Finding home, Hawaiian style.
Making it easy to call this place home.
Aloha, I’m Katie. Ask me what it’s honestly like to live on that street. I’ll tell you, even when the answer costs me the sale.
Oʻahu, August 2026. See the full market read →
Buying
Live MLS search, off-market homes when I hear of them, and the flood zone, leasehold and permit check done before you fall in love. Video walkthroughs if you are still on the mainland.
Start your searchSelling
Complimentary staging, professional photography, and pricing built from real HiCentral comps instead of a website estimate. Plus a straight answer about what your home will bring.
See the plan
This island is home.
I have raised my girls here and built my business here, and I learned this island the way you only can by living on it. I know which side of the Pali the rain sits on, what a street feels like at six in the evening, and which neighborhoods fit which lifestyle.
Respecting this place and the people in it is the part of my job I care most about. If you are moving here, I will help you arrive pono, and I will introduce you to your neighbors.
All of Oʻahu
I work the whole island, Waiʻanae to Haleʻiwa to Hawaiʻi Kai. These are the areas I know best. Every one links straight into live MLS listings, with no sign-up wall.
- KailuaFlat, walkable, and the reason most people fall in love with this side. Beach access and school boundary drive price more than square footage.
- Hawaiʻi KaiMarina living, good schools, and the easiest East side commute into town. Up about 8% over last year while much of the island went sideways.
- WaimānaloCountry, and the community means to keep it that way. Large lots, deep local roots, and very few sales in any given year.
- Waiʻanae & LeewardThe most house per dollar on Oʻahu, from Nānākuli through Mākaha. Real community, real value, and I close deals out here regularly.
- Haleʻiwa & North ShoreA different island entirely. Surf town, farm stands, and winter swells that bring the world. Long commute, worth it to the right buyer.
- Kapolei & ʻEwaNewer construction and more square footage for the money, and the easiest run to Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
- HonoluluMostly condos, and right now a buyer’s market. Ask about the building’s insurance before you ask about the view. It decides whether you can finance it.
Orders to Oʻahu?
I am a military spouse. I know what it is to pick a house off a video call with a report date closing in. Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Schofield, Kāneʻohe Bay, Shafter, Tripler, Camp Smith, I know the commutes and which neighborhoods actually work for each.
What my clients say
Real reviews, left on Google and Zillow by people I actually worked with. Five stars across the board on both.
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Katie was amazing to work with!! As first time homebuyers, the process seemed really daunting, but she was so easy to work with, knowledgeable, and responsive.
Lydia HoltBought in Waiʻanae · Zillow, September 2026 -
Her knowledge of the market and sharp attention to detail made all the difference in our transaction. Katie was always available to answer questions, provided invaluable guidance on strategy, and kept everything moving forward without a hitch.
Sala KhamBought in Waikīkī · Google, August 2026 -
Even though I wasn’t buying a luxury home, it was my first purchase and I got the luxury treatment from Katie. She received my spreadsheet of condos with grace, my questions with patience, and handled the curveball of my funding switch expertly.
Nick HaasBought a condo in Honolulu · Google, May 2026
Tell me what you’re after and I’ll send the real ones.
Not an automated blast of everything on the MLS. I read your criteria, pull what actually fits, and send it with notes on each. You will hear from me, not a robot.
Just want to look? Browse every active Oʻahu listing →
“The right time to buy is when you can. I will show you the way.”
Katie Nickens
Get your island home list
Two minutes. I answer every one of these myself.
Mahalo!
Got it. I’ll go through the MLS myself and send your list shortly. If it is urgent, call or text me at (808) 457-2418.
A hui hou!
Questions I get every week
Is now a good time to buy on Oʻahu?
Depends entirely on whether you mean a house or a condo, and anyone who answers without asking you that is guessing. Houses are tight: 3.2 months of supply and the median sold at 100% of asking. Condos are the opposite, 6.9 months of supply, which is a real buyer’s market. My honest take is that if you can carry the payment, buying a house here has rarely been about timing the bottom. On condos you have leverage right now, use it.
Why is everyone talking about condo insurance?
Association master policy premiums jumped 300% to 600% in a single year for many buildings. It matters even if you are paying cash, because many Hawaiʻi policies carry only 20% to 30% of hurricane exposure, and when that happens conventional financing goes away and the buyer pool shrinks to cash. I pull the AOAO documents and master policy early on every condo, before you are attached.
What is leasehold, and should I avoid it?
Fee simple means you own the land. Leasehold means you own the building but rent the ground underneath, with a lease that expires and a rent that renegotiates. It prices well below comparable fee simple, sometimes for good reason and sometimes as a genuine opportunity. Most lenders will not finance a short remaining term. I check it on every property and tell you plainly which one you are looking at.
Do you only work the Windward side?
No. I am licensed across all of Oʻahu and I work the whole island, including Waiʻanae and the Leeward coast, the North Shore, central, and town. Kailua, Waimānalo, Kāneʻohe and East Honolulu are where most of my business is and where my neighborhood knowledge is deepest, but if you are buying or selling anywhere on this island, call me. I would much rather do the homework on a new pocket than have you go unrepresented.
Can I put a place on Airbnb?
Almost certainly not the way you are picturing. Outside resort zoning the practical minimum rental term is 30 days. Unrestricted short-term rental is legal in resort-zoned Waikīkī, Ko Olina and Turtle Bay, and for roughly 793 properties holding a Nonconforming Use Certificate. If rental income is the point of the purchase, tell me up front and we will only look at properties that can actually do it.
Figures from the Honolulu Board of REALTORS®, August 2026. Full detail on the market report.
Let’s talk story.
Coffee in Kailua, a call, or a video tour from wherever you are.