Helpful Things to Know About Buying Vacation Properties in Hawaii

One of the many benefits of owning a second home in Hawaii is the possibility to use it for yourself when you want and rent it out as a vacation property for the rest of the time. Below are three tips that will hopefully help make the process of buying a vacation property easier for you:

1. The single biggest factor in owning a vacation rental is ‘WOW!’ factor. Our two-story home has a lanai that is screened-in and looks down at the pool, across the palms, and out to the ocean. If you have never meditated you will learn quickly how to do so sitting in one of our large, comfy chairs looking at the sky or the moon, or the water with all the cruise ships. Fortunately, Hawaii has many properties that offer that ‘wow’ factor.

2. Consider negotiating with the Seller. When we bought our 5 bedroom, 4 bath home on the water with a pool in 2002, we purchased it as a personal residence. It was a reach, but stunning. The seller asked if we would be willing to honor a few reservations for friends that wanted to come, visit, and stay at (what was then) her home. We agreed, and it helped seal the deal. That offer became the vehicle that helped us buy this and other vacation homes.

3. Have someone manage your vacation property. We have someone else manage our destination spot, so once a month we get a check, a report, and an accounting of the past 30 days.

The Benefit of Owning a Hawaii Vacation Property

Vacation properties offer great income potential. A few friends became an occupancy rate of over 85% and has financed our mortgage, pool remodel, kitchen renovations, and our own vacations with family and friends at Champagne Cove in Kapoho on the Big Island.

What started out as a personal investment property has turned into something much more. The home is now ours and we rent it out, and the people that use it as a vacation rental pay the mortgage. We never bought thinking it was a business, but it quickly became one.

Owning a vacation home has given us the ability to live a comfortable life – and share it all with our family and friends – all while absorbing life in Hawaii. I know how to meditate when staying at Champagne Cove and I love that, with a little help from my “friends,” I am purchasing one small piece of a place I love.