Rental Management

[csgray]

This is purely anecdotal but the house next to us and the one catty corner behind us are both rentals that are now sitting empty, and have been for months. In both cases the last round of tenants trashed the places and did not pay the rent for months. It was very difficult for the property owners to evict them and they have had to spend more money than they grossed in rent last year to return them to a rentable condition. The 3rd rental in our vicinity is slowly being trashed by the tenants, every screen is busted from their kids breaking in when they forget their key, they just ripped off a chunk of siding to set up their satellite dish, the back half of the acre is slowly filling up with busted toys and furniture, and the property management company hasn't shown up since the day they handed over the keys. The owners in California have no idea that their $400,000 investment (they bought at the top of the market) is now worth $185,000 tops.

Landlord tenant law in Hawaii has many protections for the renter, and few for the landlord, you have to give tenants 45 days notice to evict them, and then it can take months more to finally get them out. You can also charge no more than 1 months rent for deposits, so you cannot even protect yourself by charging first/last/and deposit. If you do not have deep pockets to absorb unpaid rent and damages I would hesitate to invest in rentals as an off island landlord.

Carol