Oahu Military Demo/Rebuild

[Paul Garcia]

My wife and I are both active duty military officers with an exciting opportunity to move to Oahu in about a year! We have a considerable stash of cash and will likely have high salaries to help us invest in a piece of property we would be proud to live in. 

We are considering buying land or a tear down in Kailua or Kaneohe Bay. One of my friends in the area completed a similar project for their own home, in the same area, for about $150/sq ft after the tear down. They used an architect to help develop the custom home, then sub-contracted the work over 9-12 months.

Neither of us are contractors but we're very excited about real estate and are here to learn. Both of our fathers' have great knowledge in flips, rentals, and new construction and have been doing that for the last few decades. We hope to put them to work for us in exchange for free trips to Hawaii to hang out with their family.

Can anyone suggest reading material for a tear down/rebuild? Any experience in Hawaii interested in offering suggestions? While a tear down is exciting, we're also considering a single family home that could be lived in for a year or two and then "added on." Ultimately we want to build up to capitalize on some incredible views with a nice deck.

First post after a long time lurking. Thanks for any help in advance. Love BP!

[Ingrid J.]

@Paul Garcia Hey Paul, and welcome to Biggerpockets! Congratulations on your first post. I also used to lurk around for a while, before finally making the leap.

Are you planning to move to Oahu before you begin the construction? If not, how do you plan to oversee the construction process?  

[Paul Garcia]

@Ingrid J. I would love to get started on the project before we move there. My hope would be that between multiple trips to the island, maybe relocating a parent there, and my friend in the area it would be manageable. 

Ideally I could knock out at least the demo and permitting from afar. I will likely move to the island before my wife is eligible to rotate, so there is a chance that we could wait until I get there to start the process.

One question I have, is it common to have to stop construction a few times throughout the building process to seek new permits?

@Billy Khaliidi can you tell me more about your experience with Atlas? Would they be willing to subcontract parts of the build?

[Nathaniel Cherubini]

Welcome and good plan! I was stationed in HI on K-Bay back in 04-08. I will likely be heading back in FY19 and have a similar plan. I have friends that bought there and made out really well (Kailua area). Don't write off condos (despite not liking them myself for investing they can make lots of sense in HI). Keep an eye on Zillow, I have seen some really great deals like a gutted 4/2 (townhouse) right outside of the Kbay gate for 265K and was ready for renovation. Good luck and maybe we will cross paths once we both PCS out there.

[Paul Garcia]

[Sean Sisk]

@Paul Garcia if you do not mind me asking what is your price range for a lot?

[Paul Garcia]

@Sean SiskOur budget is $400k-700k before construction if buying land or a demo. We would love to be $800-1.2mil invested, with equity to show for our work, at the end of the project.

As I mentioned, our friend contracted his own build in that area with his father, used sub-contractors for nearly all the construction, and came in around $150/sq ft for the construction. We would like to do the same. My military training timeline would be an additional consideration when trying to run the project ourselves / with our parents.

Any wholesalers out there!? We're trying to find something that is no more than 15-20 minutes from Kailua, reasonable commute to HNL, and land that will accommodate a great view. Sloping terrain towards the bay should allow us to build up, views from the 2nd and possibly 3rd floor would be ideal. Beach or park access nearby would be a plus.

[Paul Garcia]

Bump. Anyone wholesaling the east side of Oahu?

[Michael Espenan]

Welcome to the island.  We are a military family as well, and moved here back in 2011.  We bought a house in fair condition, which most people would consider a teardown in my area.  We completely renovated the property over the past 6 years and just finished, with a cost closer to $275-300/SF doing most of the finish work and demo myself.

I would caution against doing work from afar.  It is difficult to find a good contractor at a reasonable price here, compared to other places we have lived, and difficult to get people just to show up.  Even overseeing work while living in my home was a challenge at times.  Finding someone who can work for $150/sf may be possible, but that will surely come with headaches and additional costs, that would also be a project finished with very low end Home Depot type finishes.  Materials generally cost at least 30% more than on the mainland.  If you plan on living here long, you may want to consider better materials, based on how close you live to the ocean.  

For the type of price range your considering, the market is very competitive as well here, so make sure you have a good realtor.

Hope this helps!  Good luck

Aloha

[Duc Ong]

@Paul Garcia

Wholesaling isn't super popular here on Oahu, although there are some people doing it. Oahu tends to be more of a traditional MLS type of area, since most sellers realize they can get top dollar by listing it with an agent.

I'm an investor and realtor in Honolulu.  Let's connect to see if I can help you in any way!  

[Daniel A Lee Kim]

@Paul Garcia. Hey Paul! We are also military family looking to do something very similar. I'm wondering how your plan went? Were you able to find a place? If so did you renovate? Maybe add an ADU? How much was actual $/sqft compared to your 150/sqft estimate?

I have so many questions lol