Buying Property in Hawaii: What to Fix, What to Forget
Are you buying property in Hawaii? If so, you need to think carefully about what you want to fix if you are planning to fix and flip or buy and sell. We’ve written before on what renovations and repairs to prioritize when fixing up an investment property. But when you’re buying property in Hawaii, the rules of the game change a little bit. Social and environmental factors on the Big Island can and do influence the priorities of renters and buyers. The concerns of your mainland tenants and buyers may differ from those of their Big Island counterparts, who are far more accustomed to mold, critters, and fluctuating weather patterns.
So, if you’re buying property in Hawaii, you will want to peruse our list of things to fix and things to forget before you sink your money into repairs and aesthetic adjustments.
What to Fix
Water
Mold tends to grow like wildfire in Hawaii’s warm and humid climate. Thus, any sort of water issue presents a major problem for landlords and sellers. If your buyers or tenants are from the Big Island, they will most certainly be on the lookout for water-related issues. That’s because they know, probably from unpleasant experiences, that water issues are bound to create mold issues. And mold isn’t just smelly and unsightly. It can yield incredibly negative implications for your health. Black mold, in particular, produces toxic compounds that the body stores in fat cells. Mold is therefore a common and often overlooked cause of weight gain. Mold also causes fatigue in many people, and will aggravate those with a mold allergy.
Anything that could possibly lead to a water issue–leaks, broken toilets or faucets, or even an erratic shower head–should be taken care of immediately. Even if these repairs are expensive, they will save you a whole lot down the line, as mold can be very hard to eradicate. Furthermore, it will save you the time and stress of having to obtain new tenants when a tenant with a mold sensitivity is forced to move out.
Roofing and Gutters
It rains in Hawaii. A lot. If you are buying property in Hawaii, particularly at high elevations, ensuring the integrity of your roofing and gutter system is an absolute must for the same reason that fixing all of your water systems is essential. If you end up with a leaky roof, you could be facing a serious mold issue. A poor roof could also provide an opportunity for critters to get into your property, which leads us to our next point.
Spaces and Cracks
Critters are a big deal in Hawaii. Most of them are harmless. Things like cockroaches, geckos, moths, cane spiders, and the like might be unsightly, but they are rarely dangerous. However, if you are buying property in Hawaii, you still want to take the necessary measures to seal any cracks that a critter might be able to get into. Make sure doors and windows seal well and stay closed. And if you have any critters that are already living in your place, do your best to get them out. While many locals are used to these critters, a retiring mainlander will not be. If this is who your renter or buyer is, be prepared to get a terrified and angry call when they discover these critters.
The pest you want to be particularly on the lookout for is a centipede. If you are buying property in Hawaii that is close to the beach, you might be in the clear. However, properties that are further mauka (i.e. on the volcano side) are wetter. These areas are more likely to be home to centipedes. Though centipedes are not extremely dangerous, they certainly aren’t pleasant. They’ve been described as a bee sting level pain that gradually intensifies to feel like a bullet wound. Not fun. And they like to hide in damp, dark places, so a quick scan of your property will not reveal a centipede problem. If you think there might be centipedes in your property, look around carefully with thick gloves to avoid a bite. Sometimes these creatures carry dangerous necrotic bacteria that will harm your skin.
Lighting
Energy is expensive in Hawaii. Most electric bills are thrice what they would be on the mainland. That’s why most people in Hawaii work to cut their use of electricity as much as possible. The elevated interest in energy consumption and environmentalism on the island adds further impetus to preserving valued sources of energy, and many people on the Big Island find ways to utilize solar energy instead of electric.
While lighting isn’t necessarily more important to Big Islanders than it is to mainlanders, fixing the lighting with precision might allow you to market your property more effectively. If you install energy efficient lightbulbs and fixtures, you can decrease your tenant or buyer’s electric bill and, by extension, their stress.
What to Forget
Heating and Air Conditioning
If you’re buying property in Hawaii that has a broken heating or air conditioning system, don’t panic. The weather in Hawaii is pleasantly mild. It can be very hot in low-lying areas close to the ocean, but it rarely exceeds 85 degrees. It can fall below 60 degrees at elevations upwards of about 2500 feet. But in most areas, the climate is temperate, and you would be hard pressed to find people who use air conditioning or heating. If your prospective buyer or tenant is a mainlander, he or she might miss the AC unit. But they will probably miss the money they would have to spend on that unit even more, as energy is incredibly expensive in Hawaii.
Aesthetic Repairs
Big Islanders are characteristically laid back. You are far less likely to hear griping about minor aesthetic concerns than you would be on the mainland. Even if you do have a tenant or buyer with aesthetic concerns, it will be hard to predict exactly what those concerns might be. Prioritize functionality and work to prevent major damage before you concern yourself with beautification. Most of the time, people in Hawaii will be more concerned with the functionality of an appliance than how it looks. Once you have a few prospective tenants or buyers lined up, then you should inquire as to whether they have any aesthetic preferences that you can cater to. Even then, only comply with their wishes should the aesthetic change add some sort of value to the home, allowing you to generate a return on the investment.