All Forum Posts by: Manly Souza

Hey what's up @Kamil Schuetz.  Aloha.

I have always said and will continue to say that if you can make it here in real estate, you can make it anywhere.  The Hawaii real estate game can be brutal, but not impossible.  

Probably the most irritating thing for me, which may also be the best thing, about Hawaii real estate or Hawaii in general from the angle of business, is termed "Hawaiian Time".  

@Michael Lehman

There's a lot going on with your post, and it's good you have a lot on your mind, but you gotta take it one step at a time. My recommendation to you is to start slowly and to start small. You're going to make mistakes, we all do. If an investor on here says that they have done everything perfect from the onset, they're lying. You're going to have bad experiences with agents, contractors, contracts, banks, loan officers, etc. One step at a time. Buy a couple of condos, move up to SFH's, then find what you like to do throughout your journey. Slowly but surely is the answer to your question.

@Damion Byros

Not sure if I totally understand your question, but it seems as if you want to lower the 20% down payment.  And you are inquiring about seller financing.  

The 20% down is what banks like because it's a strong commitment towards the property. If the property forecloses, the banks wouldn't lose as much money as 20% was put down. Also the 20% down avoids a PMI. I put 20% down on the last two property purchases but before that I have down 0 down. It all depends on the numbers. If you can make the numbers work with 0 down then more power to ya.

Seller financing is just that, it's the seller financing the the loan.  Seller financing, in my experience, will require a large amount of down payment as well.

@Tyler B.

Half a million dollars. Dang. That's awesome. I like the BRRRR strategy. Buy, rehab, rent, refinance, and repeat. If I were you I would take a significant amount of the half a million and utilize this strategy. When you have a net worth and can leverage your properties you wouldn't need the bank to acquire loans in the traditional sense. HELOC's may be better in a situation such as yours.

Go for scoring in the long term instead of trying to hit a home run.

@Howard Summers

Nice dude.  The best advice I ever received was from my uncle who owns multiple complexes in Hawaii.  When he found out that I owned multiple condos, he simply looked at me and said, "Keep going".  That was all I needed.  It wasn't like a very happy or proud type of "Keep going", but it was more of a stern matter of factly type of "Keep going".  It was form of reassurrance mixed with good job type of "Keep going".  

So that's what I tell people who are just starting.  "Keep going".  It gets easier throughout the journey.  I close on my fourth deal at the end of this month and loan officers see a track record and feel more comfortable lending out money.  

Oh, and network, network, and network some more.  

@Kahanu Noa

It's a long story but here's the short version.

When I was married, my wife and I were renting.  I deployed to Iraq in 2007 and read Rich Dad Poor Dad.  I realized that renting was basically throwing my money away.  

When my wife and I separated, I left the house.  I was living out of my car for a while until I figured things out.  I made a promise to never rent again and I bought my first condo in 2008.  I lived in it and fixed it up slowly.  I purchased a second property in 2009.  The market crashing helped me a lot.    

My divorce became a reality in 2009 and I left the country for a year.  I came back home and went on a year bender (partying, drinking, etc.).  I got my $hit back together around 2012-2013 and I bought another place to be fixed up and leased out.  Now I'm on my fourth purchase and we close late October.

It was my disdain for renting that put me on the path.  

Nice @Sarah Lam.  I am also in escrow for a place in Aiea.  We close on the 29th of October.  Pearl City and Aiea can be congested at times, but the central location is $$$$.  The rail bringing unknown variables for all cities from Kapolei eastward is exciting as well.

@Sean Putney welcome broski. I like seeing other vets going into the real estate game. The way the VA allows us to buy properties is a huge benefit and I'm surprised more vets don't utilize their benefit as effectively as they should.

@Jasmine C. is right it is nice to see Hawaii peeps on here.

@Kahanu Noa @Cory Nemoto yea it is nice to see Oahu peeps on here.  I used to be on ForumsHawaii and we would talk business and real estate on that site, but it no longer exists.  

@Kuan Yuan daaaannnnnggg.  In 2011 I was thinking about buying some mainland property but I was too scared.  I just stick to Oahu.  

@Michael Borger daaaaaaannnngggg to you too.  You're doing it big.  I gotta get on your level.