slaughtered.” Sofos, president of Sofos Realty, Hawaii’s largest independent commercial real estate brokerage, is discussing the possibility of a collapse…
Young and Green
Michael Fairall doesn’t go to great lengths to advertise the “green” side of Mokulua Woodworking, his Kailua-based construction company. Never mind the sometimes surreptitious adherence to LEED standards, like low-flow plumbing (“Basically, we bring that approach to anything that we…
Ask SmallBiz: Dividing Family Stock
Q. What should the owners of a family business consider when dividing shares of stock among their children? I have been told never to give two children equal shares. -Monica Toguchi, VP, Administration and Planning, Highway Inn Inc. A. You’re right,…
Internet Transforms Home Sales, but Realtors Survive
Some say real estate professionals might be more important than ever Less than 20 years ago, prospective homebuyers could look at newspapers and drive around to find yard signs. However, most would call a Realtor because they alone had access…
Local Life Lessons
A little book has important advice for some of the Islands' big-business leaders Growing up, Wesley Park aspired to be ordinary. He ended up being extraordinary. When he was 4 years old, Park was stricken with polio. The debilitating disease…
Modern Life Off the Grid
Three years ago, after the Big Island was rocked by a 6.6 magnitude earthquake and power failed across the state, Judi Steinman and her husband, Shaul Baruch Janes, watched movies on their flat-screen TV and drank cold beverages from the…