Hawaii Condo investment

[Valerie DeFreitas]

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $465,000
Cash invested: $15,000

2BR, 2BA, 2 designated parking spaces.
This lovely ground level condo sits in the beautiful 'Rain Forrest' of central island on Oahu, Hawaii, aka as Luanani Valley.
This area is one of Oahu's hidden gems. It is gorgeous, lots of rain, wind and quiet peaceful sounds, just the birds and roosters. Sometimes an obnoxious neighbor. Only 3 miles from one of the largest Army bases on Oahu, this property is too easy to keep rented out long-term to military folks. A real Hawaii dream location.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Location, location, location.
Oahu is a money-pot. It is probably one of the best and most aggressive places in America to invest. But once you are in, you're golden. The coolest (and somewhat frustrating) thing about investing on Oahu is, there is no more land there. No more new builds, what they have is what they have. Oahu is severely overpopulated with a huge % being active duty. So your investment is a gurantee! Not to mention, the equity growth is substantial d/t the low inventory.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Worked w/an awesome real estate agent. Our journey from start to finish was approx 8 months. This was my first home ever, round 1 of COVID was in flight, I was recently divorced and just landed a good contractor job. The market was at an all time HIGH, super HOT and inventory was very low! It was literally like going into real estate war! I loved it. We made the deal by coming in first and coming in strong + offering cash over appraisal, without cash over appraisal, back then, you couldn't play!

How did you finance this deal?

I used my VA loan.
Plus tapped into some money from my Mother that she had planned on transferring to me once she passes. This was not easy for me to ask her for this money. But after I explained the need for cash over appraisal, she was more than happy to help. Plus she stated it was nice to see what the money was being used for while she is still here.

How did you add value to the deal?

Almost 100% rehab.
Painted throughout, crown molding, new BA vanities, new lighting throughout. Totally gutted the kitchen, added all new stainless steal appliances. The flooring and W/D unit was just about all that stayed OG. I do have plans to change out the closet doors eventually.

What was the outcome?

I lived there for almost 2 years while rehabbing. Then once I got past the 1 yr requirement w/VA loan, I decided it was time to turn this beautiful property into a rental and hit the mainland for some inviting for a few years.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I would do things a lot different today with the knowledge I have gained form the BP Podcast + other self education. I would have been more stringent with the sub-contracor, and gotten more agreements in writing. In the end, he did what he said he would do and charged pretty much what we had agreed upon. But, I am definitely better equipped now than I was 2.5 years ago.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I highly recommended both my real estate agent and my lender to several folks on island.
They both went above and beyond to take care of me.
I consider them both friends now and intend to use them in future deals.