All Forum Posts by: Nick Frostbutter

@Trevor Yasunaga The utilities are really going to depend on the area, and a lot on the HOA. All of the condos are going to have varying HOA fees. I have seen from $300 - $1000. Usually it will include water, sewage, and garbage. Sometimes it will include electric. Right now, my condo in Waikiki HOA is around $550 (which is on the lower end of Waikiki) and includes electric. I have seen $800 and not include electric.

From my research, even a lot of the SFH and townhouses around the island seem to have HOA fees too (which usually include water, sewage, and garbage) but they are much more reasonable than the city areas. I have seen $50 - $200 for those.

It is going to depend on the property if it has HOA fees, and what they include. Usually listing will say if and what the HOA fee is and what it includes. If it doesn't, then you can always call the listing realtor and ask!

@Isi Nau  @Michael Borger Is it pretty straight forward to turn a fee simple condo into a leasehold and sell it to someone? Can most realtors do it? And does it need to be under some sort of company to be the lease rent collector? Or can any old joe shmoe do it? 

@David Van Brunt Say you don't record the tenants name on the service. When a perspective landlord is doing their checks on the addresses the tenant provide, how does the landlord actually verify the occupant actually lived there in the past. Couldn't the tenant search the site themself and give the landlord phony addresses? It doesn't seem fool proof is all I'm thinking. I would think if you didn't have a way to actually verify the tenants identity and addresses then you would still need to call previous landlords.

@Isi Nau It also seems that if a property has a HOA fee them the occupant pays it, not the actual land owner? So say you buy a leasehold condo for $200k (and the fee is not available) with $300 a month lease rent and 30 years left before expiration. You get a 30 year loan to buy the leasehold. Now as the new occupant you have to pay the onthly fees of the mortgage for the $200k, the $300 for lease rent, and the HOA? When then the 30 years are up and the lease expires the properties reverts back to the original seller because te occupant cannot purchase the fee? And the occupant just walks away? Can anyone choose to turn a fee simple property they own into a leasehold? How do you tell how much a new leasehold contract is worth? Can you set any arbitrary expiration date upon creation? Or must it start at a standard 30 years?

Hey everyone, I have been doing some research into the leasehold (LH) market and I am falling short on some of the terminology and what it means. I also cant really seem to find any good resources to learn more. Hopefully the awesome BP community can help!

I think I understand the basics of a leasehold. You can by the lease that expires in XX number of years (say 2050). You pay for that like a loan or cash but it doesn't guarantee that you own the fee for the property after the lease expires. But if the fee is available for purchase, they you can buy the fee if you desire. You can make updates and changes like a normal SFH but you won't see any equity return unless you buy the fee. That pretty much sums up the basics, right?

What about the renegotiation date? What exactly happens when you get to this date, what are you "renegotiating"? Is it not a good idea to buy a leasehold close to a renegotiation date?

Does anybody know of any books or resource that talk about leaseholds? If so I would love to read them. I have been struggling for a little while trying to find any.

I know leaseholds are an uncommon beast (seems like just Hawaii/Honolulu these days), but maybe some of REIs that have done some work in the area can help? @Michael Borger @Jasmine C. @Isi Nau

Absolutely go with a VA loan for your purchase while you still can. You can even use VA loans for anything up to a 4-plex. You can use it for that same multi-family you are looking at!

@Zhenyu Han What size units are they? Are they all in the city? I have heard from people in the area having pretty good success getting longer term renters for spare rooms using Craigslist. I imagine entire apartments or houses would be pretty similar luck?

@Malachi Tresch I appreciate the tip. It work that time!

@Isi Nau I have been looking into some numbers for both vacation rentals and traditional. I'll be in hawaii for around 3 more years so I feel pretty confident I can finish my time here with 3 properties total. I would be interested in multi units but I haven't been able to find any that are in a ball park for me. If you know of any or where I could find more info I would love to take a look!

@Don Nelson I am living in now and doing the reno myself. And after words I plan on moving onto another and doing the same. While renting out the current one of course. I purchased for about 370k, which I now know was on the higher side for price. But I expect rent to be around $2800 - $3000 a month. The purchase price mistake was I think a good one to make on this first one. Since I am living in it now I can swallow that mistake.