Maui Is Coming Back Alive! Kahana Ridge Neighborhood Tour & Home For Sale

Eric West here, hawaiirealestate.org, coming to you live with the new melon hat. Have you guys tried these new melon hats out? They are really good. They are redefining the hat industry as we know it. I don't know why I brought that up, but they're so nice. You want to know what the reasons are nice? Because number one, you're supporting a Maui-based business because it's the same company that owns Olukai, but also these hats, they don't just float when you're surfing, they also are washable. So most hats, you know, eventually they get dirty and then you try to wash them and then they're shaped wrong. These things are made to be washed so you can bring them back to life. So anyway, don't ask me where that came from. Again, this is YouTube Live, so we just flow right from the cuff. We have no idea what we're going to say, what we're going to do. But I thought this is one of those winter days where I'm almost like proud of Maui. I'm just proud of it. I'm like, you're such a good, like if it was my dog, I'd be like, you're such a good boy. You're such a good boy. That's what I would say to Koa, the dog. You're such a good boy. And it's like Maui. It's like Maui, you're such a good island. You're such a great lifestyle. You're such a perfect place to be in the wintertime. And it's just so perfect. You're just like, ah, and you want to share it. You want to share perfection, don't you? And I truly believe Maui is coming back alive. I think the new year has rung in a new vibe, a new aura, a new, uh, I don't know. Something new. Something new is going on. I can feel it. I can feel it in the salt-infused, plumeria-infused air. I can just feel it. Can you feel it? In the comments, let me know. Do you feel it? Well, if you don't feel it, you're about to feel it if you stick around on this live because we're going to tour. What I think is one of the best neighborhoods in the entire island, like literally all the way from Wailea, Makena, South Kihei, Laniapoko, all the way to Kapalua. I think if you're thinking about living here, second home, first home, third home, rental property is hard to beat Kahana Ridge. And why am I starting the video down here? Number one, because this is what you're really, really close to. You can walk down to this in just a few seconds. Okay, a few minutes. But I'm going to show you some of the other amenities that are on the way down here from Kahana Ridge. But before we do that, I just want to show you a little bit of the lifestyle, right? This is a little bit of the January lifestyle. Now, do you think that individual is cold right now? Do you think they're cold? No, they're not cold. As a matter of fact, they're in what's called bath water. What about this one? You think they're cold right now? You think they're cold? No, they are not cold. They are comfortable. And of course, you've got White Sandy Beach. Normally, not normally, but every once in a while in the wintertime, this is Mushrooms, the surf break right here. Really fun surf break. Over here, you have S-Turns. Over here, you have Pahaku Park, also known as S-Turns Park. And over here, you have the best, one of the best sushi restaurants on the island. But anyway, I thought I would start this live here. I do, of course, have my new little buddy here, the GTXL. Let's go for a quick ride and show you how fast you can get to where you want to go doing the float life and or walking. You can walk this. A lot of people walk this path. This is, of course, the lower road. You don't have to worry yourself by saying the lower Hono'opi'ilani Road because nobody can say that. You just call it, we just call it the lower road. A lot of people walk and jog and do their thing or hang out under the shade or just eat some ono grinds on the beach in the middle of the day. It's about one o'clock right now here on Maui. We just passed Kahana Beach Club entrance right here. This is a timeshare property. Across the street there, we have Kahana Villa. I'd say one of the best values, hotel zoned, not on the ocean, and you can do vacation rental. It has a pool. Very good value. I think a two-bedroom unit just sold there. I believe in the high 500s, low 600s, and, of course, the world-famous Sands of Kahana. And if you ever want to know where to park, I always like to point out the best public parking. There it is. There's a couple spots. And, of course, public beach access, right? So all these condos, in order to build their footprint, had to provide some kind of beach access and parking. It's all part of the deal. You just got to know where to look. Over here we have the Kahana Falls, and, of course, we always have somebody blowing somewhere on Maui. Always. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter what day of the week. There's always somebody with the most annoying two-stroke blower. You can't run and hide from that. You just can't. It's impossible. As a matter of fact, I just got done shooting a video for a new listing I've got coming on, and we're just getting ready to start the shoot. And sure enough, there's the blower guy. I think it's just a test of your sanity. Like God is just testing the limits of your sanity. How much can you handle? And the blower, I think, is the ultimate test of your sanity. Okay, over here we have, of course, the beautiful Kahana Manor. This is a mixed-use property, commercial on the bottom and residential up top. And yes, they are also vacation-rentable. And below we have Miso Fat, which is, of course, the sushi place I just recommended. I recommend it, sure. And of course, the best pizza, they say, on the west side of Maui is down here at Dolly's. Dolly's Pub and Cafe. Shout out. In the comments, have you had Dolly's Pizza? So why am I pointing all this stuff out? Because this is all really close to Kahana Ridge, and that's where we're going. So if you lived in Kahana Ridge and you wanted to walk down the hill and grab the best pizza or some of the best sushi money can buy, or step on the beach and get warm in the bath water or grab a surf at S-Turns or Mushrooms, it's all just minutes from your beautiful, hopefully, ocean-view lanai. All right, I'm going to cross here. I'm going to cross here. Going to keep it all legal, hopefully. All right, here we go. In the comments section, let me know, do you still eat at McDonald's? Because we're about to pass a McDonald's. I don't know about you, but I personally have not consumed a molecule of McDonald's in years. But that's not to say it's not nice to have close by, because you never know if you got little kids still. We basically stuffed our kids full of McDonald's most of their lives, which would probably explain most of their health issues they have today. Just kidding. But you do have a McDonald's right here. Look at that. Mickey D's. And there's a huge shopping center right here with a gym and dialysis. Dialysis, of course, if you failed to go to the gym over the years, then you're going to need the dialysis place. So you make your choice. Get the gym membership now or the dialysis membership later. Again, I don't make this stuff up. I just say it. I just... Okay, here we go. Here we go. All right, so this is the highway. That goes to Kapalua. So you have, you know, some of the best golf courses, if they're being watered right up there in Kapalua. The plantation course is being watered. And of course, the Montage Spa. And of course, Kapalua Bay, Napili Bay. I'm on a crosswalk. Will anybody honor the crosswalk? Thanks, bro. Hard to believe they honored the crosswalk. That's unheard of. Okay, here we are, going up Connor Ridge. Can you tell? I'm like risking life and limb here to bring you this content. So here's the entrance, the beautiful stone wall going up to Kahana Ridge. Now on the right here, you might be aware of Kahana Ridge Villas, which are the long-term condominiums to the right. So if you don't quite have the budget for the homes, you can always grab yourself a beautiful two or three-bedroom condo at Kahana Ridge Villas. I've sold a number of those over the years, and I'm a huge fan. Okay, so this, I will be honest with you, is where you get a little bit of an advantage with the OneWheel, because the OneWheel, notice I'm not respirating right now, I'm not working at all. I'm floating. I'm floating up the hill. So if you were to do this walk, trust me, this is going to count for your steps. This is going to count for some of your cardio. And normally I would want to do this, but if I'm doing a YouTube Live, you wouldn't want the steps and how long it would take. So that's one of the reasons we do the Float Life. So there's the entrance to the Villas at Kahana Ridge, and here we are coming up to the top of the hill to the neighborhood known as Kahana Ridge. I don't know about you, but when I came here on vacation back in the day, I came here in the 80s and the 90s, got engaged underwater, 95 at Black Rock. But this is one of those neighborhoods, whenever I came here on vacation, I would always drive through it and be like, yes, this is where I would live if I could just afford to live on Maui. I would live here. This is Kahana Ridge. There's a small little section of the neighborhood in this little area, but the vast majority of the neighborhood is to the north, and it does have a couple of nice dog parks. That's one of them with a nice little park bench, and I'll probably go over and show you the other one here shortly, but before I do that, I'd like to just point out a couple of little details, because it's all in the details, right? Is it just me, or is the devil in the details? It's always in the details. So one of the reasons why this side of the neighborhood is almost like its own little neighborhood, it's almost like Kahana Ridge phase one, because what you're going to notice here is getting in and out of this part of the neighborhood is super easy, right? You would just go out here, take a left, and you're out. Well, when you come up, you just come up, take a right, and you're in. There's just a few homes and a cul-de-sac, but what's notably missing is drive-by traffic and speed bumps. By the way, I'll put a link in the description for 17 Kahana Ridge. That one is on the market right now with Viewers Truly, and the link is in the description, so in my humble opinion, it is literally the trophy home of Kahana Ridge, and the write-up and the photos definitely speak for themselves, so please check that out when you get a chance. But notice how this is just a nice little cul-de-sac. I don't know about you, but if I still had little kids, this is where I'd want to be. I'd want to be in a cul-de-sac where they can come out, they can play, and there's not going to be any cars driving by. You can still park. You've got some nice parking out here, although they don't allow overnight parking here at Kahana Ridge, which is good in my humble opinion, and it is an HOA covenant-controlled community, which I think is also very good for protecting your home value. I know we don't like HOAs, but in the end, the squeeze is worth the juice because it protects your streetscape, it protects people from, you know, swapping out their transmissions on the front lawn and or leaving junk everywhere. You know what I'm talking about. It's unfortunate, but it happens all the time. As a matter of fact, there are some neighborhoods down off the lower road, known as Mahinahina, that at one point probably was a beautiful neighborhood, but now because of the lack of HOAs, I don't know, it's a little sketchy in my humble opinion. So investing in a property that's in a HOA covenant-controlled community, I think is just smart. It's just smart. It's just what you should do, in my humble opinion. Anyway, let's continue on. Enough. Because I could say a lot of negative things about HOAs, but I believe this HOA is run very well. Some great volunteers. Okay, here we are. First speed bump. So it is a speed bump-controlled community as well. But one thing you'll notice is, like, yes, there's just beautiful views from most of the homes here. And part of the purpose of this video is not just to show you the lifestyle and what's close by, but also so that you can just get a quick little look at the streetscape, what the homes look like in the area, and sort of the layout and the design. And you can see it was really designed with cul-de-sacs in mind, because there's cul-de-sacs everywhere. Are there negatives to Kahuna Ridge? I think so. Not all the lots are big enough to fit a pool, or they're just not structured properly because maybe there's an easement for Maui Land and Pine. You just don't have the size sometimes you need for a pool. So there's not many homes with pools here, but there are some, and they definitely do sell for a premium. As a result, that's got to be the loudest e-bike I've ever heard in my life. Normally, you can't hear those things coming up on you at all. Wow. There must be something wrong with that one. And not the entire neighborhood's been built out, as you can see. There's a big, beautiful lot. That gives you a sense of lot size. Has not been built. The occasional lot does sell in this neighborhood. Here's another one that hasn't been built. But again, kind of gives you a sense of the view. And the best view, of course, is if you have a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean, both Lanai and Molokai, and looking straight down Sunset Alley, without any obstructions. In other words, there's no roof that is popping over your head. This home, I believe, holds the record sale in the neighborhood. I think it just sold and traded for 2.7 and change. Pretty cool-looking modern structure. In the comments, let me know, have you done the drive through Kahuna Ridge, fantasizing about maybe having your own home on the west side of Maui? What else is cool about Kahuna Ridge is the location in terms of trade wind, cloud cover, rain. It does almost have an Apeliasque-type weather pattern, which is so nice. Just not too hot, not too cold, not too anything. Unlike, you know, some could argue that Lahaina is too hot, doesn't get enough wind or clouds or rain. That's a strong argument. But right about the time you hit Kaunapali Parkway is when the trade winds start to rip around the West Maia Mountains, also known as Mauna Kahalewai. And Kahuna Ridge is about where things get to be really perfect as far as the weather pattern. Now, in the last few years, it's been drier, been less rain, so even more reason to live further north. Kapalua, Napili, Kahuna. What do you guys think so far in the comments? Let me know. Maui's coming back. I can feel it. Like I said at the beginning of this live, there's a different energy in the air. Real estate market's picking up, phone is starting to ring off the hook again, interest rates are nice and low, and inventory has lots of selection. So unlike a few years ago when you kind of, you got to buy what you liked, but you didn't get to buy what you loved because inventory was tight and you just had to beg the seller to please, please sell it to me. Now, buyers have a little bit more leverage, a little bit more power. Here's a home that I've got listed that's getting ready to close. This is 12 Orica, just a couple more days and that one will be in the books. And it is right next to, and this also has a beautiful ocean view from the home, and is very close to the other entrance and exit to Kahana Ridge, which is good to know about right now. But look at this huge dog park. So this is really an extension of the front yard of 12 Orica, in my humble opinion. And they have two speed bumps to get to, so that's okay, you'll get used to them, you'll slow down. But here we go. Nice dog park, so it's a dog friendly community, I don't know about you, but there's nothing better than our furry friends, whether they're cats, dogs, squirrels, parrots, or rabbits. I love them all. There's nothing better than companionship. That looks like a GSP, German Shorthair Pointer. Oh yeah. Gotta make sure to keep the birds and the cats away. They have a very, I have a GSP, so I know. Very strong prey, they like to chase stuff. Alright, so this is the other entrance, exit to Kahana Ridge, known as Kahana Nui Road. And of course, a number of properties up this street as well. So another potential disadvantage to the neighborhood is if you're right on this front row, obviously you're right next to the highway, so you could pick up a little bit of road noise, but nothing too crazy, it's not like it's the 405 or anything. Again, notice all of the beautiful little cul-de-sacs, there's that golf cart lifestyle. Drive it on down to the beach, let's go, S-turns, catch some waves, there's nothing better than that golf cart lifestyle. Why is that? Because you're not gonna get a bunch of sand in the back of your car constantly, and it's just fun, that open air, it's almost like, you're almost as cool as one-wheeling, but a lot safer. Beautiful street there. Are you getting a sense for the neighborhood here? I think overall, they've done a wonderful job, a lot of these homes have been beautifully upgraded. This is, by the way, the only place to be on Maui on Halloween. This is it. This is where all the kids are, and this is where all the adults are, doing their adult thing. You know what I'm saying? It's a little bit of a potty, but it's just loaded with kids and trick-or-treating, and it is the ultimate Halloween destination on Maui. Like my neighborhood, where I live, I don't live here, although I tried multiple times, just didn't work out, but I don't think I had one trick-or-treater in my neighborhood this year come by my house. And we had candy and everything ready to go, but you come here, and it is back-to-back kids, poinciana, notice, yet another little cul-de-sac. So if cul-de-sac living is important for you, if you've got kids, if you want to have that quiet, no cars driving by your house constantly, and a nice place to play, I'm telling you, the way they designed this neighborhood just makes a ton of sense, and I love all the street names, Tulip, Blaze, pronounce the names. There's some streets down here that are named like, who in the heck, they did that on purpose, they're like, where do you get these Howleys, they're never going to understand a word, they'll never pronounce, they'll have to spell this street name out a thousand times a year. So I think it's one of the ways, but not in Kahana Ridge, you can actually pronounce most of the names, not all of them though, sorry. But the main one, Kahana Ridge Road, you can spell that, you can live with that, I think so anyway. All right guys, wait, I've had a ton of fun, it's been just an excuse to get some vitamin D, to enjoy that Maui air, you know what I'm talking about, you get off the airplane, it just hits you, right, just bam, and all of a sudden your blood pressure drops, you just feel healthy, and you're like, I'm surrounded by water, I'm going to do nothing but chill out and relax, and that's exactly what your life should look like when you're done working, and why not do it right here in Kahana Ridge. All right guys, be sure to check the link in the description for this beautiful home I have listed over here, thank you so much for participating in this live, thank you so much for liking, sharing, and subscribing, and giving me your comments on what you think about 17, that's my lucky number by the way guys, I was born January 17th, let's go, I'm getting younger every year, all right guys, until next time, Eric West out, Maui Dan, oh yeah, don't forget, helpdaniel.org, help Daniel, thank you, someone just donated 500 bucks to Daniel, that was so amazing, love you Daniel, helpdaniel.org, I'll put that link in the description as well, until next time, Eric West.