Looking to buy a property in Oahu to house hack

[David Valladares]

Hey everyone! I’m new to BP and found this site while looking for more information on real estate investing after reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. I live in the beautiful island of Oahu and am looking to invest in my first property. I want to house hack to hopefully live for free and build some appreciation on the property. But I don’t really know where to start.

For a first time buyer looking to invest in a high cost location like Hawaii, what would you recommend? Continue to rent and try and do an out of state rental? Or invest in my first property on island to house hack?

Thank you in advance!

[Allyn Wijnveldt]

@David Valladares

One of the simplest things you can do when looking at listings is take a look at the pics assuming they are provided.

A lot of homes are "SFH," but the pics will reveal a full kitchen and another area with a sink and a fridge or a sink and a stove. A lot of places are already setup, and some are 90% there.

Be positive and prepared to rough it for a bit to slingshot your future. My wife and I lived in a 480sq ft 1/1 with our daughter for 2 years while renting out the much larger 3/1. We ended having to fix the foundation after a year of ownership :( had we not had the rental I don’t think we could have weathered that hit. The 1/1 we lived in had a kitchen that couldn’t fit two people, the oven didn’t work, and the rear burners we couldn’t use since space was so sparse we had the spices right there. (What I’m saying here is we wanted it, badly....so we sucked it up and made it work. Lol).

The hard part on all of this is qualifying given the prices.

Good luck! I also agree about the west side. That place has changed quite a bit in the last decade.