The back story
Buying in Hawaiʻi: condominiums, beach houses and the rules
The Waikīkī and Kakaʻako condominium, the Kāhala beach house and the North Shore cottage, and the rules a foreign buyer meets: FIRPTA withholding on a sale, Honolulu’s short-term rental law and a licensed agent.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © John Pugh · CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia CommonsPeople buy in Hawaiʻi for a view of the ocean and a life lived outside. On Oʻahu the choice runs from condominium towers in Waikīkī and Kakaʻako to the houses of Kāhala and Diamond Head and the cottages of the North Shore and the windward coast; on the neighbour islands, to the resort communities of Wailea, Princeville and the Kohala Coast.
Where people buy
Waikīkī and Kakaʻako are the condominium districts, with Ward Village the newest neighbourhood between them and downtown; Kāhala and Diamond Head are the houses by the sea; the North Shore and the windward coast are the country.
The rules
When a foreign person sells US real property, the buyer must generally withhold 15% of the amount realised and pay it to the IRS under FIRPTA (IRS). Check that your agent holds a Hawaiʻi licence through the State’s Real Estate Branch.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Studio Sarah Lou · CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsRenting out
On Oʻahu, rentals of less than 30 consecutive days are short-term rentals; to preserve housing for long-term residents they are allowed only in resort-zoned areas and a couple of specific apartment-zoned areas, and must be registered (Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting).
Decide before you buy whether you will rent the home out: on Oʻahu that decides where you can buy.
Our advice: ask a Hawaiʻi lawyer to read the condominium documents before you sign; they set the rules you will live by.
Why it's on our list
- Where people buy
- The rules
- Renting out
Location
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More in depth
The back storyGetting around Hawaiʻi: by bus, rail, car and island hopHonolulu’s airport, TheBus and the HOLO card, the new Skyline railway, a hire car for the country and the short flights to Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island.
The back storyHawaiian FoodKalua pig, lau lau and poi at Helena’s, malasadas at Leonard’s, shave ice at Matsumoto’s, Kona coffee and the poke counter: what to eat in Hawaiʻi.
The back storyWhere Hawaiʻi sleeps: the grand hotels of Waikīkī and the resorts of the islandsThe Royal Hawaiian of 1927 and Halekulani on Waikīkī Beach, the Kahala beneath Diamond Head, the North Shore’s Ritz-Carlton and the resorts of Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island: where to stay in Hawaiʻi.