All Forum Posts by: Brandon Libao

Hi All,

My name is Brandon and I am a resident on the Big Island of Hawaii. As anyone who has spent time in our real estate market would know, brand new homes in Hawaii are quick to fly off the shelves. This has presented a lot of investors great opportunities to build spec homes and sell for high profit margins. My wife and I are both in the medical field, her a nurse practitioner and I, a nurse. However, we have recently become very interested and almost obsessed with creating wealth through the use of real estate. We are very interested in building a spec home to get started, but the problem is we have no idea what it the best option for financing such a project. We have talked to several of our friends who also do this as a means of amassing great income and wealth, but all began with a sizable amount of money. We have a savings that is not enormous but we believe will serve as a good starting point to take on this adventure. Our question is, what are some of our options to begin financing this without having to forfeit a large amount of our saving up-front? Here are some questionably and topics to allow to get the ball rolling:

1. Are they specific construction loans made especially for people like us wishing to build homes specifically for the purpose of selling for a profit?

2. Are there loop holes in taking out a 0%-down, primary residence construction loan that would allow us to build and sell the home without penalty?

3. Are there options that you are aware of in this area for private investment loans?

If you have an answer for any of these questions or simply want to let me know what you think, I would love and welcome the input. Thank you all!

- Brandon

@Christian Ciabal

Hi Christian,

Thank you for responding. Aside from waiting for the actual appraisal, what is the best way for me to value the property? As you know the market values fluctuate widely within just a couple of miles here in Hawaii. Also, in my small town, there aren’t many properties for sale or haven’t been in a while when looking for old fixer uppers to flip. So I’m having a hard time finding comps in certain areas. Do you have any suggestions?

I am a newbie to real estate investing. I see a lot of people putting up spec homes in our area and seemed like a good idea. However, after doing much research, I realized how difficult it is to get in to such a saturated market especially with whatever market recession some of these “pros” are predicting. I was wondering if anyone is in the rental property market here in Hawaii? If so, how much work does it take to get into and maintain a status in rental properties? I am a full-time RN here and am looking for more of a passive income than anything.

All replies welcome.