Weekly Waikiki Real Estate Walking Tours
The latest home-buying trend has legs, er, feet. As evidenced by two of my recent posts (see my stories on Kailua real estate bike tours, www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/Real-Estate/September-2010/Tour-Kailua-Real-Estate-by-Bike and Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties’ Waikiki is Open event, www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/Real-Estate/September-2010/Waikiki-Open-House), eco-friendly real estate tours are popping up left and right. But it seems I missed one: Century 21 All Islands has long been hosting weekly real estate walking tours in Waikiki. “We have brokers’ opens on Wednesdays,” says broker in charge Jane Dukesherer. “So we thought it would be a fun, eco-friendly way to show properties and keep abreast of what’s coming on the market by walking around and seeing all the properties that are open in Waikiki.”
Interested groups meet at the company’s Waikiki office at 9:30 a.m. each Wednesday and then strike out on foot to view properties. According to Dukesherer, groups usually get to view about five properties, though it’s possible to see more depending on what properties are open that day, and tours can be customized to buyers’ needs. “If the group is interested in condo-hotels in the $300,000 range, we can tailor the tour to that,” she says. “But we always like to a throw a ‘wow’ property in there. If we have a really exciting penthouse that’s open, we’ll throw that in, too.”
The tour gives buyers the opportunity to get a good sense of what the neighborhood has to offer, and how it might feel to live in Waikiki. It’s also a good way to dip your toe in the local real estate pool without having to dive in right away. “It’s a great way for the agents to get next to clients who aren’t really ready to commit to getting into a car or getting with an agent,” says Dukesherer. “They figure, Why not visit with us on our walking tour on Wednesdays? They’re more likely to do something more casual like that.”
Information: The weekly Waikiki Walking Tours begin at 9:30 a.m. every Wednesday at the Century 21 All Islands Waikiki office located on the ground floor of the Waikiki Trade Center, 2255 Kuhio Ave., Ste. S17. For more information, call 953-2100.
