Skip to content
×
Try PRO Free Today!
BiggerPockets Pro offers you a comprehensive suite of tools and resources
Market and Deal Finder Tools
Deal Analysis Calculators
Property Management Software
Exclusive discounts to Home Depot, RentRedi, and more
$0
7 days free
$828/yr or $69/mo when billed monthly.
$390/yr or $32.5/mo when billed annually.
7 days free. Cancel anytime.
Already a Pro Member? Sign in here

Join Over 3 Million Real Estate Investors

Create a free BiggerPockets account to comment, participate, and connect with over 3 million real estate investors.
Use your real name
By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.
The community here is like my own little personal real estate army that I can depend upon to help me through ANY problems I come across.
Buying & Selling Real Estate
All Forum Categories
Followed Discussions
Followed Categories
Followed People
Followed Locations
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback

Updated almost 5 years ago on . Most recent reply

User Stats

6
Posts
1
Votes
Nick Rittmann
  • Investor
  • Dallas, TX
1
Votes |
6
Posts

Tampa, Fort Myers, or HAWAII??

Nick Rittmann
  • Investor
  • Dallas, TX
Posted

Hi Bigger Pockets,

My family and I are considering moving to one of these 3 areas:

->Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida

->Fort Myers/Cape Coral/Naples, Florida

->Oahu (Honolulu), Maui, or the western side of the Big Island (Kailua-Kona) in Hawaii

With that said, here are our MAIN considerations:

#1: Warm water and warm weather

Everyone in our family loves the water and why we've narrowed our search to these 3 areas

#2. Schools
On top of having good public schools for our kids to attend, my wife used to be a teacher and is currently an assistant principle, so a state/municipality that values our educators in terms of how they treat and compensate them is also important for us

Both the Tampa and Fort Myers areas are relatively affordable, Hawaii ...yeah, not so much, but I believe we can overcome that obstacle (more on that below). Basically

#3. We MUST house-hack
A.) FHA & Multi-Family Units:
4-unit multi-family is preferred, but not necessarily required, especially given how difficult they are to come by in some markets. I forget off the top of my head if it's a one-year, or two-year commitment to owner-occupy the property if you use an FHA loan(which we fully intend on doing to take advantage the 3.5% down requirement). Upon fulfilling the length of time required by the FHA for owner-occupants, we move out and really reap the rewards from a cash flow perspective, and either repeat the process entirely and buy another multi-family, or purchase and move into a single-family home (that's a "good" problem for us to save later on!)

**We're a little confused though on the loan limitations the FHA has. Here's why:


The stated FHA max limits are dependent on location, I get that, BUT, for example, the basic standard mortgage limits for FHA insured multi-families in Honolulu are as follows:

2-Unit: $923,050

3-Unit: $1,115,800

4-Unit: $1,386,650

HOWEVER, even though the max limits as shown on HUD's website for Honolulu show those that I've typed above, on the same page, if you scroll down a little bit, they go on to state, "Section 214 of the National Housing Act provides that mortgage limits for Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, and Virgin Islands may be adjusted up to 150 percent of the new ceilings."

So, if I follow this correctly, if we were to move to Honolulu and purchase a multi-family, we could actually borrow a max of $1,470,475 for a 2-unit, a max of $1,777,375 for a 3-unit, and a max of $2,208,825 for a 4-unit ...is this correct???

B.) Real Estate Investment Potential: 

Ideally, we'd like to AirBnB out the other units as we live in the other as we *should* get a better return than if we were to rent them out to a tenant. In the 3 markets were considering moving to, we'd expect some seasonal fluctuations in demand/pricing elasticity, but overall, would expect to have some relatively healthy occupancy rates year-round (say, 70-80%)

Appreciation would be more the icing-on-the-cake than anything, so a properties ability to CASH FLOW is more important to us than the rate with which it may appreciate in value. In terms of monthly expenses, we'd LOVE to get close to breaking even ...when we're living in one of the units and cash flow isn't an expectation of ours ...while we're living in one of the properties units

We're desperate to pack up and move to one of these areas tomorrow!! If you'd be willing to share any advice, thoughts, concerns, or which market you'd pick and why, WE'D LOVE to hear it and be forever in your debt!!!

Thanks for reading!

-The Rittmann Family

Most Popular Reply

User Stats

56
Posts
32
Votes
Janice V.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Maui, Hi
32
Votes |
56
Posts
Janice V.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Maui, Hi
Replied

@Nick Rittmann

My family and I are moving as well this summer and we picked Maui, Hawaii. I started purchasing short term rentals, house and a land that I’m developing for food truck park. That being said, I’ve done my research in the area. My son is going to a charter school in Kihei which is a technology school and that’s what we prefer. There’s a really good school in Makawao but that’s upcountry.

With your investing, being in Maui look into USDA loan since majority of land in Hawaii is considered “rural” you’ll be able to get a loan with zero downpayment and this has to be your primary residence. You can find property that has Ohana which is a guest house and use that as a rental. I’ve purchase a house in Kihei that has 4 doors (main house 3bed/2 bath and 3 door with 1 bed/bath) it was listed as a house and when I visited the property i unraveled that there’s plenty of room to make an income, so keep an eye on those. Airbnb/VRBO or any sort of short term rental in Hawaii, one of the rule is that you have to own the property for 5 years before you can apply for a permit so be careful relying on short term rental and research it.

I hope this helps a bit narrowing your decision making. Goodluck!

Loading replies...