All Forum Posts by: Nathan Florence

I would want to add more scale in down markets and actually be less aggressive in really hot markets. The reno is a pretty solid unknown at this point. Is it decent enough that you could live in it? Live in flips/ BRRRRs tend to be really really strong deals. 

If you subtract out the rent from the second unit on the larger property, how much more is your mortgage vs the smaller one. If its just a couple hundred bucks, I would ask myself if renovating a whole house(and the cost of the reno) is worth a couple hundred bucks a month on the mortgage. 

Personally, neither of these really sound all that risky to me. 

@Nathan Florence - ha Nathan, I didn't even put 2 and 2 together when I first saw your name.  I was a late starter to surf but is my favorite thing to do and I watch and enjoy many of your YouTube videos - though it makes me envious at times.   And congrats to owning at Turtle Bay - incredible what those valuations have done recently.  

And @Nathan Gesner had a good suggestion about buying a 4 plex but hard to find anything decent on O'ahu and almost impossible on North Shore.  But if patient, you can find a SF home that is divided into 2-3 (likely unpermitted) units somewhere on North Shore.  

Also, a big focus of my real estate work on O'ahu is vacation rentals and I occasionally come across a quality off market opportunity.  I'll be in touch next time I come across one.   But eventually you might want to consider investing in multiple family properties on the mainland to diversify your holdings plus you'll usually get a better return on cash there. 

 Look like a nice swell building on the North Shore - enjoy the water and have a great NY celebration.   Wish you the best with your surf career 

Hi @Nathan Florence - congrats on your first investment in Hawaii.  If you don't mind sharing, which island is it on?   And that is great you have the opportunity to acquire another property.   What are your long term objectives with your real estate investments in Hawaii?  If you bought a primary residence, how long do you plan to hold it for?  

Some info you might find helpful - I know the owner of one of the largest vacation rental management companies on O'ahu.  He was surprised that they had to drop rates for December 5-10% to get a decent occupancy rate.  So it appears that tourism might be slowing a bit.  However, despite that, there seems to still be very strong demand from investors for STVR's on O'ahu.  I'm still seeing multiple offer situations and recently some pretty standard units have sold for record prices in a couple buildings in Waikiki.  So if you decided to invest in another STVR and on O'ahu in the immediate future, best you act quickly if a unit comes on the market that you find appealing.   But from headlines I'm seeing about US and global economies, there may be better buying opportunities if you wait a bit. 

And I completely understand the appeal of using your BAH toward a mortgage rather than paying another person's mortgage.  Only you can decide what is best for yourself.  I enjoy owning a primary residence but for many years I rented and used most of my funds to buy investments.  And something else to consider, you may be aware that the outer islands are experiencing more of a slow down in residential real estate than O'ahu.  For O'ahu, if a property is price well, it will likely sell rather quickly and I've still seen some multiple offer situations.  However, my hunch is that prices with soften in the short term but I'm bullish Hawaii real estate long term.  

Wish you well and contact me any time if I can be of service to you.  

Welcome to the BiggerPockets forums!

My recommendations?

1. Do not use the cash flow from your investment to pay your rent. You should be paying your own rent or mortgage. If you want real wealth, you need to invest your cashflow right back into more investments. Continue to grow until you've reached your goal, then you can enjoy the spoils.

2. Do not spend $3,500 on rent! Cut your expenses and maximize momentum toward your goals.

3. Instead of buying an expensive single-family home, consider downsizing to a small apartment building with four units. Live in one and rent the other three out. Or buy a large single-family and rent out individual rooms. Find a way to turn your primary residence into another investment.

4. Don't get a big head and make the mistake of over-extending. You got lucky with this purchase. Educate yourself on how to make wise investments and how to properly manage your investment so bad Tenants don't ruin the experience. Learn why it's paying down the mortgage is actually a loser option. Learn how to cut expenses, increase income, and invest wisely. We are in a peak market so anything you buy today may drop in value by 10% or more in the next year.