Howard really goes above and beyond, and has the expertise and local knowledge you want in a…read morerealtor. He is honest, attentive and responsive. He put in many generous hours for our house buying process years ago, and we have recently had an extremely smooth process with selling with his help. We highly recommend working with Howard!

TL;DR: Howard is very knowledgeable, helpful, highly responsive, and friendly. Should you decide…read moreto buy or sell real property in Hilo or Puna, I recommend that you contact Howard. My family and I decided to sell our home (primarily used as a vacation home) in Hilo. One huge complication, though -- we live more than 2,000 miles away on the mainland. We weren't sure how to prepare the home for sale, negotiate offers, and prepare the documentation required to close the deal. We needed a local realtor ... and discovered Howard through Yelp. We were glad we did. (He deserves all the 5-star reviews in Yelp and Google.) Howard is about as perfect a real estate professional as you could imagine. He's thoroughly familiar with the Hilo and Puna real estate markets, and his extensive experience was evident from day one. He knew what, how, and how much to invest (time and money) to make the home marketable for an immediate sale. We listed the home for a bit over what we thought was the market value. Thanks to Howard's expertise and diligence, though, the home was on the market for just 3 days, during which we received 4 competitive offers. (I understand that homes in Hilo typically remain on the market for well over 2 months.) And we ended up selling at 5% over the list price! Needless to say, we were pleased with the outcome. Howard is also responsive to all communications. I remember being shocked (in a positive way) at his diligence, from day one: I reached out to him via text just after Christmas. Due to the holiday season, when many businesses are closed, I didn't expect a reply until perhaps the New Year. Instead, he replied within 15 minutes of my text! My family and I received that degree of responsiveness throughout the sale. We were so fortunate. We also appreciated Howard's customer-friendly, positive attitude (Aloha spirit). Every conversation, whether business-related or not, was a pleasure. Needless to say, I highly recommend his services. If you're in the market to buy or sell real property in or around Hilo, rest assured that Howard can and will make the process pain-free.

Nicolette and the team at Big Island Brokers are absolutely amazing…read more Let me set the stage - My wife and I have been looking to buy a home in Hawaii a while and finally have our ducks in a row financially and the motivation to move forward. In our copious research we stumbled upon a youtube channel for a local realtor that had a lot of really good info, including monthly updates in the market conditions on the Big Island. We think "hey, let's reach out to these people" and so we do. We then email these folks and wait.... Days go by.... We email a different person tangently related to the agent we were trying to reach and she gets us all in contact. Ok, great. A few emails back and forth, but each time we are waiting days to hear back. Starting to get bad feelings about it and like we are almost a bother to this realtor. We book a trip from the mainland to Big Island to come look. Set up our times and meet our agent. She's personable, sure. She takes us out for 2 days looking at many properties. There are a few we have some extra questions about and she makes some notes. After our 2 days looking at properties we take a few days to discuss and reach out to our agent.... Crickets. We go back to the mainland feeling frustrated. Email our agent about some prospects, nothing back. Trying to set up a return trip to the island we reach out again trying to book some time to look at places and asking about times and showings. We get a one word email back "sure". So why the great review? Well.... None of that happened with Big Island Brokers or Nicolette. Instead we called our friend in HPP and asked who he used when they bought their house 4 years ago. That's right, they used Big Island Brokers and he gave us a contact there who set us up with Nicolette. Nicolette called us while she was on vacation to say hi, introduce herself, and let us know she was thrilled to work with us. We set up a meet for when we were on island next and sent her a bunch of listings we had seen and our thoughts, along with listings we wanted to see coming up. Truth be told I basically just took the email we had sent to our previous agent (the one I got a 1 word response to) and modified it slightly to send to Nicolette. Nicolette finished her vacation and then sent us a wonderful email with detailed answers to our questions along with some insight we hadn't gotten previously into the areas we were interested in. We exchanged emails back and forth and made a game plan for our next trip on island. We then crammed in 30 some odd tours of properties in 2 days to maximize our time on island and found the perfect house with Nicolette. One that wasn't even really on our radar that cancelled our showing one of the days but she squeezed back into our schedule on day 2. We went back to see just that house a few days later and pulled the trigger. Nicolette has been very personable, communicative, friendly and made us feel like old friends. She has connections with local folks to help us get our next steps lined up too with respect to local trades and always made us a priority without ever coming off as trying to push us into anything. If you happen upon my review, look up Nicolette at Big Island Brokers. She and the entire team there will do right by you too. I am positive of that.

Sophia Douvris -- remember that name! My sisters and I decided to sell an undeveloped lot on the…read moreBig Island that had been in the family since shortly after Hawaii became a state in 1959. Real estate transactions are rarely smooth and easy, but the usual challenges and logistical headaches were exacerbated by several factors, including both sellers and buyers residing on the Mainland and having to adhere to Hawaii's real estate laws and procedures. There were several obstacles to overcome, not the least of which was old paperwork showing that there was a "flume" on the property left by the long-shuttered sugar factory (thankfully, a third party discovered that the flume was a mile away). I don't know how we could've managed what at times seemed like an impossible ordeal if it weren't for our Big Island real estate agent, Sophia Douvris. From our introductory email through the close of escrow, she was patient, kind, efficient, and good natured while having to navigate a thicket of procedural hurdles, communicate with three elderly people 2500 miles away, and deal with various legal/financial/administrative issues. Throughout, she clearly articulated comprehensive explanations, sometimes by succinctly putting the situation in the context of changes in Hawaiian and global commerce. She was diligent, professional, and forthcoming, and she made the process as pain-free as humanly possible. Sophia is proof that there are still some good-hearted, dedicated, conscientious people doing business these days. She's absolutely the best, and my sisters and I will forever be grateful to her.

Lailan Bento is a true professional , with both the knowledge, and patience, to lead her clients…read morethrough the myriad of steps of either buying and selling real estate, in the unique market on The Big Island!

Lailan and her team have been wonderful to work with in purchasing our new home on the islands…read more Quick response times, always accessible for questions and concerns, offering so many resources depending on our needs.. and all with a friendly, open and accepting attitude. Thank you Lailan and team!

I am planning to move to Big Island for my future happy retirement. I Have arrived in May, 2024…read morehoping to purchase an acre of land. As locals recommended , I have contacted a Big Island Brokerage in Pāhoa. Sophia was highly professional: attentive the most knowledgeable and patient. The very first property she recommended was the right one for me. And even we had a list to look at many more to choose from, after 5 days looking we came back to the one she recommended first. Good job, Sophia!

Big Island Brokers was very professional in handling the sale of my property. Sophia was my agent…read moreand with in one week of the listing being posted had a buyer. She was very helpful and had great communication, so I am completely happy with this business.

Winston Churchill is a realtor that you will definitely get along with and may also add as a…read morefriend. You will immediately notice that it is his style to care about you and gladly show you whatever properties you want and find things that you haven't found once he knows your interests.

From the owner: For expert real estate guidance in Pahoa, HI, locals know to turn to REALTOR® Winston Churchill…read more Winston has been in the business since 1976, and in that time, he's learned the ins-and-outs of what it means to deliver results for his clients. He maintains a strong focus on the pragmatic elements of real estate, but above all, he prioritizes relationships. Winston knows that satisfying results are the product of personalized strategies. This philosophy has guided his career, and continues to guide his mission to serve more Pahoa residents. EPRO, GRI, SSR, ADR

Disappointed to learn from my referring broker that her referral to Denise was not accepted as she…read moredid not want to pay a referral fee and participate in a Military rebate program for buyers. We chose Denise specifically as she mentioned on her bio that she was a Major in the Army and how she "also devotes many hours to various Veterans' Organizations." Did enjoy the webinar with local home inspection business.

Denise is an amazing realtor! When we first listed our home she lined us up with a professional…read morestager. The result was so awesome that a national house hunter television show (Waterfront House Hunters) filmed and aired our home! I recommend Denise over and over to anyone who asks my opinion for the Bis Island's best realtor!

Absolutely terrible company. Erin does not respond to texts, emails, phone calls, etc…read more The office manager is about as useful as a wet tissue.

I worked with Leihana from Hilo Bay Reality several times over the last 5 years. She set up an…read moreauto-email for me that monitored properties at a specific elevation and I was able to secure a lot for $8,500 to build my future home on. She's a very technical person and enhanced the experience.