All Forum Posts by: Kory Sheldahl

Hi everyone,

I'm seeking some advice regarding a property I own in Hawaii that is currently rented to a military tenant. Unfortunately, over the 11 months he has lived there, he has only managed to pay the rent on time once. For the past six months, he has been consistently 1-2 months behind on payments. Despite this, I have tried to be patient and haven't initiated any eviction proceedings, even though Hawaii Tenant Law allows me to issue a "notice to pay rent" after just 5 days of delinquency.

I've heard that if you're having issues with a military tenant, you can contact their commanding officer to help resolve the problem. However, I haven't been able to find any official information confirming whether this is legal or if it violates any laws.

I'm hoping someone here might have experience with this or know of a reliable source that can clarify the legality of contacting a tenant's commanding officer. Your insights and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time!

Originally posted by @Loren Clive:

No, your on island contact doesn't have to be licensed unless they manage property for someone else. 

As far as self-managing under your business, it depends on how your business is set up. Is your partner a member of the business that owns the property? If you are a LLC with multiple members you do need a real estate broker license, or to employ a broker, since the manager would technically be representing more than one party.

If it's a single-member LLC (just you), then you are fine to manage it yourself and have your buddy as island contact.

Here's the law itself. If it gets more complicated, consult a lawyer

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov...

Appreciate the insight. This helps out a lot.

Looking for anyone who might know the rules and regs around self managing properties in Hawaii. I feel my plan might be bordering on what is allowed as a person self managing. I will try and explain the best I can and hope that someone can provide insight or direction on the plan.

I have a condo that I have converted to a rental. It is currently managed by a professional property manager. I'm planning to stop our current property manager agreement in order to self-manage. I no longer live in Hawaii, but my business partner still does. We are looking to manage the under the business and since he is still local, he would be considered the in-state "agent" (He is not a real estate agent, only a person in state to manage local affairs).
~Since it will be managed and collect rent under the business name (of which I am an owner), does that disqualify it as being "self managed"?
~Since my business partner is going to stand as that "in-state" agent/representative, but he is not the owner, does this require him to be a licensed RE Agent?
~If the above two questions don't disqualify us, do I need to register a new specific business just for the management of the property?

If there is anything else that I need to consider, please feel free to add.

Hello all, My RE investing partner and I have started looking into Dayton, OH as our start to long distance investing (we both live in very expensive real estate markets). I have a rental property currently but it was purchased as a residence first then converted to rental, so I don't really count it towards my experience in shopping for perspective properties. 

We are currently running #'s off of the MLS just to see if there is anything that jumps out, but are planning to expand our lead sources to find better deals than what is generally found on the MLS. We want to build our core team to support the long distance investing and hope that the BP community can give some referrals. Looking to find VIPs in each of the categories listed below, and looking to start moving on opportunities right away.

• ~Property Manager
• ~RE Agent
• ~Lender/Broker
• ~Contractor

Also, open to feedback from those who know the Dayton/Columbus area.

@Allyn Wijnveldt

I wouldn't say we "target" military by any means. Just the proximity of the condo lends itself to military tenants more frequently.

We have a close friend in the military that has shared the units ad, I will have to check if that's where she had shared it. 

Appreciate the tip.

Hello All,

Hoping someone may have some advice or at least be able to calm my concerns by sharing that others are going through similar difficulties.

I have a condo in Hawaii near Schofield Barracks and typically hasn't sat empty for more than a couple months. Unfortunately my last tenants got orders and had to move out early in December. I'm not an expert, but I find that the holidays are the worst time to fill a vacancy. I had expected it to be difficult to fill in Jan and even Feb, but had hopes that Mar wouldn't be an issue. Then the pandemic comes and my talks with my property manager haven't provided much relief. We have very little activity and less applications. I have lowered by asking rent 3 times and even offered 1st month half off. Sadly, I had apprx 3.5 months in cash reserves and am now out of pocket each month for the mortgage and HOA.

My property manager advertises through the MLS and I don't think much more. Are there any tips or other ideas to help fill the vacancy.

I like to think that my property manager is doing all they can to keep the unit filled.

1. Property Details:
2. Wahiawa, HI (Just outside of Schofield Barracks)
3. 2BD 1BA Condo - 1 Covered Parking (nicely remodeled with modern kitchen and bath)
4. Rent: Started $1795 (reduced from $1895 to $1845 then to $1795 (half off first month))

Side Note: Zillow/Trulia/Hotpads have failed to update price reductions still to this day. Conversations with there support have provided no help and I now see what agents never have anything positive to say about the brands. I find it almost offensive that they build there business from my data and have no care about how they handle my data. My price reductions could very well have stirred up business from the people browsing their sites, but none would know of the reductions since they are not good stewards of my data. sad.. .. .. 

Thank you all,

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $145,000
Cash invested: $25,000

This was a condo purchase with my wife and I. Our intent from the beginning was to purchase and turn it into a rental when we moved on from it.

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

It was our first home purchase. We weren't picky, just wanted to get started.

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

We had already lived there for almost 4 years (renting) and the owners were putting it up for sale. It was perfect timing (low market) and we already lived there so we wouldn't have needed to move. BONUS!!

How did you finance this deal?

Bank of Hawaii (local bank). Michael Libertini, who was the branch manager at the time, walked us through every bit of it. He is quite savvy with real estate himself and so it turned out to be a great contact. Still keep in contact with him and alway trust his insight.

How did you add value to the deal?

We remodeled the bathroom 2 years after the purchase and remodeled the kitchen 6 months before turning it into a rental.

What was the outcome?

We are able to cashflow the unit and that part is a success. Location is great since it's across the street from a military base and that has been wonderful to keep the unit rented.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We probably went a little overboard on the remodel, given the area and it being a rental. We are still paying for the remodel and it has impacted the overall cashflow.

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

Although, he doesn't work for Bank of Hawaii anymore, Michael Libertini was pivotal through the life of owning this property and our perspective to real estate.