Big Island Brokers — Local services in Hawaii

Nicolette and the team at Big Island Brokers are absolutely amazing.

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...

Sophia Douvris — remember that name! My sisters and I decided to sell an undeveloped lot on the Big 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 Brokers 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...

Selling a property from abroad can be a daunting experience, but Big Island Brokers made it an absolute breeze! As first-time sellers, we were nervous about the entire process, but from the very first interaction, Nicolette and her team put us completely at ease.

Nicolette, in particular, went above and beyond in every aspect of our sale. Her expertise, attention to detail, and genuine care were evident in every step of the process. She was incredibly responsive and took the time to thoroughly explain each stage, ensuring that we were always informed and comfortable with the decisions being made. Her local market knowledge was invaluable, and she ensured that our property was marketed effectively and sold quickly.

We truly felt like we were in the best hands possible. Nicolette’s professionalism, coupled with her warm and friendly demeanor, made this potentially stressful experience a positive and rewarding one. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome and highly recommend Big Island Brokers to anyone looking to buy or sell property in Hawaii. They are simply the best!

Thank you, Nicolette and the entire team at Big Island Brokers, for making our first selling experience...