All Forum Posts by: Dana R.

Hi Adam,

I own a couple of vacation rental in Waikiki so I can speak about my experience. I'm guessing that vacation rentals in Florida might be similar since both places don't really have an off season..

In Hawaii, there are a lot of resorts with condos for sale that are turn key. Owners spruce up their units and then, when they sell, the furniture, pots, pans, silverware, etc comes with the sale.

In Hawaii, buildings in resort areas often allow condo owners to put their units in the resort's rental pool. That way, the resort books your unit for you and does all the maintenance. Of course, that service comes with a fee. But then again, owners don't have to hassle with guests.

Good luck!

Welcome to BP Mike!

I live on the mainland but own a couple of buy and hold vacation rental condos in Waikiki. They cash flow for me. There's a management company in the building that does my housekeeping and maintenance for me. So, vacation rental condos might be one way for you to own real estate in Hawaii even if you get stationed elsewhere. One perk of owning vacation rentals in a sunny climate is that you can fly over to visit them, especially in the winter. : )

Thanks for serving.

Hey @Johnny Aloha, @Michael Borger, @Michael Mazzella

Are you going to be around the first week in December for a Honolulu meet up of Oahu investors? @Todd Nordstrom is game. He suggested meeting at Duke's in Waikiki (see earlier posts). I live in Bellingham, WA but own two vacation rental condos in Waikiki. I'll be in Honolulu Dec 2-9.

Thought I'd toss the meet up idea out there!

Aloha

Aloha Todd,

Welcome to the site! I smiled in recognition when I read your intro. I recently finished Rich Dad, Poor Dad and what you had to say was so in line with the philosophy of the book!

I live in Bellingham, WA but own two vacation rental condos in Waikiki. I'm flying to Honolulu on Dec 2 for a week, so I was thinking….

Hey fellow BP Oahu-ians!

Anyone want to do a Honolulu area meet up the first week in December?

I'll be in Waikiki, Todd's in Aina Haina. How about the rest of the Oahu investors? Is there a good, central location to meet? Hawaii Kai? Kahala? Waikiki Beach? : )

I just run the numbers as a whole once I do my research. And, once you do your research, you'll discover what typical HOA fees run in your area. If a building has way higher HOA fees then I always wonder why. Poor management? Meticulous grounds that have to be maintained? Ancient plumbing that is wasting water and will need to be replaced soon?

Just now, I typed in Waikiki, HI into VRBO's search engine. Came up with 717 vacation rentals. I am kind of embarrassed to admit that I looked through all 717 when I was doing my research a few years ago.

Now, I'd be much smarter. Now, I'd get a hold of a real estate agent in the area where I was interested and ask him or her which are the best buildings for vacation rentals. And then I would dive into those particular buildings to run the numbers.

Aloha Tom,

I chose to invest on the island of Oahu because it gets the most visitors per year out of all the Hawaiian islands. And most tourists wind up going to Waikiki. Once I narrowed down Waikiki condos, I spent 6 months researching all the condos on VRBO. I looked to see which buildings were popular, which units were rented out most of the time, and how much the owners were charging per night.

Then I did research on the buildings that were popular with tourists. How much did the units go for? What were the HOA fees like? How do you get someone to clean and maintain your unit if you buy there but live 2,500 miles away?

For me, condos were the only way to go for a couple of reasons. SFHs in a heavily touristed area in Hawaii are out of my price range. Houses in Hawaii need lots of maintenance because of the weather. I just didn’t want to deal with the maintenance and expense of a house that was across the Pacific Ocean.

You're right, though. HOA fees are definitely something to consider when buying condos. For me, the fees are totally worth the headache of someone else maintaining your property. That said, some buildings have outrageous HOA fees. I nixed those as investment properties. I bought my condos in a building that has low HOA fees and is financially sound.

As always in real estate, you have to run the numbers to see if the purchase makes financial sense. In Waikiki, I can charge relatively high nightly rates to recoup the costs associated with the purchase of the condo.

Aloha Joe!

Haleiwa is a great town. Glad to hear your VRBO rental is doing well there.

At this time, I only have vacation rentals in Waikiki. I know what you mean about the GET and TAT taxes. 14% is pretty steep. I have my guests pay the taxes so the only pain for me is to pay my quarterly taxes to the state.

Hi Everybody!

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Georgia—If you have a specific question about vacation rentals, I’d be happy to answer it.

Mehran—Yeppers! Looking forward to chiming in. Thanks.

Brandon—Watch out! If you buy vacation rentals in Hawaii, then you wind up flying over there a lot. Not to maintain your units, but to soak up the sun. : ) Waikiki is generally sunny and 80 year ‘round. Sigh.

If you wanna talk by phone sometime, let me know. I can fill you in on what I’ve learned.

As for the kind of freelance writing I do—I develop online and print curriculum for adults and the K-12 market. Currently, I’m developing courses for aerospace apprentices and employees. For fun, I self publish books. A few years ago, I published a book for kids called Natural Hawaii. That book got me started in Hawaii real estate. Since I had to fly to Hawaii to do research, I started looking at real estate, just for fun. The next thing you know, I had purchased a condo.

Zach—C’mon, don’t hold back. Tell us all about your interesting deal in Bellingham!

Michael—Pleased to meet another Oahu investor. Your new deals sounds exciting. Wow! What a potential profit.

Real estate prices on Oahu are crazy. Tear down houses in the Honolulu area go for 600+K. Really. When I hear people talk about real estate prices in other parts of the country, I can hardly believe it. A house for $30K. Really!?? Bellingham prices are high enough. Seattle’s are even higher. And Honolulu, sheesh!

I'm a freelance writer living in Bellingham, Washington who travels to Honolulu several times a year for business. I know… it’s rough, especially when the weather here is 42 and raining. : )

In 2010, I bought a one-bedroom vacation rental condo in Waikiki. At that time, prices were low for Hawaii. The cash flow was so good that I wound up buying another one-bedroom condo in the same building in 2012.

I use Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO) to advertise and rent out my condos. If anyone wants to chat about owning vacation rentals, I'd be happy to share my experience.

I got started in real estate in 1989 when I bought my first house in Olympia, WA. Paid $40K and sold it a year later for $65K. I used the profit towards a down payment for a house in Bellingham where I still live.

Hey Brandon, I'm probably one of the few people on Bigger Pockets who has actually been to Montesano. From 1986-1991 I lived and taught in Elma! My then hubby and I used to take walks in Lake Sylvia State Park. Even in the late 80s, Monte was a WAY better town than Elma.

I found Bigger Pockets a few months ago when I was trying to figure out if my condos were actually a good investment or not. Yeah, I put down hefty down payments for both condos so they cash flow well. But does that mean they are good investments? I didn’t really know. Found Bigger Pockets and have been reading and listening to podcasts ever since. I am so impressed with the generosity of people who share their vast real estate knowledge. Thanks, everyone! I am entirely grateful to be here. ~ Dana Rozier