Small Business Hawaii

Small Business News
July 2005 | Online Edition

Special Override Session This Month?

As of June 24, the Governor had signed more than 150 bills into law and vetoed only 1. She had to give notice to lawmakers by June 27 of an intent to veto any of the remaining bills.

House and Senate majority leaders were divided over convening a legislative Special session but are expected to resolve their differences and call the session in mid-July. Main objective is to try and override Governor Linda Lingle’s vetoes — she has until July 12 to actually veto bills. Another topic, urged by the Governor and Republicans is tax relief. A lot seems to be dependent on the actual vetoes by Lingle and progress on reorganization in the Senate.

Vice Speaker of the Hawaii State House of Representatives, K. Mark Takai, a Democrat who represents the districts of Newtown, Waiau, Pearl City and Waimalu, was called to full-time active military duty in May 2005, leaving his legislative duties behind.Takai, who is a Captain in the Hawaii Army National Guard, serving as a preventative medical officer, by law cannot participate in any legislative activities, sign correspondence to his constituents or work out of his state Capitol office, until he is relieved of full-time duty on Sept. 30, 2005. Takai says he was recently was deployed as the Army National Guard Deputy State Surgeon specifically to provide support for units deployed and returning from active duty. Because he cannot correspond with constituents, Takai has left his two office personnel — Lisa Vargas and Kendall Matsuyoshi — in charge.

The 2006 Legislative session does not begin until mid-January 2006, although Takai will miss any special session should one be called this summer.

In 2004, the House leadership faced another deployment related issue when State Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, a National Guard soldier who volunteered for service in Iraq after she had filed for re-election, learned she would be deployed for 18 months.

Tamayo, who represented Waipahu, Honouliuli and Ewa, stayed on the ballot, but per federal law, did not campaign for re-election. Tamayo was not re-elected, and is serving the remainder of her deployment in Iraq.

Quality Real Estate Service?

By Walt Harvey (R)
ABR, CRS, GRI, SRES, ePRO

Consumers have spoken again! They have let it be known they are reluctant to pay traditional commissions for low quality real estate service. The increasing use of so-called “discount brokers” indicates that some home sellers fail to see the value of traditional brokerage services and fees. What happened?

In the past, real estate brokers controlled the flow of information. If a seller or buyer wanted to know about property activity in an area they had to contact a broker who consulted the “MLS Book”. This book, published weekly by the local real estate board’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was only available to MLS participants (brokers and agents). It was marked “Confidential” and giving it or lending it to a prospective seller or buyer was grounds for disciplinary action.

Along came the Internet! Information is now available to everyone and the broker/agent role of “gatekeeper” has vanished. The good news for brokers is that sellers and buyers are better informed and easier to serve. The bad news for brokers is they have not done an adequate job of explaining the value of a broker in buying or selling property.

Real estate brokerage companies tend to reward sales production as number of homes sold or dollar volume sold, i.e. the “Million Dollar Club”. Real estate agents are “independent contractors” and as such, they provide “service” as they define it. Their company trains them to prospect and make sales, not necessarily in providing quality service. Is this model in the consumer’s interest?

Good news for consumers! Quality Service Certified® (QSC) recognized the need and started a certification program for agents, defining quality real estate service and holding agents accountable. Agents participate in the program by agreeing to a high standard of service and giving the consumer a written guarantee! When a transaction is completed, a survey is sent to the buyer or seller by an independent company, the agent’s service is evaluated and the agent is scored. If an agent fails to provide quality service, they are de-certified. Consumers can log onto the QSC site and find agents that are certified and see their score.

Buying or selling a home or investment property is one of the largest financial transactions in most or our lives and studies prove consumers will pay a premium for quality service. Now consumers have another resource to make a reasoned decision when selling or buying or exchanging real property.

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