Aloha my name is Stacia Over and my husband is Tau Over. We would like to nominate our realtor Kim Shimonishi for this award for so many reasons on so many different levels. For starters this was something that were not even in our vocabularies, being a homeowner was nothing that we could even dream of. You see my husband and I was once addicted to illegal drugs and eventually became homeless. For many years we walked around aimlessly in our areas that we once called home. Which were the streets of Honolulu and the bushes on Maui. Fast forward we got clean and stopped using drugs and started to live life on life's terms. We became addicted to living life and did everything we could to keep moving forward in life. We started to be the best renters one could ask for and made our rental home the best safest place we called home for years. After over a decade we got the news that the owners were slowly dying and left only one sibling to take care of this property, so he decided to sell and we needed to move. We immediately started to look for new accommodations and realized that it was not the same as 17 years ago. Only then did we entertain the thought of buying a place. Here's where our journey with the best realtor anyone could ask for Kim Shimonishi from the start told us that this would be a journey and something that we need to be ready for. She referred us to a person who we later realized was the person who would eventually help us with the loan. She was very firm and strict with us and told us we need to follow directions and respond in timely fashion. Coming from the life we came from we needed those firm directions that she gave to us. We shared our stories with her and never once did that deter her from helping us and never once did, she make us feel any different from any other person who desired to purchase a home. She kept us a timeline that was reasonable and started to eventually show us different listings. It was a very overwhelming process and to even think that this was becoming a reality. We started to want unrealistically priced properties that we could not afford and never once did she deter us from desiring places like those instead she taught us the process of purchasing a home and gave us life lessons that led us to see that these places were unrealistic. We eventually got the message that we needed to find more reasonably priced properties, and it was from her teaching us about the process not telling us NO you can't get those properties. In essence learning this instead of being told NO was very beautiful and together my husband and I saw the light turn on and started looking at more properties in our newfound range that we had learned from Kim. She continued to mentor us about locations as we were stuck in Honolulu and didn't want nowhere else but in town. She taught us about different areas and the benefits as well as strikes against different places and allowed us to make these decisions. Again, she didn't tell us NO instead she taught and nurtured us to learn about the areas, and we were then able to make conscious decisions that maybe we would be open to look in other locations. Our journey continued and our next learning session was about HOA and fire codes, again she never said NO to the properties we desired she continued to teach us about these fees and the building codes citing incidents that affected these areas. Kim proceeded to instill hope and build knowledge with us and after what felt like 99 years everything came together and we made a very knowledgeable clear decision to purchase this home. It would have not felt this good and this happy as well as it being a decision that we made on our own with the teaching and guidance from Kim. So, you see when we say that Kim Shimonishi is the best realtor it is not something that we say lightly. Our story begins with struggle that most people wouldn't even entertain helping us, however it ends with a clear conscious honest decision that was taught to us by our realtor. on a side note, we have many many many friends and family members that are realtors, but we stayed with her because she ended up being a teacher to us that taught us about the process and not just spent our money.With that being said we wanted to say mahalo again to Kim Shimonishi and her team.-Stacia & Tau

Kim was amazing. I cold called her on a Sunday about a house that just hit the market. She informed me of the Open House times and put me in touch with a lender. We had an offer in place within 48 hours, it was eventually accepted, and it was only 21 days to close.Kim worked with me and my son (co-borrowers) and arranged things to accommodate our off-island schedules during the process.Kim arranged several professionals to make the process quick and smooth. Her network of inspectors, etc. was top notch and were extremely helpful.The process was quick, efficient and professional - all because of the work Kim was able to accomplish on our behalf.Kim is more than deserving of this award!!Sincerely,Mark Sweet

Kim was amazing from start to finish with our new build purchase. We had purchased a home before, but I guess you can say every time it is different! With Kim, she took the time to educate us as we progressed through the purchase process. Such an amazing experience with her each time!

What can I say about Kim, other than she's the best realtor out there and will do her best to meet the needs of her clients. I've worked with countless realtors before, and never have I met someone who is so attentive to every part of the transaction from securing the loan, to the sales contract to post closing items. I feel like I can call her my friend rather than just my realtor.

Kim is truly one of a kind. You can tell she really loves her job and genuinely cares about the real estate industry. From our first conversation with Kim, she showed interest and passion in our wants and needs. She never deviated from what our priorities are and at the same time provided us with realistic goals. Every contract we put in she was very helpful with suggestions in the current market environment. There were moments that my wife and I wanted to give up in this unprecedent market but Kim always kept us focused and determined. I joked with Kim all the time, saying that she is more of my Psychiatrist/Consular then a Realtor. Kim will always reach out to us when she hears something that would benefit us or warn us if something was not right. There was a home that we looked at and was dead set on, after speaking with Kim and pointing out a couple of future issues. We pulled out not just because of Kim's expertise but we genuinely felt like Kim was watching out for us. We honestly never had a Realtor like Kim, she was more like a close friend than our Realtor. There was a short period of time where my wife had a medical emergency and Kim was trying to help us locate a doctor to try to help in any way possible. During my wife's recovery, she never once talked about real estate and she genuinely checked up on my wife's recovery. When we finally did find our home, Kim was very efficient in getting all the paperwork and timeline down to close on time. She honestly made the whole transaction very seamless. Not only did we love our purchase experience with Kim, we honestly say that we made a friend as well. Our experience with Kim has spoiled us to the point we would only use Kim for any real estate purchases. Kim went way above and beyond for us, she went to the moon for us. Thank you Kim!!!!!!!!

KIM SHIMONISHI Is an exceptional realtor. She is intelligent, extremely knowledgeable, and an excellent communicator. I have had the pleasure of her professional expertise and guidance two times; once to buy my home, then 8 years later to sell the same home. During each process she was extremely helpful, providing the most accurate information regarding the regulations and laws of the Hawaii State Real Estate Commission. Whenever I had questions (and I had many!), she gave me all the information, in great detail, I needed to make an educated decision. When I bought my home, Kim guided me to buy at the best price. When selling my home in January 2022, Kim was very strategic regarding the selling price and timing. She thoroughly explained her reasoning when she advised me to reject offers, and kept on top of a very fast moving market. Her efforts led to an offer that was “as is” and above market, and the property closed smoothly in less than 45 days, even though it was funded with a conventional loan. Because Kim provided me with a such a positive and low stress experience during a complicated transaction, I recommend her without hesitance to anyone considering either buying or selling their home. Kim is not only a brilliant realtor, she is a joy to be around.