Hawaii Real Estate Podcast with Duke Kimhan

Here's my advice when owners ask me about hiring a property manager. I get asked by homeowners all the time about the benefits of having a property manager. They often ask me if I would manage my own property or hire a manager to do it for me. To answer this question, you have to answer another question first: Are you going to be an off-island or on-island owner? One of the statutes in Hawaii states that you need an on-island representative to watch over your property. If you're off-island and have a problem, who are your tenants going to call? How are they going to get repairs done? “The less you're prepared for move-out, the worse off you'll be.” Hawaii is a tenant-friendly state. If you ever have to go to court against a tenant, you better be prepared. As a property manager, my job is to put money in your account and protect your home. To do that, I need a plethora of vendors, and I have to be on the island. There are so many things involved in the process, and often when I transfer a tenant from another owner-occupant or property manager, they do not fill out their property condition form correctly. That's a problem at move out. Nothing bad happens at move-in—the bad things happen at move-out. The less you're prepared for move-out, the worse off you are. So to answer the question, if I were you and I was off-island, I would definitely hire a property manager. If you have any questions about this topic or property management in general, don't hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here's what Hawaii rental owners need to know about HARPTA and FIRPTA. Have you heard of HARPTA and FIRPTA? These are important taxes for Hawaii rental owners to know about, so let's talk about them. First, what is HARPTA? Standing for the “Hawaii Real Property Tax Act,” this act withholds tax on sales of Hawaii rental properties by non-resident owners. We exclusively work with rental properties, so we always remind our clients about this tax. We aren't tax experts or CPAs, so talk with a tax professional when dealing with HARPTA. FIRPTA, on the other hand, stands for “Foreign Investments in Rental Properties Tax Act.” Combined with HARPTA, these laws are huge because they take a percentage of your sales price instead of your profits.  We highly recommend you speak with your Realtor and tax experts about these taxes. If you need a professional referral, just reach out to 808-445-9223 or info@HIPacificPM.com. We look forward to hearing from you! 

If you own a property, you have to decide whether to get a home warranty. Property owners ask us all the time whether getting a home warranty is a good idea. Generally, the answer is yes, but there's one issue. The home warranty company usually only has one or two vendors on the island to service your house. “Right now, appliances are in short supply on the island.” For example, a couple of home warranty companies needed to replace the washer and dryer in our properties, but there are currently no washer and dryer companies on the island. That means some of our tenants had to wait six to eight weeks to get washers and dryers shipped in through the home warranty company. If you didn't use the home warranty company, you could just go to Lowe's, Home Depot, or Ross' Appliance and buy your own washer and dryer. Right now, appliances are in short supply on the island, so home warranty companies are also having a difficult time getting in air conditioning units, plumbing items, and electrical necessities because they only have one vendor that serves all the houses on the island.  As a property owner, you have to decide whether a home warranty is in your best interest. Price-wise it probably is because everything inside the property is rented to your tenant but is your responsibility. If you have any questions or want to talk more about home warranties, call or email us. We'd love to speak with you soon.

We do walk-throughs of our properties every four to six months. We do walk-throughs of our properties every four months if residents have any pets or every six months if no pets are present. This gives our owners peace of mind they can trust. On a walk-through, we go inside the property and take pictures of all of the rooms and walls to show the owner the condition of the property. If there are any concerns that need immediate attention, we give a 10-day notice to our tenants. If you have any questions, please visit HiPacificPM.com or give us a call at (808) 445-9223. We look forward to hearing from you.

Here's why HI Pacific has a full-time photographer on staff. Here at HI Pacific Property Management, one of the reasons we can offer an eviction guarantee is because we have an in-house photographer on staff. He takes pictures of each one of our properties prior to new tenants moving in. The pictures are time stamped and dated, so if we need to go to court, we have all that evidence on file.  Having a professional photographer on staff also ensures our photos are uniform; plus, if we need someone to take photos on short notice, it's not a problem. On top of all this, he creates virtual tours for our properties.  If you have any questions about our photographer or anything else, don't hesitate to reach out via phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here's some helpful info about our eviction guarantee at HI Pacific. One of the many guarantees that we provide here at Hawaii Pacific Property Management is our eviction guarantee. We do a great job at tenant screening, which gives us confidence in promising this to all of our clients.  We run credit reports, do background checks, and complete rental verification for each potential tenant. It's very important for us to place a reliable tenant into your property who will protect your investment now and in the future.  If you want to learn more about the eviction guarantee or have any other real estate-related questions, don't hesitate to reach out via phone or email. To learn more, watch this short video.

Here's my advice for dealing with G.E. taxes in Hawaii. I don't consider myself a tax expert, but I have been dealing with general excise taxes, or G.E. taxes, for most of my career. All Realtors are required to pay a 4.5% general excise tax in Hawaii if they're making income from rentals. It's a complicated process, so I recommend reaching out to a tax professional to discuss Hawaii's G.E. taxes. We can provide that service through a CPA for a small fee. If you have any questions about G.E. taxes or anything else related to property management, don't hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Make sure that you have adequate coverage for your property. Today I'll talk about having proper insurance coverage as a property manager. The coverages for condos and single-family homes are very different. Please talk to your insurance provider about what is adequate coverage for your unit. Take the Marco Polo fire, for example. All the units below the 26th floor were completely flooded, and we couldn't get into them. Mold grew in all the units, and the insurance coverage had to be checked. We recommend that you consider adding loss-of-rent coverage to your HO6 or single-family home policy. Many owners don't have that when they're owner-occupant. Then, when they turn it over to us to use as a rental property, the mortgage will continue if they don't have rents coming. If you have any questions, give me a call at (808) 445-9223. I look forward to hearing from you.

This is how we handle move-out inspections with our tenants. Today we're giving you a closer look at how our move-out inspection process works. We start by sending detailed and clear instructions to our tenants to prepare them for the process. Then we schedule a date and time to perform the move-out inspection. At that time, the tenant turns in the keys, and we have 14 days to complete our process and return their security deposit. I go into the property, take lots of pictures, take notes, and document everything. Then I compare my notes to the property condition disclosure form that was filled out when they moved in.  There are more items to worry about when tenants move out than when tenants move in. If there are new damages, that's considered negligence. It's the tenants' responsibility to pay for the damages out of their security deposit. After I take my pictures (roughly 150 for a one-bedroom unit), any items that need to be addressed are repaired before the 14-day time frame expires. If you have any questions about this procedure or anything else, don't hesitate to reach out via phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

April to August is so busy in Honolulu because of the military's PCS moves. Today we're going to talk about PCS season. PCS is a military term that stands for permanent change of station. The military has five bases in Honolulu, and from April to August, we experience 15,000 families moving in and out of the area. It's an extremely busy time for movers, property managers, and Realtors. If you want more details on PCS season, give us a call. We can tell you what the best time to schedule your move is. We look forward to hearing from you.

Issues with your water heater are inevitable, but we can help. When I was growing up, I never worried about our water heater. Now that I'm a property owner, however, it's become something that I have to worry about. In the old days, water heaters lasted 10 years; since the average life of a home is 60 or 70 years, that means you could go through five or six water heaters in the life of your home unless you switch to a tankless or solar water heater. Those tend to have a little longer shelf life and save you money on your electric bill, but they are more expensive. As the owner of hundreds of rentals, problems with water heaters are inevitable. If you have any questions about your water heater and what the costs are to fix or maintain it, reach out and give us a call. We work with many plumbers who can give you quotes for the services you need, and we'd love to help you.

Here's how we're able to offer an eviction guarantee for our clients. Today I'm discussing our eviction guarantee. People ask us how we can guarantee not to have an eviction, so today I'm answering that question. As far as I know, no one else in Honolulu offers an eviction guarantee.  When owners are comparing us against other property management companies, I tell them to ask if they guarantee or warranty their tenants. Ask if they'll pay for the legal costs if an eviction is necessary. With all other property management companies, legal costs in the eviction process are at the owner's expense, so owners and property managers should research that.  “No one else in Honolulu offers an eviction guarantee. ” 90% of the time, you won't have an eviction, so you don't need to worry about the costs. However, if you go to eviction court, you won't be the only one there. Every time I've been to eviction court, there have been 10 to 20 cases at the same time, and sometimes the property manager is there, and sometimes they're not. In all those cases, the owner is paying for going to eviction court and civil court. Now, evictions will be even more difficult with the new 1371 law, which will change the eviction process in Honolulu to accommodate for mediation.  I'm so sure of our vetting process to get a good tenant in your house that if you're our client and you need someone evicted from your home, I will pay the legal costs. We usually won't take you on as a client if you need help with the eviction of a tenant first. We let the owner or previous property manager take care of the legal processes first, and then we can take over afterward. If you have questions about our eviction guarantee or anything else, call or email us. We would love to help you.

                        Today I explain why you should care about proper pest control. People ask me whether pest control is really necessary and whether it's a tenant cost. Yes, it's necessary, and no, it's not a tenant cost. When we have a tenant that complains about pests like roaches or ants within the first two weeks after moving in, it's an owner cost. We tell the owner that they have an infestation, and we need to take care of it. Sometimes when a house is professionally cleaned, all the roaches from that house come into a house that doesn't have pest control. I highly recommend owners get on a pest treatment service. We offer pest control services, just reach out to us for more details. You have to be constantly aware of this. If you have pest control on the outside of your house, it'll stop things from coming in. Pest control is really important, and it's a major part of the value that we give our tenants. If you have any questions give us a call or visit www.HiPacificPM.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Mold is a serious problem here in Hawaii. Mold is a formidable adversary because it's quiet, airborne, and constantly growing. If people have sensitivities to mold, which some of our tenants do, they might have an allergic reaction or get sick. That's why whenever there's a water leak, and the property owner says they don't want to take care of it right away, I tell them that it needs to be dealt with now. If there's water where there shouldn't be, mold isn't far behind it. That said, mold services in Hawaii are very expensive, and workers need to be specially trained to deal with it since it can be so toxic. If you have a mold problem and need some help taking care of it, I can point you in the right direction. I won't give you the advice of my vendors if you're not a part of our company; otherwise, my vendors would become too busy. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email if you need help or have any questions. I'd love to hear from you.

Reach out to us if you have any questions so that we can help you. Today I want to talk to you about how we can assist you whether you're a Realtor, homeowner, renter, tenant, or investor. We get a lot of calls and emails asking questions like, “Is this a good house to buy?”  “Will this cover my mortgage?” or “My tenants did X, so what can I do?”  No question is a bad question. I've been in real estate since 2001, and there are still things that I come up against that I have to research or call an attorney for. After doing this for 13 years, we are experts in property management. We know all about repairs, collecting rent, vetting tenants, and educating Realtors on the eviction process and other landlord-specific laws. If you have any questions, give us a call at 808-445-9223 or send us an email at Duke@HiPacificPM.com. We would love to help you and answer any questions you may have.

Here are five situations that would make us unable to provide our services. Though we do all we can to provide our property management services to those who need them, there are some situations where we simply can't. Today we'll be talking about the reasons why HI Pacific is unable to manage certain properties. These include: 1. High rent prices: We always ask potential clients how much they would ask for rent, and some of the responses are unrealistically high.  2. Parking problems: If a property doesn't have parking for tenants, we won't be able to provide the owner with our management services. “We never like to turn away business, but these are instances where things would just be overly difficult on our end.” 3. Long distance: If the property is too far away from our office, we won't provide management services. We've tried it before, and it's just too difficult for us to handle the drive to far-away areas. 4. Out-of-date property: If a property hasn't been updated in the past 50 years, we likely won't manage it. 5. Lack of air conditioning: It's hard to rent out a unit that doesn't have AC, which is why we usually don't manage these properties. We never like to turn away business, but these are instances where things would just be overly difficult on our end. If you have any questions or would like more information about our property management services, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

We only do property management at Hawaii Pacific Property Management. The agent referral fee is an important tool for both buyer and seller agents. Here at Hawaii Pacific Property Management, though, we do not do sales—we only do property management. You can consider us experts on this topic. For example, if you want advice on how much a unit can rent for, or want to know whether one unit is better to buy than another, I would certainly love to consult with your clients about those types of things. There's no charge for any information we give out. Just give us a call or look me up in the ‘agent' section of the MLS. “I'd be happy to talk to your clients about the possibility of renting out their properties.” We give the first month's property management fee to the referring agent, and if your owner decides to sell one day, we offer a 100% client-return-to-agent guarantee in our referral agreement. I'd be happy to talk to your clients about the possibility of renting out their properties. Oftentimes, I have to educate sellers on HARPTA law or 1031 exchanges, so don't hesitate to use us as a reference to obtain information. As always, if you have questions about this or any topic related to property management, call or email me anytime. I'd love to help you.

Here’s why having a parking space is so crucial here in Hawaii. In Hawaii, there's nothing better than having adequate parking. One of the main questions we ask a property owner is whether they have parking with the unit, and if they say no, we won't agree to manage their property.  If you don't have parking, where is the property manager going to park when they inspect the unit? Where are people going to park when they come to look at the unit? Where are the service vehicles going to park when something is needed in the unit? Where are tenants going to park? Street parking isn't a good answer.  “Everyone has a car in Hawaii, and they need to park somewhere.” The only time you can get more parking space is at the time of purchase. If you're a real estate agent out there trying to get an investment property for a client and the unit doesn't have any parking, walk away. Tourists stay longer in Hawaii now, the average is three to five days, and most of them rent a car. A two-bed, two-bath townhome with one parking space will go for $200 to $300 less per month than if that same unit had two parking spaces.  Everyone has a car in Hawaii, and they need to park somewhere. Especially in Waikiki, you need a parking space; we can't ask people to ride scooters the entire time they live here. Parking spaces in some buildings cost $40,000 to $50,000, and it's difficult to live on an island that doesn't have enough parking. So the bottom line is to ensure your property has parking to avoid many headaches.  If you have questions about this or any other property management matter, call or email us. We would love to help you.

The eviction moratorium was recently extended; here’s what that means for you. You may have heard that the eviction moratorium has been extended, and today I'll be talking about what that means for real estate investors in the Honolulu area.  The moratorium that relates to property management and real estate sales is 127-A-30. It means the property management moratorium section has been updated or extended 30 times. However, other parts of the moratorium have been extended more than this. The eviction moratorium has been extended until August 6, and this will be the last extension given. Many Realtors and property owners have been wondering what this means for tenants if they decide to sell, and the extension states that month-to-month tenants can be given a 45-day notice upon closing the sale. If you have any questions about the moratorium extension or would like more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here are the two best upgrades a property owner can make in 2021. If you're a homeowner looking to spruce up your unit in 2021, what updates offer the best bang for your buck? The average home in Hawaii is usually anywhere from 40 to 60 years old—wow, that's my age; I need an update!  Jokes aside, you can't just take your 60-year-old unit and put it on the market for rent. It won't rent, and if it does, it won't rent for a lot of money. So where should you invest your time and money? 1. Flooring. Always put some vinyl product down in your house (tile is also an option, but it's a little more expensive). If your carpet is weathered or your laminate is old, put down some vinyl; it's not that costly and has a 25-year shelf life.   “You can't just take your 60-year-old unit and put it on the market for rent. ” 2. Air conditioning. People that come from the mainland cannot take our humidity. Trust me, I know this from experience: I lived on the mainland for a while, and when I moved back home, I simply couldn't sleep without air conditioning. Here in Hawaii, there's a roughly 50/50 shot that you'll find a home equipped with air conditioning. In my experience, the houses without air conditioning rent last. If you have questions about these two updates or would like us to put in contact with some of our talented in-house handymen or trusted contractors, give us a call or send an email. We're happy to help!

Walk-throughs are crucial—here’s how we do them. What is a walk-through? Why would we need to walk through your property? The truth is, several rental owners have switched to us because no one has walked through their property in years. How would anyone know what’s going on there if someone doesn’t walk through it?  “Walk-throughs are crucial.” As a property manager, this is the most important part of my job. When I do walk-throughs, I’m looking for damage, illegal tenants, and abuse. I’m looking for all these things in about a 10-minute walk-through with your tenants twice a year. If you allow pets in the house, we’ll walk through it three times per year.  Walk-throughs are crucial because we can tell if the tenant is living according to the rules, if they’re overly dirty, if there’s drug use, illegal alterations, and more. These are great times to catch whether any of these things are happening and protect your property. You will get a report from us with pictures stating how the property is doing, how it looks, and what we saw from the tenants. If you have any questions about walk-throughs or property management in general, please call or email me. I would be happy to speak with you.

Here’s a look at how we handle termite infestations in our properties. Termites are the most formidable adversary property owners have here in Hawaii. If you find evidence of termites in your house, get a termite inspection right away. You have active termites, we’re going to have to tent the house, which will involve you having to leave the property, unfortunately.  There are two types of termites to be aware of: ground termites and air termites. When a house is tented for air termites, it’s usually a 24-to-30 hour process and you will typically get a five-year warranty. Ground termite treatments are almost as expensive and treating the property involves setting bait around the house. If you have any questions about termite inspections, how to spot an infestation in its early stages, or how you can protect your home from these pests in the first place, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here are the basics about how eviction works in property management. An eviction has a very long life. Most evictions occur when something unforeseen happens to the tenant: someone may lose a job, change their mind, a relationship breaks up, etc. Usually, the property manager will know about it because we do inspections, talk to tenants a lot, and collect rent. The minute rent doesn’t come in on time, we contact the tenant and ask what’s going on, how they’re doing, and why the rent is late.  The life of eviction begins when a tenant stops paying rent. We tell them what their choices are, and sometimes we let them out of the lease, sometimes we don’t. Issues arise when the tenant stops communicating with you. Remember that you have to give a five-day notice of the writ of eviction, so they know you plan on carrying out eviction proceedings.  Then we have to try to get them into court. I’ve had to go to court a few times for evictions. Once they show up in court, the first question the judge will frequently ask them is whether they owe the money, and usually, they’ll say yes but have an explanation. Next, the judge will ask what we want to do and when we want them out of the property.  “The life of eviction begins when a tenant stops paying rent.” Up until now, all that has been the easy part. However, once the court rules that the tenant has to be out of the property by a certain time, we have to enforce it. All this is why property owners need to hire a property manager.  Here at HI Pacific, we have an eviction guarantee, and we’re the only ones who do it. If you want to know details about our guarantee or have any questions about the eviction process, give us a call or send an email. Aloha!

Here’s why you shouldn’t let a tenant take care of your property’s lawn. As a property manager, letting a tenant take care of your property’s lawn themselves is a bad idea. Why? In all my years in this business, I’ve only seen one or two tenants really take care of a lawn the way a property owner would. I know you can save a few dollars here and there letting tenants take care of the lawn, but a lot of your property’s value is based on that lawn and how it ties into the overall curb appeal. “Letting a tenant take care of your property’s lawn themselves is a bad idea.” If you let someone else take care of this area who has no real interest in doing so, they won’t do as good of a job as a lawn service company. If the lawn service company doesn’t do a good job, you can fire them and hire another company or have them come back and take care of the things they’re supposed to take care of. To keep your property’s lawn in top condition and keep your home’s value high, you need a lawn service company and a good sprinkler system. As always, if you have questions about this or any property management topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me any way you can. I’d love to speak with you.

Here’s why every property owner/manager should use this form. There are so many terms to know in real estate, but knowing what the property condition form is and what it does will save you a lot of money in the long run. Oftentimes, when we take over properties from other property management companies, they don’t have this form.  It should be filled out before the tenant moves in. Once the tenant moves into the house, we give them a chance to make changes or amendments to the form based on what they’ve seen. After they move out, we walk through the property with the same form and match it up. If you don’t have the starting condition of the home documented, how are you going to know what was there before and what came after?  Damage issues have to be taken care of with the security deposit and you only have 14 days to find them after the tenant leaves. Then you need to give them an assessment, a bill, or estimate based on the damage and the quotes you’ve gotten. This is important to know as an investor or property owner because the manager earns their money at the beginning and the end of a tenant’s stay. That’s why we require it. “This should be filled out before a tenant moves into the house.” If you have any other questions about the property condition form or anything else related to managing your investment property, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Here’s why we avoid managing room rentals for our clients. Is it possible to rent out a room in your house? The answer is yes, but not with our company. We don’t do room-by-room property management. There is too much liability, too many details, and too much that can go wrong with renting out an individual room. We focus our attention on managing entire homes. If you have any other questions for me, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here’s how your property manager should protect your investment. This month, I want to give you some advice on making your property manager work for you. How do you do that? By having them do background checks, give you copies of paychecks, run reference checks, and more. It’s amazing to me that I get so few calls every year from other tenants who have left us. This tells me that no one is checking the background of these past tenants of ours. There’s probably a reason for that. You gotta make sure your property manager conducts walk-throughs, fills out property conditions forms, and is up on all the rules and regulations of the tenant code. “It’s amazing how few calls I get about past tenants.” These are just a few ways you can make your property manager work for you. If you need any more ideas or want to learn about what we do, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here’s what I recommend property owners do with utility costs. A lot of property owners who have a rental unit but not a separate meter for it want to know if they should just include utilities in the rental price. My recommendation is to actually put a submeter in to monitor the tenant’s usage. I know as a young renter, whenever I found a house that included electricity, I would leave the A/C running 24/7 because it didn’t cost me any extra, it just cost my landlord. It can really drive your utilities up, so my recommendation is to not include utilities in your rent if possible because of how easily it can be abused.  If you have any questions about your property or anything else related to property management, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

We need your vote this holiday season. The 2021 Best of Hawaii Viewers’ Choice Awards is here, and today we want to ask for your vote to make Hawaii Pacific Property Management the top property management company in the state. Voting lasts until January 31, and participants who submit 60% or more votes will be entered for a chance to win a trip for two to Las Vegas!  To cast your vote, start by following this link. From there, click on the ‘Companies’ category, select ‘Property Management,’ and fill out the form. We thank you for your support, and we hope you have a great holiday season. If you have questions or there’s anything we can help you with, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. 

Here are the facts about renting out a house furnished or unfurnished. Many people call us and say, “My home is furnished. Can you rent it out for more money?” The answer is yes and no.  These days, it’s more difficult to rent out a house that’s furnished. There are many variables involved. There’s also more upfront work to do; we have to take inventory, write property condition forms on all your furniture, and add all that to the intake and outtake forms. It’s also much easier for us to take photos of the unit when it isn’t furnished, and we’ll need to do that at some point. This protects you if any damage happens to a wall that has furniture against it.  Many people who rent long term here (181 days or more) will have their own furniture. So what do we do with your furniture if your resident has their own? Or what if they want to use a few pieces of your furniture but not all of it? What happens if things get damaged?  “It’s more difficult to rent out a house that’s furnished.” A ton of discussion needs to happen when someone rents out a furnished property. We’ll have a conversation about all these things up front, and we’ll share both the positives and negatives.  If you have any questions about furnished versus unfurnished rental houses or you want to discuss this topic more, give us a call or visit our website. We would love to help you.

On November 15, 2020, Hawaii Pacific Property Management has partnered with ALOHA Harvest to distribute ‘Ohana Packages to those who are in need of food supplies. 200 recipients, 24 volunteers, and a wonderful day to celebrate the spirit of gift-giving.

Here’s why we offer a “Walk-Through Guarantee” to all of our clients. When we talk about “walk-throughs,” we’re talking about the home tours we take of the properties we manage in order to observe any damage.  If you’re working with us, we’ll do a walk-through before the property is occupied, another once the tenant moves in, and another mandatory one either four or six months after they move into the house.  “We take pictures at every walk-through.” It lets the tenant know we are checking for damage, unauthorized tenants, and any pest issues. We take pictures, have a pre-checklist, and give our owners a checkup every four to six months after that. It’s our promise to you and what we call our “Walk-Through Guarantee.” If you have any questions for us about what we do or how we can help you, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Here’s what you should know before renting out part of your home to make extra money. A lot of homeowners ask us to look at their homes when they want to rent something out. Most of the time, they’ll say, “How do you feel about a shared home?” Basically, they want to rent out their Ohana dwelling, downstairs area, or garage to a prospective tenant and make some extra money.  This is a very popular idea here in Honolulu, but sharing your home is more difficult than you think because it’s nearly impossible to find the perfect tenant. We get all kinds of requests from owners regarding the type of tenant they want, but you can’t discriminate between tenants.  It’s also a difficult situation because none of our rent guarantees fall into place. We have rent, eviction, and communication guarantees that apply, but you’re the one who has to worry about someone possibly doing laundry at 2 a.m. inside your home, or filling up your garbage can. In one of our homes, two tenants got into a physical altercation over a garbage dispute… So if you want to share your home, remember: It’s not impossible, but it’s not as easy as you think.  As always, if you have questions about this or any topic related to property management, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.  

Here’s how we use our partners to get your property rented out quickly. What’s a syndication sheet and how does it help our clients’ needs? A syndication sheet is a list of all the partners we use to send out your rental listing. We include this sheet as part of our property management package, and it comprises 36 different websites. Combined, those 36 partners account for roughly 200,000 views on your listing.  The speed to market is one thing, but the speed off market is what’s most important to you as a property owner. Your main concern is, “How fast can you rent out my unit?” We guarantee our work at all times here at HI Pacific Property Management, so it’s our responsibility to show you with a syndication sheet exactly how we create maximum exposure for your property.  Remember: We’re a full-time property manager working for you. If you ever have any questions or want more information, visit our website or call our office at 808-445-9223. We look forward to hearing from you soon!  

Here’s why insufficient parking is a detriment to your property. A common question I hear is, “How important is parking?” In Hawaii, it’s pretty much the most important thing. “Parking should be a key factor in your search.” If you have a home that has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and one parking spot, or it’s a condo with no parking, I cannot manage it for you. They are just too difficult to rent out. In Hawaii, one of the biggest assets to a home is adequate parking. I can’t emphasize that enough. When you’re buying a home or looking for an investment property, parking should be a key factor because it’s so important on the island. Inadequate parking means longer wait times on the market and for tenants. If you have any questions for me about this or property management in general, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email today. I look forward to hearing from you. 

If you’re thinking about becoming an investor, here’s where to put your money. If you’re thinking about investing in a rental property, there’s something important you should know first.  For long-term investors, a single-family home is the ideal investment. A condo or townhome isn’t a bad choice, but they also come with extra HOA and maintenance fees that cut into your profit line. With a single-family home, there are almost 100 years of data that show the positive growth rate on the equity of a home over 20 years. It’s by far the safest investment, but it’s not for everyone in every situation. “Condos and townhomes come with extra fees.” If you have questions about property management, rental rates, or anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email today. I’d love to have a conversation with you.

I’m sharing how our maintenance program works, and guess what? It’s free. Every property owner asks us how much we charge for maintenance. We don’t charge anything for our Maintenance Program! We put it in writing that if you have a maintenance issue in your unit that’s under $500, you’ve given us the right to make a decision about the repair if we can’t get in touch with you. However, we do not do repairs without your permission. Sometimes we can’t reach the owner because they live overseas, there’s a time difference, there are communication issues, etc. We call or send an email asking how you want the problem handled.  You may have a friend or relative you want to do the work. However, we have licensed, insured vendors we’ve vetted that we employ if you don’t have someone you want us to use. On the mainland, it’s common to get three quotes for work, but here in Hawaii, it’ll cost you around $500 just for those quotes.  “We don’t charge anything for our Maintenance Program!” We only do property management, so our maintenance program operates with your best interests in mind. It’s in-house, all the maintenance stays within our family of vendors, and all the people you talk to in our maintenance program work for Hawaii Pacific. Having a property manager who will take care of maintenance for you is a huge advantage. We do an excellent job with maintenance because we care about our work.  There are only two reasons to have a property manager: to protect your house and put money in your pocket. If they aren’t doing these two things, why have a property manager at all? If you ever have questions about maintenance or how we handle it, call or email us. We would love to speak with you.

Here are the two best upgrades a property owner can make. If you’re a homeowner looking to spruce up your unit a bit, what updates offer the best bang for your buck? The average home in Hawaii is usually anywhere from 40 to 60 years old—wow, that’s my age; I need an update!  Jokes aside, you can’t just take your 60-year-old unit and put it on the market for rent. It won’t rent, and if it does, it won’t rent for a lot of money. So where should you invest your time and money?  1. Flooring. Always put some vinyl product down in your house (tile is also an option, but it’s a little more expensive). If your carpet is weathered or your laminate is old, put down some vinyl; it’s not that costly and has a 25-year shelf life.  2. Air conditioning. People that come from the mainland cannot take our humidity. Trust me, I know this from experience: I lived on the mainland for a while, and when I moved back home, I simply couldn’t sleep without air conditioning. Here in Hawaii, there’s a roughly 50/50 shot that you’ll find a home equipped with air conditioning. In my experience, the houses without air conditioning rent last.  If you have questions on these two updates, or would like us to put in contact with some of our talented in-house handymen or trusted contractors, give us a call or send an email. We’re happy to help!

If you have carpet in your rental property, it may be time to replace it. I get asked all the time by rental owners if they should replace the carpet in their properties with wood, vinyl, or tile. My answer to these questions is always yes.  “The average life of carpet is two to three tenants.” Carpet has gone out of style over the last decade. Many tenants with children ask if we have houses available without carpet because they can’t be sure of what kind of care was taken with the carpet before they moved into the house. Also, children will usually be much harder on carpet than adults. A lot of owners will have damage or wear and tear, and the average life of carpet is two to three tenants.  Today many floor products are being made harder, water-resistant, or waterproof. I believe vinyl is the best flooring for rental properties; it has the most variation, a 25-year warranty, and it’s often waterproof. You can have a huge water spill in your house and have no damage or wood issues like bowing of the edges. Tile is also great, but it’s very expensive to lay, though it has a shelf life of about 50 years.  My recommendation is to switch to waterproof vinyl if it’s time to change the flooring in your house. There are many products out there, so you can choose what’s best for your property.  If you have questions about flooring or property management, please call or email us. We would love to speak with you. Aloha!

I’m sharing our methods for keeping clients healthy amid COVID-19. Today I’m sharing some of the protocols we’ve put in place to combat the pandemic. We’re doing showings via video on a variety of platforms so tenants don’t need to be there in person. However, if they insist on seeing it physically or with an agent, we open the doors for them, walk away to give them privacy, and everyone wears masks and gloves. We try not to do face-to-face interactions, but if for some reason we need to, we keep six feet of distance between us. All the property managers that work for us know our protocols and will enforce them. To learn more about how we’re keeping everyone healthy, watch the short video above. 

Here’s how to handle insurance claims as a rental property owner. Today’s message is all about insurance claims and what to do if damage happens. If you’re turning your house into a rental property, you should have renters insurance, homeowners insurance, and loss of rent insurance. Water damage is the most frequent type of damage to a home, and it usually happens when there’s a leak. A valve could fail, or a tub or toilet overflows and then you have a water problem. However, water damage isn’t the only type to be concerned about. To learn more about insurance claims and damage, watch the short video above.

Curfews have been invoked in Hawaii; here’s how our business has changed. COVID-19 protocols are going to change the way that we do business. Unfortunately for us here in Hawaii, a curfew was just implemented, meaning that no one is allowed on the roads between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We’ve already sent out information regarding how homeowners can expect our business practices to change with quarantine rules in mind, and new tenants coming into our system can expect to sign some extra paperwork. To learn more about how we’ve had to adapt to these recent challenges, watch the short video above.

Although the March real estate numbers were not significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, I believe that we will see some repercussions in the months to come. We’ve actually had a good year so far and we hope you have too. During this pandemic, it has been so complicated to do business in all sectors of the economy, but especially in real estate. The good news is that real estate and property management have been deemed essential businesses and we’re working our hardest to ensure that we keep moving forward and doing business. There are going to be some effects on the real estate market, but we may not know what those effects are for the next six months or so. To learn more about how I think COVID-19 might affect the real estate market, watch the short video above.

What’s in store for us in the coming summer? Here are my thoughts. With the stay-at-home orders in place to combat the spread of the pandemic, it brings up a very important question: What is this summer going to look like? Typically, as schools let out for the summer, the market tends to heat up. However, this year is sure to be a little different from the typical summer; the pandemic is going to shake everything up. To learn what that will mean for our market, watch the short video above.

For our properties, pest control is the tenant’s responsibility, except when they first move into the house. For any property owners who decide to leave their homes under our care, we always tell them the same thing regarding pest control: It’s the tenant’s responsibility, except when they first move into the property.  Specifically, if they find pests within the first 10 to 20 days of moving in, the problem has to be taken care of at the owner’s expense. After the initial move-in period, it shifts to the tenant’s expense.  As you know, our last video blog was about termites, and oftentimes, the cabinets that are brought into condos or townhomes come from outside Hawaii. The walls and grounds of those properties can be treated, but any outside furniture and the moving boxes encasing them can carry termites. We’ve seen plenty of infestations occur after tenants move in because of this, so it’s something you need to know.  As always, if you have questions about this or any other property management topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.

Termites are one of the worst things to have in your home. Today I’m sharing my advice on how to handle this problem. When I have to be the bearer of bad news to homeowners and tell them we’ve found termites, that’s really the worst news a person can get in Hawaii. That’s because, if you’re part of a townhome or condo situation, most of the time you can’t tent the building, you can only spot-treat the issue. That’s a challenging situation. If you’re a single-family homeowner, you can consider tenting the entire house, but it’s problematic if you have a tenant because they’ll likely have to find other living arrangements during that time. Termites can eat up to five pounds of wood per week! My advice is to tent the property or have someone spot-treat the problem immediately. Termites are the most formidable adversary we have in Hawaii. Another problem is, many people try to put off termite treatment and then end up having widespread damage to their homes.  “Termites can eat up to five pounds of wood per week!” I always try to tell homeowners the bad news myself, as it’s the right thing to do.  If you have a termite situation, or you know of one in a house, feel free to call or email me. I would be glad to discuss your options. Also, as usual, contact me if you have any questions about property management in general. I’m here to help.

Here’s how we handle maintenance calls for our property owners. If you’re a property owner thinking of managing your property yourself, what are you going to do when you get a maintenance call?  We at HI Pacific Property Management average around three maintenance calls a day, seven days a week, most of which come after 4 p.m. or on the weekends. If you manage your own property, you’ll get at least three maintenance calls per lease year. Since you’re required by law to have an on-island representative, do you have someone you trust to handle this type of thing? Someone who knows plenty of insured vendors?  If not, let me tell you how we handle maintenance calls. Maintenance calls from tenants are channeled through our portal system. An email gets sent to me and the property manager before being directed to the maintenance department, which is on-call daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Property managers are free to handle the problem however they want, but 99% of the time, they ask us to take care of it. Our maintenance department contacts the tenant and one of our vendors and puts them in communication. You then get a notification once the job is complete.  “Since you’re required by law to have an on-island representative, do you have someone you trust to handle this type of thing?” We have hundreds of rentals, so we have a whole host of vendors who can service your home at a moment’s notice. Since we keep our maintenance department in-house, we can oversee the process and immediately resolve any issues. If one of our vendors makes a bad diagnosis, most of them will give you a credit.  Property management is all we do, and maintenance is part of the job. If you have us take care of your property, I promise you that we’ll do our very best. Remember, there are only two reasons for me to be in your home: to protect it and to put money in your account.  As always, if you have questions about this or any real estate topic or you are thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’m happy to help.  

A new law was recently passed pertaining to homes that contain six or more bedrooms and take up 60% or more of a lot’s size. Here’s what you need to know. The new monster home law just passed in Hawaii. It states that if a home’s size takes up 60% or more of the lot, you’re going to have some new specific guidelines on how to build it. You can read more about them in the building department’s new requirements for monster homes. This law has just been changed after already having been changed last year. With the latest change, monster homes are going to be much harder to build, both legally and illegally: builders who build monster homes occupying more than 60% of the lot size and containing more than six bedrooms will now incur penalties. We have a ton more information on this that we’d be happy to share with you. If you’d like to read through it, or if you have any other questions, feel free to reach out via phone or email and we’d be happy to help you. 

What is renters insurance and why is it important for your tenants to have it?  Renters insurance is the insurance your tenants get to protect them from any losses or hotel bills they may have to cover.  If, for instance, you have a termite problem or a water leak and you need to move your tenants out for a bit to make some repairs, they’ll likely have to stay at a hotel, and they’ll use their renter’s insurance policy to pay for it. Or, if one of your tenants has some type of accident that damages your property, they’ll use their renters insurance to cover that too. “Getting renters insurance from tenants keeps money in your account.” At Hawaii Pacific Property Management, we require all of our tenants to get a minimum coverage of $50,000 in liability and $10,000 in loss. For tenants who have a pet that’s considered a “dangerous breed,” we require $100,000 worth of coverage.  This is mandated to protect you, as well. As I’ve said before, there are two reasons for us to be in your house: to protect your property and put money into your account. Getting renters insurance from tenants keeps money in your account.  If you have any more questions about renters insurance, I advise that you contact your insurance carrier. If you have any more questions for me, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. I’d be happy to help you.

Property management companies can be distinguished by the services they offer. One add-on to our services that we offer you, the owner, that you won’t find just anywhere is the “eviction guarantee.” If you’re unfamiliar with how this guarantee works, allow me to explain: If we put a tenant in your property, and they must be legally evicted by way of Hawaii’s landlord-tenant code, we promise to pay all legal fees.   This puts a check on us and ensures that we don’t become complacent in our selection of tenant applicants. In fact, this is a chief reason why I got into this business—I could never find a property manager that could be held responsible for this painstaking process.  “If we put a tenant in your property, and they must be legally evicted by way of Hawaii’s landlord-tenant code, we promise to pay all legal fees.” It’s our job to be diligent in conducting background checks and to make the necessary calls up front. Otherwise, we risk letting in a tenant in that is evasive about rent payments or worse. Ask yourself: Who pays for that? If you’re with any other property manager, you’ll be on the hook for legal costs relating to the eviction, and I’ve seen that run anywhere from $1,000 to $6,000.  What will you get with us?  We’ll run checks on their background, credit, income statements, LES statement, their job contract, and we’ll also check with their last two landlords. These sorts of checks are all very important, and, along with our eviction guarantee, they’re part of the package when you work with us.  If you have any questions regarding the eviction guarantee and what we can do for you, as an owner, please give us a call at 808-445-9223. I look forward to speaking with you and answering your questions directly!

As your property management company, we take care of pictures and videos of your property for you. Pictures and videos are very important. If your car is not washed and shiny, it doesn’t look its best. We make sure that your unit is clean and vacant before we send a professional photographer in to take pictures and video. We also promise and commit to taking new pictures and videos every time your unit goes vacant. We need to have everything date-stamped for the court system. In case an unfortunate event happens and we have to evict somebody, we need before and after pictures at the ready. “We commit to taking new pictures and videos every time your unit goes vacant.” These pictures come as part of our service at no cost to the owner. We’ll take pictures each time we get a new tenant in as part of our 10% fee. There are no rental fees, rental buffers, or maintenance buffers. If you have any questions, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!