Over the last few weeks we've been letting you know about all the great tools we have available to help you search for Maui real estate. But that's not all. We also bring you important information by video. On a regular basis we post videos to help you in your search for that perfect South Maui home, or oceanfront condo.

For example, need help understanding the pros and cons of buying a bank owned REO property on Maui? Not sure exactly what a short sale is? Or how you can take advantage? Or even if you should?

Here's a few of our latest entries:

• Luxury Maui Real Estate-Tom Tezak's Podcast 11-04-09
• The pros and cons of Maui REO bank sales
• Short sales on Maui, what are they & are they worth it?

We'll be bringing you more great information by video, so come back often and check out our Maui real estate video page, or better yet, join our YouTube channel!

Here is a recipe that I created over the weekend for a dinner party it was killa

One of the other things I like to do besides sell Maui real estate is cook and create some new taste sensations, I especially like it when I use ingredients from our local resources. In this recipe I used my client, Marcia’s Pomellos (like a grapefruit but a bit sweater) to create my

“Spicy Cactus Pomello Barbecue Shrimp”
Ingredients
1 finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
½ cup x 2 pomello juice (ok so you can’t find a pomello substitute ¼ cup orange juice & ¼ cup lemon Juke) or call me and maybe I can get one for you from Marcia or even better buy her house and you can have all you want!!!
½ cup “Plochman’s Chicago Fire Mustard” ( it makes it pretty spicy with a slow burn) if you prefer it a bit less spicy use regular mustard. If you cannot find Chicago fire a couple shakes of Tabasco sauce will give regular mustard the kick
½ cup agave nectar from the agave cactus (you should be able to find it in your local health food store)
1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 lb of large shrimp or prawns
Wood skewers

Preparation: Start by soaking skewers in water to prevent them from burning on the grill. Squeeze the pomello into a bowl and zest a ½ teaspoon (chopped fine) of the pomello or lemon. Take ½ cup of pomello juice and marinate the shrimp while you are preparing the sauce. cook onion in butter or olive oil in a sauce pan till soft and caramelized. Once the onions have caramelized mix the rest of the ingredients including the other ½ cup of the pomello juice into the saucepan with the onions. Add cracked black pepper to taste as sauce simmers for 10 to 20 minutes, continue to whisk to keep sauce from burning. once sauce has reduced to a thick consistency remove from heat and let set for 15-30 minutes. While sauce is setting take shrimp and thread on skewers, fire up the bar-be-que grill and get hot, brush grates with a bit of olive oil to prevent shrimp from sticking to hot grill. Place the shrimp on the grill and cook for 1 ½ to 2 minutes then flip, brush with bar-be-que sauce and cook for another 1/2 to 1 minute flip and brush with sauce and remove, do not overcook shrimp, shrimp is done when it just turns white and is no longer translucent, it will become tough if overcooked. Use the rest of the sauce for a dipping sauce or save it for you rack of ribs for tomorrow night.

Warmest Aloha,
tt

Maui Real Estate Statistics

When you're trying to make an informed decision about something as important as Maui real estate you can never have too much information. At TomTezak.com we strive to get you the information you need. For example, when you do a search for South Maui real estate, and are looking for a Kihei home, or Wailea Condo, each property you find will come with statistics. Just scroll down to find the Area Real Estate Stats, and for even more information and graphs, click on "Show More Stats."

And that's not all. Just recently we added information about sold Maui properties to our website. Now, whenever you pull up a property you will see an option to "View Comps." Just click here to get a list of the last six months of sold properties. They will be filtered by the same criteria you used in your original search. For example, if you do a search for Wailea condos, and select two bedrooms and two bathrooms in your search, then any property you pull up will show you the solds matching these same criteria.

Of course, having accurate information is only half the battle. Correct interpretation is key. For that you need a competent and experienced Realtor. But that's the easy part. Just email: Tom@TomTezak.com!

Even More Maui Real Estate Information

Buying a home on Maui is about more than just a piece of property. It's about neighborhood, culture, and family. It's important to know about the area you are looking into, and what kinds of services are nearby. We have put together as much information as possible about Maui to help you in your search.

First, you can find out just about anything you could want to know about Maui by visiting our Maui information pages. But to make it even easier we integrate much of that information into our Maui property search. You can even search for Maui properties by map. From our Maui map search page, just select the parameters you want to use, then submit. The properties that match your search will appear on the map. You can zoom in to see exactly where on Maui they are, and click on the icons to see more information about that property. To get to the full view, just click on "More Info."

But that's not the only map. When you conduct any search, whether oceanfront Wailea/Makena condos, or Kihei homes, then pull up a list of properties that match your search, there will be a "Show Map" button at the top of the list. This will map all the properties on the page, and you can easily switch to Google Street View, if available for that area, to get a real view of the neighborhood.

Once you drill down to a full listing view, you can get even more information. Click on the "Show Map" icon from any listing, and you will get a map of that property with the option to show schools, churches, restaurants, parks & beaches, and museums that are nearby. You can also get to Google Street View from this map. If there is no street view nearby the property, you'll see the "Peg Man" who you can drag to any blue line to get a street view from there.

For additional information about area ammenitites, check the "Area Information" section. From here you can list Maui schools, Maui churches, restaurants, parks & beaches, or museums within one, five, or ten miles of your Maui property. And of course, if there's anything you want to know but can't find, just click the "More Info" icon, and ask!

Next week, statistics and sales data. Did you know you can now get comparables information from TomTezak.com?

Find Your Maui Dream Home

Last week I talked about how to use some of the great Maui property search tools on my site. But what about when you've found those few properties you're interested in? When you come back to find them again, do you have to go through all that work? Nope.

You can create your own custom database to store your favorite finds. Moreover, if you've created that specific search, instead of filling out the search form each time, you can save that search to your database, and even have the South Maui properties that match your search sent to you via email each day or week.

To create your wish list database, just click on the Login button from the search screen, or just go to the client login page. If you don't yet have an account, fill out the "New Account" form and submit. We will not use your email for any other purpose. We will not add it to a list and start sending you emails you didn't ask for. It will only be used for notices from your database, or to have your listing searches sent to you, if you turn that feature on.

Now that you have created a login you can start saving your favorite searches or Maui listings to your database. If you want to save a search, visit the search form, put in your citeria, and submit your search. At the top of the list of Maui properties there will be a "Save Search" button. Click on the button and you can enter a name for your search, and if you want to get an email each day or week with the last seven days of matches, turn on the "Flash Email." Any time you want to get to your saved searches, just click the "Saved Searches" button at the top of the search screen. From here you can view the search results, or change the Flash email settings.

While the saved searches are nice, I think the really cool part is the Wish List section. Each time you find a property you're interested in, you can add it to your wish list by clicking on the "Wish List" icon along the top of the listing info. You'll be able to give it a name, a rating, and add any notes you like. The rating makes it easy to sort your wish list. (If you later view a listing that is in your wish list, instead of an add button, you'll see your actual rating!)

Now, when you come back, instead of searching all over for your favorites, just log in and click on "Wish List." You'll see all the Maui properties you've added. From here you can print or send the list by email. You can view each listing, email it, print it, delete it, or change the rating. You can sort your list by rating, price, or date added. And a really cool feature, you can do a new search based on the parameters of a property. Just click on "Suggest" and set the items to how closely you want them to match that property, and search.

Next week, Maui maps and Maui information...and more Maui maps and more Maui information...

Maui Real Estate Property Search

In this Internet age, it's more important than ever to have the most powerful tools to get to the information you need. This seem especially true in real estate. With all the varying information out there about Maui real estate, we want to be sure we're bringing you the most accurate, and most powerful property search we can.

We've recently added lots of options to our search; so many that you may not even realize how much you can do. So, for the next couple weeks we're going to be giving you a primer on searching for Maui properties at TomTezak.com.

First, how do you find what you're looking for? If you want the latest South Maui listings, that's easy; they're right on the front page. Just scroll down a little and you're there. If you have a specific part of the island you're interested in, you may find that I've already got a button that goes straight there. Just check the main menu. For example, if you're looking for Oceanfront, Wailea, Condos, there's a link right on the menu that'll take you right there. If you're looking for the latest Maui foreclosure properties, the fourth button down will take you there.

If you want to keep up with the newest listings, then check out the Maui new listings page. It's updated every two hours, so bookmark it and check back often if you want to stay on top of things. And, of course, if you want to see what I have listed, just check out Tom Tezak's Maui properties.

And then... there's the full search form. To search the entire database of active Maui listings, just surf to our search page. From here you can put in any criteria you like, and search properties. See the little dotted line under some of the terms? Just mouse over that for a definition. (You do know what an Ohana is, right?)

Remember, you're not going to find a more complete database of active Maui listings than right here. Next week, we'll talk more about all the info you can find. Did you know you can get a map of parks nearby any property? See a Google street view? Save your favorite listings to your own private database? Stay tuned...