Smart Money, Inc. NMLS #273384 Kapiolani Blvd, Honolulu

We would like to thank Tyler Tanigawa who helped us with our cash out refinance. With the situation we were in, I spoke to Tyler and explained to him what was going on. He listened and found the best solution to help us out. He was incredibly helpful and easy to talk to throughout the whole process from start to finish. We are so grateful we can't thank him enough and Smart Money. Will be going back to him for future investments. Highly recommend!

Everett helped us with our mortgage, and then our refinance a year later. When we found our new home unexpectedly, we called Everett to see if he could help us get pre-approval asap so we could make an offer on our place right away. He was super responsive and helped make it happen. Along the way he always took the time to explain things since we had so many questions! He was patient with us. A year later we did our refinance with him since the rates dropped and he made that process just as seamless! Highly recommend Everett at Smart Money!

We’re so grateful to have been referred to Tami! She made refinancing our home loan a clear and easy process. Tami took special care to learn about our goals and tailored her guidance mindful of what’s best for our family. She went out of her way to assist in any way possible, even gave us some great recommendations for preschools! She was quick to respond to any questions or concerns, offered clear explanations of all our options, and remained in constant contact with us. Tami worked tirelessly to ensure this was as stress-free as possible, which we really appreciated. She makes you feel like you’re ohana and we feel the same way about her. We highly recommend working with her, you won’t be disappointed. Tami’s a gem!

I would like to extend my gratitude to SmartMoney Hawaii Team for helping me achieve my dream for my Family, having our own home. Mr. Daryn, Mr. Eric are very supportive and making it sure I am updated of my paperworks progress . Through out this journey I found this Team and felt valued! They provides equality, and outstanding service to Ohana! Lastly, I am beyond thankful to Ms. Darci who’s very much patient and understanding. She provides an exceptional assistance on making it sure all the things that I needed are being complete. This Team intensity is Awesome! I will be forever thankful to SmartMoney Hawaii. You are the best on making difference to all Family on having their own Home! From my Family, Much Mahalo!

Daryn and his team are the very best! Daryn, Darci and Rebecca made the entire process of refinancing our home so quick and easy! This was our third refinancing and it was by far the smoothest, quickest and best experience we have ever had. Someone I met was doing a refinance at the same time but with a bank. He ended up settling for a much higher rate than what Daryn was able to get for us. We would 100% recommend Daryn and his team at Smart Money to any of our friends and family!

Friendly & knowledgeable people. No judgemental. Answered all my questions and clarified whatever I didn’t understand. There was some urgency in my refinance and they were on it, also needed attorney referral which they had. Made it all work seamlessly. This is the third time I used Smart Money, will use them again…. Highly recommend their services.

Tyler Tanigawa and the entire team there were on top of everything. I’ve done a refinance with a bank and it was way different. It was basically here’s a stack of papers, fill it out andget back to us. No help, no guidance. Smart Money was a complete 180. Tyler was in contact with me practically daily letting me know where we were in the process, projecting what I might need to get together, letting me know what s happening or what the next steps were. They made the process EASY and it took a lot of stress off my plate. Mahalo Tyler and Smart Money!

What an easy home buying experience!! I have to say I have purchased homes before but this time was so easy and not stressful at all. Daryn and Darcy well the whole team worked so hard to make our journey into home buying on the island so wonderful. Thank you guys so much it has been a pleasure to have worked with you.

Eddie provided my wife and I extraordinary support as we looked to use our VA loan to buy our first home. He took the time to answer all of our questions, spitball numbers based off of different contingencies, and was my advocate during all do the twists and turns of the loan process. I would have been lost without Eddie and Smartmoney.

Everett most recently helped us close on our mortgage for our new apartment. We had put in an offer on our new home without first even sorting out our finances. However, I've had the pleasure of working with Everett before when he helped me refinance my first property. I was confident that Everett would be able to help meet our tight deadline. No easy task given that there were three individuals included on the mortgage. Everett was very prompt to confirm we qualified and generated a pre-qualification letter for us right away. That quick turn around made it possible for us to get our offer in time and ultimately selected by the seller. Throughout the process Everett was there to guide us and answer any questions we might have. If you are looking for someone who is professional and will look out for your best interests, I highly recommend Everett!

The team at Smart Money Hawaii did an amazing job in helping me purchase my first home. Ms. Bledsoe and Mr. Rodriguez were with me every step of the way answering every question even taking time on the weekends. Buying my home was an incredibly stressful process. The closing costs, inspections, reinspection, getting information for the underwriters, deadlines being pushed back, etc. There was a lot of things I had no idea about and a lot of last minute surprises. Thankfully the team at Smart Money were able to fully explain every hurdle and did everything in their power to help me get my home.

My experience working with Smart Money was nothing but ease and comfort, kind like putting on - and wearing a good sturdy pair of shoes. (There's tremendous excitement involved as well. Like "That feeling when you get new kicks"). After all it is all a journey of sorts. Huyen and Will and the team were so efficient when working with me, which made me feel confident - being able to anticipate many of the ups and downs, bumps and gullies in my path and guiding me through the trajectory of success. Huyen and William made it all so much Easier than I imagined it could be. They were kind and they were patient. They answered all my questions they were extremely helpful. They were always available as well, for me to communicate with. That was indeed very reassuring. In a vast area of unfamiliarity and general absence of previous experiences, they made the journey through each step with me and guided me. They were honest and gave me solid answers To my questions when I had some tough ones. There are many hurdles to jump through when sorting through this process, of purchasing a new home, but Huyen and Will helped me to take each one, with poise, ease, and grace.

Eddie at Smart Money was absolutely fantastic in our efforts to obtain a loan for our home purchase. He responded to each inquiry we submitted and provided some much needed analysis with financial information as we came across several potential homes we were interested. It didn't matter whether it was day or night (or even the weekends), he provided timely and effective responses every time. Smart Money really "wowed" us with their professional services and approach. Beyond that, saved quite a bit of money during the close of our house with an amazing interest rate and closing credits.

Ian made the entire refinance process easy to understand and get through from start to finish. He was patient with me calling and texting every other day to check how the rates were doing and even made suggestions that helped us save money in the end.

My husband and I were first time home buyers and had no idea where to begin and what to do. Everett and his team at Smart Money Inc. were extremely helpful in explaining everything and kept us updated throughout the process. His efficiency and thoroughness takes all the stress away. He has helped us make great financial decisions to help bring up our credit scores and not only walked us through our home buying but also through our refinancing to save us money! We couldn't have done this without Everett. His knowledge has helped us over the years for our long term goals. We've also introduced him to some friends to help with home buying and refinancing and they've all been extremely happy with his services. I definitely recommend Everett!

If I could give more than 5 stars, I would!!! My husband and I are first-time home buyers. When we connected with Eddie, we immediately knew that we were in good hands. Eddie has been such a great partner in this process - his communication was outstanding, he answered our questions extremely fast, and he is super friendly! Eddie has a wealth of knowledge (especially with the VA loan process) and was such a pleasure to work with from start to finish. We highly recommend Eddie and Smart Money!!!

We have worked with Everett through 2 refinances within the last couple of years and he has saved us a ton of money. He has great insight within the industry and is able to provide strategic plans that meet your financial goals. With Everett, he treats you like family and it’s exemplified through his customer service, I would give him more than 5 stars if I could! He is prompt with following up and answering your questions. There’s never a dumb question, in fact, he encourages it so he knows you’re clearly understanding everything. I would recommend Everett for your mortgage financing needs. Mahalo Everett for your great work!

I have referred clients to Daryn Ogino and Darci Sahara at Smart Money. Not only are they some of the most knowledgeable and personable people in the business, they go above and beyond for their clients and provide the highest level of customer service. I would highly recommend the Smart Money team.

We were introduced to Wil - VP of Smart Money Hawaii by our realtor, Deedee Melchor. From the start, Wil had been nothing short of amazing. We were worried our transaction would be too complicated, but he took the challenge and made it seem so easy and made us feel comfortable! Our first transaction with him was lightening speed quick - his entire team (Huyen and Eric and everyone else) worked tirelessly to turn our VA to conventional within a mere few weeks! (Which they did so well). Their communication skills are exceptional - every text, call and email was answered and all of my "what if's" were taken care of. This was in addition to working with us to ALSO (simultaneously) purchase our single family home. Wil worked to customize every loan pre-approval to submit with our offer. He even went as far as offering to give the listing agent a call to vouch for us when we were crossing fingers for an accepted offer. We finally got the "call" for our dream home, and Wil and Huyen were rockstars. They truly catered to our every need and worked night and day to ensure everything was submitted on a timely manner. The Smart money app is the bomb!! It's so nice to know exactly where in the process you are, and be given specific documents to upload straight into the app. Huyen always followed up with an email, a text or a phone call, even with information in the app. Small bonus: these super cute custom animated videos would come through in email whenever we complete certain steps. So nice! We had some hiccups in the loan process, but Wil never made us feel worried, he had solutions and walked us through them as if it were a good thing. Talk about customer service at its finest! We were given 11/17 as a rough recording date and we did it on the 19th!! What an amazing team and I'm so happy to work with Smart Money Hawaii! They made magic happen from documents via docusigned (best thing ever) to notary signings at our home at 930pm at our convenience. Thank you Eric and Huyen! Moving forward, we will be doing a VA IRRRl and Wil (being a VA specialist and a veteran himself) already sent us a calendar invite to prepare and start the process. 5 stars all the way!!!

Worked with Everett Arakawa for our recent purchase of our (hopefully) forever home. Everett is a gem to work with! He's very responsive, friendly, and patiently answered all of our questions and concerns. We had a few snafus working with other vendors but Everett worked tirelessly to make sure we still made our targeted closing date. I highly recommend working with him and Smart Money for mortgage needs.

I recently refinanced my condo with Huyen at Smart Money and am SO PLEASED with the outcome and level of service. I am saving over $300 dollars per month on my mortgage payment and will now be able to keep my condo as an investment property when I buy a home. The platform Smart Money uses is VERY EASY to navigate and keeping up with what I needed to do and submit was effortless. Huyen was awesome! She was wonderful to work with, professional, and got my refinance done in less than 2 weeks!!! I can't say enough wonderful things about her and Smart Money, they rock! If you're considering refinancing or looking for a home loan, I would absolutely positively recommend them :)

We can’t thank Everett enough for assisting us through our refinance! The entire transaction process was so smooth and quick. Everett was able to answer any questions that arose and explained the responses in detail so that we were well-informed every step of the way. He is professional, through, and extremely knowledgable. We are very thankful that he was able to provide us with such a pleasant experience, and would highly recommed him to anyone seeking an excellent mortgage advisor. Thank you again!

I have done 2 refis and a home purchase with Everett and he is the best! his out of the box thinking allowed me to purchase a condo outright when I could otherwise have been tied to a second mortgage. The refi I recently did at Everett's suggestion is saving me even more money. He is attentive to my needs, stays in touch throughout the transaction and after and is super helpful and proactive. A true professional.

When I needed to refinance my home loan in 2008 I contacted Everett Arakawa and his team at Smart Money. They did such a great job for me that Everett was the first person I contacted at the end of 2021 when I decided to refinance the house again. That's all you really need to know in a recommendation when it's a return customer who is doing the recommending! I got a great rate, lowered monthly payment and cash out for home repairs too. In addition to that you will receive friendly and easy-going communication with the professional, intelligent and competent folks at Smart Money!

Everett is the best! He was very helpful throughout the entire process. He answered all our questions. He is very efficient and is very good at doing his job. You can tell that he loves what he does, because it shows in his work ethic. Paper work was seamless and very easy. My husband and I would, well we actually have already recommended Everett to some friends.

Aloha, I highly recommend Tyler Tanigawa at Smart Money, Inc. We just closed on our refinance loan and after speaking with friends who have gone through a similar process, our experience was much easier, faster, and cheaper than expected. We started the process back in the spring of 2021. My wife and I were both just returning to our full time jobs after the break (pandemic) and we wanted to refinance our loan on our condo. We had heard about Tyler from friends (always the best way) and I decided to contact him. He took some of my information and was very professional and courteous. After a few emails he politely explained that since we had a long break (pandemic) we could not refinance at this time but check back later. Fast forward to early December 2021 and I wanted to try again. I wanted to lock in a better APR, and when I contacted Tyler we quickly picked up where we left off and got it done! I believe the entire process took, maybe 4 weeks. A HUGE help was the Smart Money App which you can put on your phone to help you follow each individual step of the process and we submitted 2/3 of our documents directly through the App (this was super helpful for me and my wife). At the end of this I feel like Tyler has become a friend, and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a loan. Tyler went above and beyond to make this happen for us during the holiday season when a lot of us are taking breaks with family, and friends. Once again Smart Money made it happen with a notary who came to our house, on our schedule, to make the paperwork happen quickly(Thanks Jolene!). We could not be happier! Many Mahalos again to Tyler and Smart Money, Inc.

Everette was extremely easy to work with. He had a high level level of professionalism and dedication. He made the process extremely easy and answered all of our questions, while diligently tracking the progress of the purchase. His communication skills were outstanding, making himself available via text, email, and phone. If I could give him 6 stars I would. Thank you for the outstanding help and support.

When looking for the best deal possible, I was stoked to meet Eddie with Smart Money. I was a little nervous at first since I never used a broker before usually relying on my trusted bank. After going through the pre-qualification process with my bank, I decided to give it a shot with Smart Money. That was the BEST DECISION I could have made. Sure, it was great getting a stellar rate on my loan, but what is even better is having someone on island that I trust when it comes to financing large purchases. I even reached out to Eddie several months later and he bent over backwards to get me in touch with the right people for another transaction. Personally, I trust Eddie and the Smart Money team and THAT is invaluable.

Everett was awesome to work with when we refinanced our house last year. He was able to get us a great new rate and it is saving us a lot of money each month. Even though he is very busy, he would always take the time to answer all my questions and was very patient in explaining the entire process to us. Even long after the new mortgage had closed, he has continued to be there to provide support and answer questions when they came up. He is excellent at what he does and I highly recommend him!

Becky killed it when it came to helping my husband and I with a VA Loan for our home purchase earlier this year. I was so happy with her service, that shortly after, I hired her again to refinance my investment property (conventional this time). I highly recommend Becky at Smart Money, and have already referred her to several close friends for the following reasons: 1) Customer Service - Becky was always willing to answer all of our questions and had a great team supporting her if she didn't have the answer off-hand. Overall, she was patient, attentive, and proactive when it came to not only our needs, but the lender's and seller's as well. 3) Great Rates - She was able to get us a lower rate than originally quoted by another lender. In my past home buying experience, I had not been given options, but this time we were presented with two quotes in which Becky was more than willing to help us decide upon based on our financial goals. 3) Candor - A quality that's difficult to find these days. Money and finances could potentially be a touchy subject, but Becky was straightforward and honest when it came to discussing our mortgage options with our best interest in mind. I appreciate her professionalism, and the knowledge she provided gave us the utmost confidence in likely one of the biggest decisions we would make in our entire lives.

As a first time home buyer, I had no clue what to expect or what to do. Huyen helped walk me though the mortgage process and always answered my many questions. There were days (and nights) were I contacted her multiple times. She was always willing to help me, and with a smile. She helped me secure a low interest rate right before rates got crazy too. I can’t thank this amazing woman and the smart money team for making my home buying dreams a reality.

I initially started my refinancing with my original lenders back in August 2020. When the process went side wards on me and my original lenders told me they would not be able to help me because i did not meet their standards...3 months later...yup you read that right. I started to look for other options. A friend of mine told me to give his friend Everett a call and see if he could help me out. Help he did. From the time I contacted him to the time he had be locking in my new rate only took a matter of weeks. But what I appreciated the most was his customer service. My last lending company was more…”sign here, we need this paper work, sign here again” without really explaining the process…not too personable. Everett always made sure that I understood every step of the process and if there was ever a point where I got confused (which was a lot) he always called me to explain. Honestly I’m not too sure when his days off were because he would get back to me almost instantly every time I had a question and believe me when I say…I had a lot. The cherry on top though was the fact that he got me a lower rate and a cheaper price then what my original lenders gave me. Oh and by the way did I mention Everett did all this for me over the phone and email? That’s right, Everett did all this work for me over the phone and email…I have never met the guy in person and on closing day for my re-finance, he set it up so I could close from 4,000 miles away when I was on a business trip. These are the reasons why I highly recommend Everett and the team at Smart Money because they are amazing at what they do and I just want to give a big mahalos to them for helping this local boy get his slice of paradise.

Everett and his team made refinancing my mortgage a pleasant experience. The financial expertise, resources and aloha of Everett and his team at Smart Money has allowed me to take advantage of falling interest rates and improve my financial health. It is always easy to get in touch with Everett and he will promptly get answers to your questions. I got a great interest rate and closing was smooth. Definitely recommend Everett Arakawa and his team!

Special shout-out to Eddie Akabane from Smart Money, who Joe from the O Team introduced me to, for working his loan processing sorcery to make sure I got the best loan package possible. From advising me on what steps I needed to follow to sell my house and reinstate my VA eligibility to making sure that I got the best deal possible, Eddie had my back.

Everett was incredibly helpful throughout our entire home buying process, especially since we were first-time homebuyers! We have complicated income (part-time, self-employed, flex pay, etc.) and Everett was able to show us all of our options available to us. In this time of turmoil, Everett was able to work efficiently with our bank and also keep the seller's agent happy as well. He was so reassuring during the whole process and managed to balance getting us a great rate without us having to pay our loan down at a high rate. We were so grateful to have Everett on our side and that he was on call for us whenever we needed. He has also followed up with us after our purchase to make sure we know what options were available to us for potential refinancing if rates continue to drop. We highly recommend Everett. He is incredibly smart so we know anyone would be in good hands working with him!

I am thrilled to write this review about our first home-buying experience. I did not imagine the process of closing on an apartment (given this crazy market) could be easy and enjoyable, but it was made possible by Will, Huyen, and their team, because they were so fantastic and on point from start to finish. They were patient, provided clear and thoughtful answers to our many many questions, very responsive, have excellent and informational material, knowledgeable, accessible, and attentive. The team closed in record time and walked us through every step of the process with great care. Will, Huyen, and the team created such a pleasant atmosphere and we are so grateful to go through this process with them. Mahalo plenty! Gracias por todo!

Everett helped us refinanced our home, incredibly helpful throughout the entire process. He did an excellent job! He is very super nice guy, easy to talk to, very friendly, responsible and always accommodating us. I called other Mortgage Company and most of the Loan Office not as friendly and helpful as Everett. The first time, we refinanced with Smart Money, Everett was the first person I spoke too, I explained my situation, from there he helped us no matter how bad it is, he was there for us he didn't give up he helped us no matter what. He was so Awesome and the best Loan Officer! I highly recommend Everett!

As interest rates are getting lower nowadays I decided to search out refinancing options for my current loan. I contacted Everett from Smart Money and he was very quick in responding all of my questions that I had. Everett really took his time to help to explain all the details regarding the refinance loan and whatever that I did not understood, (which was quite a lot) Everett walked me through every step of the way to ensure that I knew exactly what I was doing. Bottom line is that Everett's customer service was superb! He was even helping me out on his days off to ensure that I gathered the correct documentations for my loan request. I highly recommend Everett for all your home loan needs!

Working with Everett has been an awesome experience. Being a first time home buyer, he really made the process as smooth as can be. I was always wary about lenders because as a first time home buyer, I felt like I might be taken advantage of but Everett is as trustworthy as can be. He explains every situation thoroughly to help you understand what is going on. He is reliable and will ALWAYS accommodate your best interest. Everett just made the process so easy. It’s not a coincidence I also refinanced under him too. His work ethic and his willingness to go the extra mile made it a no brainer. When you worked with the best, you just can’t expect any less so that’s why I will always recommend Everett.

We were referred to Eddie and Smart money through a mutual friend and are so glad we did!! Being first time home buyers we were so anxious to get a loan especially because my husbands credit wasn’t that great but Eddie and his team at Smart Money worked closely with us the whole step of the way and got us in to our dream condo! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND them for all of your home load needs they work really hard to get you the BEST deal for what will be the most important purchase of your life! Eddie was so on it and there to answer questions whenever we needed him. I’ve had friends who shared not so great experiences with their loan process with other companies and am so grateful that ours went so smoothly. They definitely are the best of the best at what they do! If you’re looking, go with them. If you already have a loan officer, switch now!

Will and his team helped us so much with the purchase of our second home. Not only did they help educate us, they have consistently supported us since we closed when our HOA needs things that we do not have answers to. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them ❤❤❤❤

Everett is the man! I am so happy I met him and trusted him with my home loan. He made the home purchase so seamless. This was my first home purchase and I was really clueless on the process and Everett took his time to walk me through the process and explain everything to me. I know I can trust Everett because throughout the whole process he always made sure everything was in my best interest.

We are so grateful to have Everett as our mortgage advisor. As first time homebuyers we had A LOT of questions and Everett made himself available via text, phone, and email to address them all. His knowledge and guidance made us comfortable in every decision we made along the way. He made the homebuying as painless as possible during these crazy times. Highly recommend!

Working with Tami over at Smart Money on our condo refinance was a wonderful experience. Before this, I had always assumed refinancing a property was some difficult and time consuming experience, but from the time I reached out about potentially refinancing, to the time of closing, it was a smooth and straight forward process. Honestly it was such an easy process, at points I had completely forgotten I was in the middle of a refinance until I would get an e-mail requesting a docusign, or something of the sort. Tami really came through for my wife and I and helped us get a great rate on our loan, and we are very grateful!

Everett was very responsive through emails and calls. If he didn’t know an answer to our question, he went above and beyond to find out from his contacts. We would recommend him to our friends and family. Our refinance was completed very quickly and easily. Thanks again Everett!

Everett helped me and my family refinance. He was incredibly efficient and communicated with us through the whole process. I know I wasn't exactly easy to work with, but he answered all of my questions immediately and made me feel comfortable. I would recommend him to all of my friends and family.