Long-Term Rental FAQs During Covid-19
- Long-Term Rental FAQs
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Q: I currently rent my Hawaii home as a vacation rental. How can Hawaii Life help me convert it to a long-term rental?
Some Hawaii vacation rental homeowners have recently requested our services to help convert their vacation properties to long-term rental properties. You should know that the definition of short-term versus long-term varies by county.
For example, Oahu considers any rental longer than 30 days to be long-term, while Hawaii County deems any rental longer than 180 days to be long-term. Further, some TVRs require proof of annual GET and TAT taxes to qualify for the annual renewal.
It’s best to consult with one of our highly experienced property managers located on each of the major islands in Hawaii. Contact our team today to discuss how we can provide both short- and long-term property management solutions to suit your evolving needs as a Hawaii homeowner.
Q: Can Hawaii Life help me find qualified, long-term tenants?
Our Hawaii Life team does a fantastic job of finding reliable long-term tenants. Prospective tenants must meet the high standards of our streamlined screening process, which includes a minimum credit score, a background check, good references, and more. We handle everything for you, including homeowner-tenant relations for the duration of the leasing period, making our services a hassle-free solution that provides freedom and peace of mind for homeowners.
Q: Can I lease my Hawaii home to long-term tenants to supplement the carrying costs of homeownership?
Many homeowners living in Hawaii or abroad choose to lease their second home, vacation home or investment property to long-term tenants to cover the often high carrying costs of Hawaii homeownership. Choosing to lease your property long-term can provide steady, reliable income to help cover your costs.
We provide hassle-free property management solutions to help homeowners do just that. They’ll also market your property, screen potential tenants, and handle all aspects of the lease documents. We manage your home’s maintenance and care, as well as the landlord-tenant relationship, to ensure longer tenancy.
Many Hawaii residents are currently looking for longer-term rental properties. Our experienced team of property managers can help you determine the leasing period that best suits your financial needs.
Q: Are Hawaii Life property managers currently showing long-term rental properties for lease?
Photos on our long-term rental site are always fresh, up-to-date, and you absolutely get what you see. Our Hawaii property management team is relying more on virtual tours to show homes using tools like video walk-throughs and Facetime showings. They are asking qualified, screened tenants to narrow their search online to find “the one” before meeting in-person, and will only do so following a thorough matching process. Under current state regulations, we are able to conduct in-person showings. See below for more details.
Q: How are Hawaii Life property managers protecting themselves, homeowners, and renters when viewing such properties?
When they meet in-person with clients, our professional property managers are taking every recommended health and safety precaution, including wearing masks and maintaining at least six feet of physical distance from others. If a property is vacant, our property managers will arrive separately from any client to show it. They will wait outside the home while potential renters view it (with a promise not to touch anything).
We are seeing some homeowners who are taking their Hawaii homes for sale off the market in order to rent them long-term. Please note that we do not rent properties that are actively for sale.
Q: How are travel restrictions, the economy and other factors affecting market rent rates in Hawaii?
Thus far, we haven’t seen long-term rent rates affected, although we’ve naturally seen significant changes in the short-term rental market. Many homeowners who typically rent their Hawaii (second or vacation) home in the short-term are converting their homes to longer-term rentals in the hopes of having a reliable, stable property income. While this may provide more housing opportunities for Hawaii residents in the coming months, the numbers haven’t yet been significant enough to impact market rent rates.
Some of our existing homeowner clients have offered forbearance measures such as small discounts to their long-standing tenants as a courtesy, in cases where the tenants’ work or financial situation has been impacted by the current health crisis.
Q: What should I do if my tenant is asking for decreased rent?
In a two-sided marketplace, for every tenant who is experiencing loss of income, there is a homeowner that may see delayed rent payments. There’s currently a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures due to non-payment of rent and mortgages.
Our team will continue to work with compassion and in a proactive manner to manage the repercussions of the pandemic. We anticipate tenants may experience hardships and be unable to pay rent on the 1st of each month. We plan to waive late fees.
As homeowners, you may want to consider reducing rents to keep your tenants in the home and to prevent a complete fall-out or a holdover tenancy situation. We encourage you to take preemptive measures and reduce your rental rates to a value that works for you and keeps your tenant in place. For additional questions, the State of Hawaii COVID-19 Landlord-Tenant FAQS provides the most up-to-date information.
Q: Where can I find additional resources for homeowners or renters in Hawaii?
You can visit our website’s main page at hawaiilife.com or check here for current vacancies. Visit our online portals for homeowners and tenants statewide. Follow our blog for more property management news and information.
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