All Forum Posts by: Bryan Vukelich

Hi Jacob - applaud you for joining BP and making the effort to learn all you can.  Wish you well with acquiring real estate both here in Hawai'i as well as on the mainland.  In time, no reason you can't achieve your goal of owning a primary residence here.  Contact me any time if I can be of value to you - I enjoy talking real estate with others.

Aloha, 

Hi Dennis, I'm glad you posted this question before buying a property. What you heard is incorrect. Currently, you can only legally operate a STR in property that is within the hotel districts of O'ahu or has a non-conforming use (NUC) permit. There was new legislation passed in 2019 where the county was going to offer a certain number of properties owners (outside the hotel districts) licenses to operate an STR if they lived in the property.

Unfortunately a new mayor was elected last year and he stopped that program and is even trying to pass new legislation that would be quite harmful to STR owners as well as most management companies. However, there has been a lot of pushback regarding the proposed legislation - the public is overwhelmingly against it and AirBnB and Expedia are also lobbying heavily against it. So there is a chance that the newly proposed legislation will be withdrawn. If so, perhaps the county will go back to the old plan of issuing licenses to homeowners to operate STRs - hard to say as there is a lot of uncertainty right now.

You're welcome to contact me if I can be of any value to you here.  

Hi Sean,

I recommend Ali'i Beach Rentals. It is a locally owned and operated business and Kai is the owner. I refer all my STR clients to him. You can find the contact info online or message me and I'll give you Kai's cell phone #. His company has proprietary software that helps maximize an owners gross monthly income.

For rates, best you talk to him directly, but I know he offers my clients a 20% management fee for full service since I have a good relationship with him.  To be clear, he does not pay me for any referral.  

Are you currently working with a realtor to help you find an STR? If you are not, I would be happy to help you achieve your real estate goals here on O'ahu. Whether or not you are working with another realtor, please be aware that the city is currently contemplating new STR regulations. Their latest proposed legislation was quite harmful to STR owners and most management companies, so there was much criticism from several local groups but AirBnB and Expedia are also lobbying heavily against it. Thus, the legislation is being revised. Revised bill might be made public later this month.

Happy to answer any questions you have. 

Hi Sequoia,

Congrats on having that kind of equity to work with.  What is your long term objectives?  Do you want to build up a portfolio of SF homes as rentals?  Do you have any interest in owning multi family property?  What is the most important investment criteria for you?

Regarding your question, I personally believe it is hard to go wrong owning real estate in Hawaii.  That said though, although I own a primary residence on O'ahu, I only own investment property on the mainland because I get a higher cap rate and fortunately I'm in areas were appreciation has been very good (Boise, ID and Tacoma, WA).  But if I was like you and had knowledge and experience building new, I'd definitely consider doing that in Hawaii if the risk to reward was favorable. 

It's great you the options you have with the $300k, but realize it is difficult to try to figure out what is the best path to choose.  Wish you well and if you want to chat real estate sometime, you are welcome to contact me.  Aloha 

Hi Solomon, if you are considering O'ahu, I recommend you limited your focus to the hotel district of Waikiki, Makaha Valley or Ko'olina - those are the only areas that have legal STR's - though there are properties scattered around the island with non-conforming use permits that currently allow for STR's.

Just note, the current government has proposed some pretty extreme regulations regarding short term rentals for O'ahu.  City Council will be hearing testimony this month before deciding on the proposed legislation.   Some of it is unconstitutional but that doesn't seem to stop some politicians these days.

Lastly, I have clients who own STR's - some are doing better than others. Once you factor in property appreciation, some owners do quite well but most STR's units in Waikiki sell for a premium and I've personally found better investments on the mainland.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.  

Hi Madeline - that's great you are planning to buy here.  Yes, I highly recommend you work with a local lender as they are easier to deal with than a mainland bank if an issue arises with the property. 

What part of the island you looking to invest in?  And the mortgage lender many of my clients use is Cary Chinn: 808 469-1314.  His company, Hawaiian Mortgage Experts does the most loan volume here.   

Are you working with a realtor?  If not, I'd be happy to help you achieve your real estate goals.   Here is some info on my experience/background if you are interested:  

https://enjoylivingonoahu.com/...

Take care 

@Mackenzie Plunkett Thanks for the book recommendation and applaud you for starting your real estate investing early in life and your goal to have 2-3 properties here. 

Hi Christopher - congrats on doing well with home purchase on O'ahu and thank you for the service.  Seems like you thought it out quite well, and getting good advice from others.  I just wanted to share that I agree with many of the others that if your goal is best return on your money, likely the best option is to sell here and reinvest on the mainland.  

Personally, I'd like to own more real estate here but my brother and I are finding better investments on mainland that offer better cashflow and have been appreciating very well.  

Good luck and if I can be of value to you in any way, you are welcome to contact me at any time. 

Hi Bryan, congratulations on getting your offer accepted - not all that easy in this market.  What island is your duplex on?

And here in Hawaii, adding sq. ft. to a property generally a great thing to do - but I agree with Rick, check out comps, and see if the extra space will give you a decent return on your money.  

And want to highlight a few important things:

* Although it is usually takes a long time, I highly recommend you get all necessary permits.  If you do an addition, the appraiser will not give you any value for it if it is not permitted.  Plus, when it comes to sell, many potential buyers like to see that any remodeling work was permitted.

* At least on O'ahu, quality contractors are quite busy here right now.  

* It is pretty challenging to find some materials right now.  Recently, I've seen some fix/flip opportunities be put back on the market because the originally investor doesn't want to hold the property until materials arrive on the island to finish the job.  

Wish you well, and if I can be of value to you in any way, contact me at any time.  

Hi Kirk,

You looking forward to the move?  If you want to share, what time of investment property you currently own?  

And I agree with @Kirk Mccallister - house hacking is definitely a possibility here.  I have a friend/client who owns a townhome in Aiea where he does that.  Also, you ever considered a legal vacation rental?