Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Refined
Member Spotlight: Eric Yamamoto
For Eric Yamamoto, MRP, building a successful real estate business has created something even more meaningful: the ability to pay it forward.
“The community’s support is what has allowed us to succeed,” Eric said. “They’ve trusted us, and we are privileged to repay that trust by supporting our community.”
For the last four of five years, Eric’s brokerage has been a silver sponsor of the annual gala for the Ronald McDonald House Charities ® Hawaii, an organization he has admired and supported since he worked for the fast-food company in his previous career. He hopes to expand his brokerage’s efforts to hands-on volunteering at the facility.
“I truly believe in the services that they provide to children who are ill, especially now that I have a daughter,” he said.
Eric’s brokerage also participates in Hawai'i Health & Harm Reduction Center’s (HHHRC) Annual Walk for Life. HHHRC serves local communities by reducing the harm and fighting the stigma of HIV, hepatitis, homelessness, substance abuse, and poverty – work that is particularly important to communities disproportionately affected, including LGBTQ+ individuals. It is a mission that is particularly meaningful to Eric and his business partner, Dennis Noah-Casison.
Eric began his working life in high school at McDonald's. He parlayed that experience into a 19-year career with the company, eventually managing six corporate stores and 600 employees.
The Kailua native, who lives in Ewa Beach with his husband and their 18-month-old daughter, had long been interested in real estate, but he was nervous about making a career change and giving up the steady paycheck that came with his corporate job.
So, he saved some money, put in his two weeks’ notice, and never looked back. Unsurprisingly, Eric found he enjoyed advancing his clients’ dreams of home ownership as much as he loved nurturing employees’ burgeoning careers at McDonald’s.
Refined Real Estate Hawai‘i, the brokerage he founded in 2021, officially transitioned to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Refined in January 2026. Eric is the principal broker and oversees a team of 25 agents.
Inclusion in Member Spotlight does not imply endorsement, recommendation, or guarantee by Hawaiʻi REALTORS® of any individual member, business, or services.
