All Forum Posts by: Greg Gaudet

Mahalo @Chris Mason! That’s what I’m thinking too.. 

Some more details on the deal Brandon mentioned (I’m trying to help him get this one):

The bank, Nation Star/Mr. Cooper won’t give us the payoff unless the borrower gives them verbal or written permission to tell us, OR if we can provide the last four of the borrowers SSN. 

We know the original loan amount that was taken out in 2002, and IF the payoff is equal to or less than that amount we will be very happy! But if it’s much more than that we could be upside down. And I’ve seen a lot of foreclosures where the total owed can be twice as much as the outstanding principal amount, so it’s just too risky without knowing that payoff. 

Even the commissioner of the sale hasn’t been able to get the payoff (although I think he only mailed a letter to the borrower asking), we would have to make a non refundable 10% deposit in order for them to tell us. 

So we’re really hoping someone out there has a way to find the payoff amount! Thanks for your input! 

Oops. Guess I spoke too soon! lol There's your answer! 

If it's upcountry Maui you need to get it resolved before your J1 inspection contingency expires. People have been waiting for water meters for 10, 15, maybe even 20 years up here. We bought a vacant lot that already had a water meter thank God (for our primary, since we built new). But the others I know that also built just got a catchment. That's probably your easiest route, depending what plan to do with the property. It's definitely not considered a desirable option to most buyers.

Colby should be able to shed some more light on this. He dominates upcountry. Maybe since the house already had a meter and just got shut off you can skip the 437 year waiting list? 

I believe they remove the meter after 6 months of no service. But it should be easier to turn back on than to get a first new meter. 

@Betty Hahn

Hey Betty, did anything ever come from that seller we called together?

Try whitepages.com. You can search their name and it will give you their addresses phone numbers and relatives. Then you can call or write to their relatives.

When it's not near the end of the lease lol 

If the lease doesn't have much time left that starts to bring up some uncertainties. But in reality the most likely outcome is that the lease holder renews the lease, or the AOAO buys the lease and converts to fee simple. 

Bottom line, if there's plenty time left on the lease, and you can make your investment back plus a solid return well before the lease expires, then it's really just weighing the opportunity cost you could lose if, by some unimaginable chaotic anarchy, the lease holder is allowed to just take your condo from you. If that does happen, you've still made a good return, you just lose the opportunity to sell your asset for the equity. I think that's a long shot though, and you should be able to determine the lease holders options by reviewing the lease. 

I'm not sure if Sophie was referring to a certain condo building, but most properties in all of Hawaii are fee simple, not leasehold. There are LH properties still around, I'm looking a few right now personally and will hopefully be buying 3 LH condos this year. But as someone that worked professionally in RE here for years and has been investing here, analyzing deals constantly, and knows the market, I'd estimate that 90% of RE here is FS - not LH. 

Again, Sophie may have been responding to another comment directed at a particular building, but just in case, I wanted to make sure false info wasn't being spread. 

I understand that on Oahu, many SFHs were LH up until the 90s, but most, if not all, were converted to FS. 

Also note that just bc a property is LH, doesn't mean it's a bad investment. Just gotta know what to look for and make sure the numbers make sense. Like I said, I'm hoping to buy a few LHs myself this year. 

@David Varvaro Hope you can make the meetup, will you be on Maui 7/11? 

You must be stoked! 

You can still invest in Hawaii... Just gotta find a niche that makes sense. I literally just posted about some of my deals and properties I target in another thread.. 

Here's the link:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/530/topics/72...

Just contact me if you actually consider the properties I invest in, to make sure we don't compete on deals and drive the prices up on each other! lol Actually reach out to me if you are interested in these units at all because I wholesale some of them. Working on wholesaling one of them right now in fact. 

Agree with most of what was said. Except I have to challenge Lane's comment about cash flow in primary markets. Yes, it's definitely less and harder to find, but you can usually find a niche... At least I was able to. My low end rentals on Maui produce an average of 25% COC returns, plus appreciation. I may have gotten lucky (combined with working my a-- off to find deals), but I'm happy with them. It's a little harder to get those returns now because prices have continued to rise, but you can still buy on the MLS at Harbor Lights on Maui for 130k and make around $400/month cash flow.

Regarding the 1% rule, again, places like Harbor Lights still produce more than 1% with prices around 130-150k and rents around 1700 (gotta factor in the HOA fees, but that's basically your capex and part of your maintenance costs).

Some are scared because it's a lower class, but that's security to me because if the economy shifts there will be a higher demand for lower end rentals as people downgrade. Still a good buy in my book, and in my mentor who owns 10 there, is still buying there, and has been a full time investor since the 90s - I'll trust him! 

@Cassie Chun

Oh yeah! Cory just started lending right? I wonder what his minimum is.. I might be looking for a couple small HMLs soon under 100k each