Could someone explain short stay rental rules in Hawaii?
As I understand it, Short Stay Rentals in Hawaii take two forms.
1) Legal Short Stay Rentals
Legal Short Stay Rentals are only permitted in the Resort Zone area of Waikiki as shown in this map.
2) Illegal Short Stay Rentals.
Short stay rentals are not permitted in any other part of Hawaii, so although you can find plenty of short stay rentals outside of the Resort Zone area of Waikiki, they are breaking the law, it's just that the police don't bother taking action.
Is my understanding correct?
The reason I ask, is that I have a realtor who found me potential short stay rental investments that are in the apartment zone area of Waikiki. My understanding is that these are illegal. But my realtor insists that as they are in the apartment zone they are fine. Is he telling the truth?
I know this is a complicated subject, mainly because there are lots of investors who are happy to break the law (because the police don't enforce it) and so this has led people to have wrong opinions about what is legal.
I don't want to do anything that is illegal (regardless of if the police enforce the law) and so would love to get some opinions from people who have experience with this.