Buying A Home In Hawaii? | 9 Must-Ask Questions Before You Buy A House in Hawaii | Living In Hawaii

So you want to buy a property out here in Hawaii but you have no idea where to start or more importantly what should I be asking or focusing on when it comes to finding that perfect property. Well in this video we're going to cover all of that and by the end of this video you're going to know exactly what to do and more importantly how to find that dream home. So let's get into it. What's going on guys I'm Patrick Longley with Team Raw Jeddah and in this video we're going to cover the process more or less from 30,000 feet up of what you want to do when it comes to finding your perfect home out here in Hawaii. If this is your first time here let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Patrick Longley. I'm a licensed real estate agent out here in Hawaii and have been for nearly a decade helping buyer sellers and investors with their real estate needs. With that being said if you guys have any questions when it comes to real estate feel free to reach out to me. You got some boots on the ground. I got my phone number right here or you can DM me on any of my social media platforms. Now let's jump into a couple questions and things you're going to want to do when it comes to finding your dream home out here in Hawaii. The first thing you're going to want to do which is really going to dictate where you live and the size home you're going to have is your budget. Now you can put together some rough numbers in your head but what you really want to do is connect with a lender. Now when it comes to connecting with a lender specifically out here in Hawaii I would highly highly suggest that you connect with a local lender. Try to avoid the Wells Fargo's, the Chase Banks. They don't truly understand how things work out here in Hawaii and when we're working with a lender on your behalf it can be a bit difficult because of the time difference. But more importantly you want to have a lender who understands the rules and regulations out here in Hawaii, understand how things are a little bit different so there isn't any snag foods. So if you need a lender feel free to reach out to me. I've got a couple that I love to work with that have some very competitive rates and it's as simple as having a quick conversation, filling out an application which is no obligation, no cost and at that point you'll have a true understanding of how much you qualify for and what that monthly payment looks like. And it's really important that even if you qualify for two million bucks, a million dollars, whatever it is, is that you dial it back and go what is the monthly that I feel comfortable with because we don't want you in a beautiful home with an open concept kitchen but you gotta eat top ramen for the next two years. Okay the second thing you want to focus on is the commute. Out here in Hawaii there can be pretty bad traffic. I'm originally from California, the LA area, so traffic out here for me really isn't too big of a deal but it is something to keep in mind. So you want to ask yourself how long of a drive am I okay to have? So if you're working in town or if you're working on base, maybe you're working at K-Bay, you're working at Wheeler, wherever it is you want to get a strong understanding of what you're okay with when it comes to drive time and what you would be okay with. Is it 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour? Realistically it's usually going to be between 30 minutes and an hour, sometimes longer, especially if you're living in the Kapolei, Makakilo, Ewa area and you have to go to town because that traffic can be a little horrendous but we'll save that for another video. The next thing you want to look into because prices can be pretty high out here, Hawaii is one of the most expensive states in the nation, is you want to understand the price per square foot and with that in mind you want to ask yourself what is the minimum bedroom and bathroom count you'd be okay with? I have a lot of clients who call me and say yeah I want a three bedroom, two bath with a pool and an ocean view, then they realize how much that costs and then we dial it back. So I always like to start from the beginning going we can always go bigger but what is the minimum bedroom and bathroom count that you'd be okay with? Is it a studio? Is it a one bedroom? Is it a three bedroom? You have four kids and you have to have four bedrooms. These are questions you want to ask yourself to see if it's even a reality when you look at the price and what you need from a minimum standpoint because once again, it's a bit pricey out here. The next question you want to ask yourself is are you open to a fixer upper or do you need something that's turnkey? Most people say they want turnkey. They're like hey I'm working all day every day, I do not have time for a project, I don't have time to put in my own floor to paint the place, I don't have the money to hire somebody to do it because generally you either have time or money so that generally puts them in the turnkey. Now you might be in a position where you're like hey I'm pretty handy, I've got time, I've got money, I'm okay with fixers and you'll find a lot of properties that actually provide opportunity. If you put in the time or the money, you can actually push up the value of that property by putting in the time or the money but nonetheless that is a question you want to ask yourself. If you're going to do the fixer thing, are you okay living potentially on a construction site? Put in the time or put in the money to fix up that property. The next question you want to ask yourself is how long do you plan to hold on to that property? I do work with a lot of service members and generally when they PCS out here, they're here for about three years, sometimes four years depending if they're retiring, maybe longer but generally that is my cutoff. When people call me and say yeah I'm going to buy a property, I'll probably hold on to it for two years or my contract out there is only for two years, I generally tell them it's better for you just to wait and the reason why is because appreciation out here for the value of properties is some of the best in the nation but the reality of the situation is it costs you money to sell the property on the back end. You're probably looking at about six percent and if the value of the property is going up four percent every single year, you're probably going to be okay but it's a little bit of a risk if you're only going to hold on to it for one or two years. Three years is generally my cutoff but the happy spot is usually five to seven years so you really want to ask yourself how long do you plan on holding on to the property? Is it less than three years? If it is, you probably want to rent. If it's longer, we should definitely have a conversation. Again, I got my contact information right here so we can run through some scenarios for you. Additionally, with that being said, I've had a lot of clients reach out to me about assumable loans and that can be a great opportunity as well but that's something we need to analyze because generally with assumable loans, there's going to be a large cash gap where you have to maybe come out of pocket 100, 200, 300 grand to get that great rate but if you are only going to hold on to the property for three years, you want to look at what the monthly savings is for basically burying 300 grand into that property. Usually, assumables are great opportunities for people who want to hold the property for a long time because every single month, you could be saving thousands of dollars. Again, that's for another video, another spreadsheet. If you have any questions on assumable loans and whether it's a good idea for you guys, feel free to reach out to me. Another question you want to ask yourself if you have a family and have kids and they have to go to school. Schools out here in Hawaii, not always the best when you compare them to the mainland so it's important to understand what school districts you'll be in and if you're focusing mainly on education, you're going to want to buy a property if it's at all possible in that school district so you can use different websites. Us as realtors, we're not allowed to really tell you per se what district it is because they're always moving the lines so you want to do your own due diligence and check in on those things but that's going to be an important aspect if you've got any kids. The next thing you want to understand is do you have pets? Because if you're going to be buying a condo or a townhome, if you've got, you know, a big dog or a couple big dogs, it could be a bit of a challenge when it comes to your options because you most likely would need a yard. Now, there's a lot of my clients that are okay not having a yard, just a lanai, maybe they have a smaller dog and there's another concern that a lot of people have is they need to buy in a building that's pet friendly. Well, I got a secret for you. If you actually get your animal because it's actually what it is to become an emotional support animal, not a pet, you're actually federally protected and you can actually live in any building even if it doesn't allow pets. Again, reach out to me if you want to know more about that. Additionally, if you're moving out here, you want to check out this video right here. This goes through the process of moving your pets over to Hawaii because it's a no rabies state and it can be a little bit more challenging than just putting them on the plane so make sure you check out that video. Next question you want to ask yourself is how many cars do you have? The reason why is number one, you're going to want to check out this video that shows you how to ship your car over but more importantly is that if you're buying, again, in a condo or a townhome, you may have one or two assigned parking spots but if you have three cars, then you're going to be out in the cold or have to find street parking. So something you want to keep in mind when you're shopping for a home, generally if you're buying a studio one bedroom, you're only going to have one assigned parking spot, two bedrooms, sometimes you have two parking spots but generally it's one and of course single family home, it's open to the amount of space you have in your garage, carport or in your driveway or of course street parking but a very important thing to keep in mind. So those are generally some of the questions that I like to ask my clients before we actually put a search together for them. I would highly suggest that if you have any other questions or want to go through these together, feel free to reach out to me. Got my contact information right here and the last thing I want to leave you with is understanding this concept when it comes to purchasing a property out here. Very similar to when you want to go out and eat. If you want something that's cheap and fast, well the quality is not going to be that good. If you want the quality to be really good, well it's going to be slow and it's going to be pricey. Very similar to real estate especially out here in Hawaii but instead of it being towards food, it's towards real estate. Usually you can only have two of the three. Quality of home, it being renovated, the price, whether it's high or low and the location. Those are going to be the three things that you basically can only have two of. So once again, if it's super cheap and the quality is really good, well then it's probably not going to be the location you want. If it's in the location you want and the quality is really nice, well then the price is going to be very high. So generally you can only have two of the three. So these are the things I generally go through with my clients and again I'd be happy to assist you so feel free to reach out to me. With that being said, that pretty much wraps it up. Again, I'm Patrick Longley with Team Roger That. If you guys got any value out of this video, do me a huge favor. Smash that like button as well as click the subscribe and notification bell so you get notified whenever I drop videos just like this and feel free to reach out to me. If you have any questions, just general questions about real estate, I'm here to be the boots on the ground and give you any guidance that you may need. That pretty much wraps it up. Hope you guys have a beautiful day. I'll talk to you soon. Aloha.