James Chan

Born in Providence, RI into a family of four, James relocated to Honolulu at the age of 3. James was brought up by his loving parents, who emigrated from Hong Kong and Taiwan to make a living in the states. His father, a classic example of the rags-to-riches overseas physician, instilled a strict work ethic in James from the start.

James is a high school graduate of Iolani School(c/o 1998) and earned a BS in Managerial Economics & a Minor in Agricultural Computer Information Systems from the University of California at Davis(c/o 2002).  At UCDavis, James will admit that he remembers very little from the classroom but attributes most of the social, relational, and leadership skills to all the extracurricular programs he was involved in.  Always one to just “dive in,” James became the President of the UCD Hawaii Club for 3 years and was the Head Teaching Assistant for 2 years, when he oversaw a team of 20 other TAs and taught his own classes each quarter.

In 2002, James returned to the islands and began working as an appraisal-assistant for a well-respected real estate appraisal company. Here, he gained a strong knowledge base on the numbers and values behind Hawaii real estate. After a year, James went on to pursue a sales career where he became the youngest Partner at Locations LLC for nearly 15 years, and has since moved on to Compass as a Founding Member of Compass Hawaii. Now with 22 years of real estate experience, James is at the top of his craft and prides himself in thorough education, vast market knowledge, and truly helping his clients build wealth through real estate.  In 2024, he was ranked #25 of all Oahu Realtors, which simply means that James is proven and has much technical and practical experience in many different realms of the business.  James particularly loves construction and renovation projects as he has an affinity toward anything “DIY.”

He is the co-founder of Rizen Hawaii, an organization that has raised tens of thousands of dollars for children’s organizations such as Make-A-Wish Hawaii and Big Brothers Big Sisters Hawaii. Far from being perfect, James is always open to growing as a person, both in and out of the work field. He hopes to achieve a lifelong relationship with each of his clients. As James says, “I’m not in the business of selling real estate, I want to be in the habit of building a meaningful relationship that adds value.”

James enjoys his free time as an avid surfer, golfer, spear fisherman, traveler, and tries to live a life worthy in the eyes of the one he owes everything to, Jesus Christ.  James had a pandemic wedding on January 30, 2021, with his beautiful wife, Tessa, and goof around daily with their two mini Aussie Shephards (Olive and Baloo) and their cat (Jinxy, yes…taken from “Meet The Parents”).

“Thank you for taking the time to read about me. The opportunity to serve you as my client is a privilege that I believe needs to be earned. I hope to connect with you personally soon!”