Rookie investing in Hawaii, need some advice!

[YuYing Chen]

Hello everyone, 

I'm finishing up school in Boston and thinking about relocating to Oahu, Hawaii in September ( I know, literally across the whole country). But I think it's good to get myself out there and get some new experiences. Anyways,
I would also want to use this opportunity to start my real estate investing journey since I've been following bigger pockets for a while now. I don't really have much money laying around, only enough for a downpayment. Talked to a loan officer, he said I can probably get a loan of around $300K 

After doing a little research about the housing market I was quite surprised. A lot of the real estate is leasehold (which means you will never really own the land and you will have to give it back after a certain amount of time) but yet, but these properties are still being listed in the 200k range and most of them are studio/ 1bedroom apartments... 

Aside from that, a lot of these apartments have crazy HOA fees! which definitely adds up to the mortgage payment...

I'm wondering if there are any properties around $300k that I could maybe do a BRRR?

Would it be better to buy a property at that price range and use it for air b&b rental? and I would just rent with some roommates? 

What would you do if you were in my shoes? 

-YuYing :) 

[Bryan Vukelich]

Aloha @YuYing Chen

Congrats in finishing up in school.  If you want to share, what are you majoring in?  And also curious, what attracts you to O'ahu compared to the other islands?  Whatever the reason, applaud you for putting yourself out there and getting new experiences.  Only thing I really regret about moving to Hawaii is that I didn't do it sooner. 

Regarding your real estate questions - It will be difficult but you can find a BRRR property on O'ahu for that loan amount. One example is I had a client last year buy a 3 BR townhome in Ewa for $286k. He did a fix and flip and sold it after a handful of months for $450k cash. It could have been a decent long term rental but he wanted to free up his cash.

I'm also a fan of vacation rentals.  There is quite a bit to know here about rules and regulations and City Council is going to soon vote on some new regulations - so things may be changing.   There are a few decent 1 BR legal vacation rental units that sell in the high $300k's and gross around $4-4.5K a month.  But there are also studios between $220K-$350K that might appeal to you and gross around $3k+.  Just know there are some buildings that are better than others to own a legal vacation rental unit.   You are welcome to call me at your convenience, if you'd liked to chat more about the real estate market here as well as living in Hawaii.

So if I were in your shoes, whether it was a BRRR, or a vacation rental, I'd definitely try to buy real estate here. And I'd only look for "fee simple" property. Leasehold works for some and I've had some clients look into leasehold but all eventually end up buying "fee simple" property.

Happy to answer any other questions  you have,