Buying Condo Thoughts (Kapaa, Lihue: renter, insurance, condos)

[Tikicat]

Aloha,

I'm considering buying a condo that is in a rental program. I also would be buying it to be my temporary home. My thoughts were that it could be in the rental program and when it's rented out I would go camping. When it's not reserved and being used I could stay in it. This would offset the cost of my monthly dues. I would pay all cash for the condo so my monthly dues and taxes would run me about $800 a month. So technically I would only need to rent it out for about a week each month. Not sure how realistic this is, but the idea just came to me.

If that isn't feasible I would just want to buy it all cash which would leave me with about 60k in the bank and live in it fulltime. It's a studio in a hotel resort setting. Does anyone have experience living full time in that type environment?

Thank you in advance!

[KauaiPono]

First you need to let us know what area you want to live in (North or South Shore or east side). I could then give you a scoop on the specific condos you want.

By the way. Condotels like "the Islander" or "Pono Kai" in Kapaa will have association fees of over 1K a month. Same in South shore.

Condos on north shore that are TVRs will run a bit lower depending on the unit. The Cliffs on North shore will run over 1K a month; HBR will run well over 1K a month. Pali Ke Kua will run about 800 a month. Those places are more like condotels for short term rentals. Places like Sandpiper or Emmalani Court will run about 700 a month.

Many condos in Lihue, or puhi are not TVRs so you cannot rent them short term.

Plus what is your price range? That is the biggest question of all. How much space do you need is important too.

[whtviper1]

Well Tiki - I think you need to decide what you want.

If you are going to live in it full-time - then I wouldn't do a condo-tel, find a place where you can get to know your neighbors and it isn't a revolving door of people. You can make the home yours - as opposed to having it renter ready with generic furniture, etc.

I don't think it is realistic to think you will just "camp" when it is rented out. Kauai gets a decent amount of rain during the rainy season and camping may not be feasible.

The condo-tel going rate has been running 40-50% of the nightly rent going to the mgmt company - you might do better but that is a steep price to pay.

[scgali]

Um I'm not sure what kind of condo or where but I've never heard of any dues alone being under like $600. Then you have insurance, prop tax and the ridiculous cost of electricity. Plus things break from rust and the climate way more than on the mainland. Hopefully you are handy. And do you have to pay any fees for this "rental program?" Sorry to come off harsh but it's very true that living on Kauai is much more than mainland. Many people pay all cash and still end up selling within a couple years due to costs.
Maybe you are considering a studio in an older complex with no pool. I'm not sure but $800 just sounds very low. And I have friends that camp often due to necessity and hate it. There's tons of feral cats that pee all over their things and they can never leave their tent unattended due to theaft. So someone always has to be watching over your things. I mean your plan sounds ideal on paper but I think the reality would be a different story.

[blueherons]

If it is a major franchise condotel, like Hilton, Westin, Marriott, ect, they limit the amount of nights you are allowed to spend there. Some are as little as 180 nights a year.