All Forum Posts by: Bryan Vukelich

Interesting question and I enjoyed reading the responses. Although I love a secluded spot in the mountains along a river or lake a bit more than the beach, I'd chose beach location for an STR. And I've never been to Gatlinburg nor Lake Destin, and have no idea of the STR market in those places, and am sure there are many other great places in the US to own a STR. But personally, I'd pick Hawaii. There is an "off season" but the islands attract people from around the world all 12 months. And I just spoke to a successful vacation rental manager - probably the largest on O'ahu. He shoots for an 85% occupancy rate year around. Be curious to know what other markets can perform like that.

Aloha, 

Looking for a quality person/company to do a cost segregation study for an investment property on O'ahu.  Any referrals would be appreciated.  

Thank you 

Hi @Kwok Wong - I'd recommend you focus on building up reserves since the interest rate on your HELOC is low right now. You can place your reserves into FDIC insured high yield savings account or a money market account and earn 4-5%, maybe a bit higher.

Howzit @Laine Furukawa - for foundation, I've been looking for a quality company/person for awhile for myself and so far Structural Systems seems to best I can find.  I'm still looking for other options myself as they are pretty expensive but they did come highly recommended to me by a higher end home builder.  You might also try Foundations Systems but I wasn't too impressed even though they have high ratings on Google. 

Yes, please don't simply blindly believe what you see or hear.  Legal vacation rentals are thriving on O'ahu.  The only real differences in the situation before and after Bill 41 that passed last year is that there is now a registration process with the Department of Planning and Permitting for some buildings which cost $1000 first year and $500 for each annual renewal.  Also, a big positive for Bill 41 was that the County recognized Waikiki Banyan and Waikiki Sunset as legal vacation rental buildings.  

Lastly - it is very much a seller's market for vacation rentals here.  A handful of buildings have had units sell for record prices, and I'm still seeing multiple offers situations.  

Hi @Lauren Samford - I am not that familiar with the Big Island market.  Are you looking for property on Kona side or Hilo?  Let me know and I'll direct message you a few quality agents that can assist you.  

@Clara Settje - you might try either of the attorneys below.  I personally worked with both on a  partner buyout and I was happy with the services provided by each.  

Jonathon Durrett -  808 792-1211

Nathan Aipa - 808 523-5030

@Joani Pederson - what terms are you offering a potential investor?  Any equity stake in the property?  What is the exit strategy for the investor - a buyout at some point?  And based on the down payment amount, I'm guessing this is a studio in Waikiki?   What is the average nightly rate in peak and off season?  

And what are you calculating for ROI?

Just fyi - In my experience 93-95% occupancy rate is high.  Definitely doable in peak season, but I recommend being a little more conservative on annual occupancy rate when running your financial calculations.  One of the largest vacation rental management companies on the island targets an 85% annual occupancy rate.  In his opinion, if it gets above 90%+, nightly rates are too low.  

Hi @Aric Yuji Harris - I'd guess you'll get some wholesalers contacting you due to this post.  In the past, I've had wholesalers contact me for various reasons so I know there are O'ahu wholesalers on BP.  Also, I recommend you look into Meetup - there are some real estate investor groups here on O'ahu and quite sure you'll find wholesalers in some of those groups.

Good luck, 

Hi @Shalen Takaaze - are you looking for properties in multiple states or just one state/area in particular?  If one particular area of a state, my recommendation would be similar to @Gregory Schwartz advice of interviewing multiple agents.  Clearly communicating to every agent you interview on what your goals are, and what your expectations are for the agent you decide to work with.  After this, maybe decide whether a buyer contract works for you.  

I don't use buyer rep agreements as my attitude is that if I provide superlative service to my clients, there will be no reason for them to want to work with another agent.  However, recently a buyer client (who is a new investor) reached out to me and asked me if I'd mind him working with other real estate agents as he thought he would be presented with more opportunities that way.  I greatly appreciated him asking me this and we discussed it and he decided to continue working with me exclusively and I'm happy to write that he'll be closing on a property next week.  

Good luck