Oahu Home Sales

Checklist For Oahu Real Estate Investment Property

Homeowners look for one set of criteria when buying – school district, curb appeal, low crime rate, proximity to job, number of bedrooms, right layout, perfect-sized yard. While location is still a primary factor when you invest in real estate, most investors also add these to their checklist:

1. Single-family home built in last 25 years
2. A neighborhood that is mostly a primary-home community (rather than renters)
3. Square footage at least 1500
4. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths with 2-car parking (or better yet, a 3/2 living area upstairs and 3/2 living area downstairs with separate entrances and extra parking)
5. Nice yard but no pool (too much of a liability)
6. Safe neighborhood with little or no graffiti on public structures, fences, etc.
7. Acceptable GRM and Capitalization ratios.

Another factor to consider is close proximity to your own home. Especially when starting out, you may need to visit your rental properties frequently—to pick up a check, make minor repairs, etc. For these reasons, any property more than 30 minutes away becomes less desirable.

It is important to remember you are not purchasing for your own use but to attract a high quality renter. Savvy investors choose properties based on the criteria above rather than their personal preferences. Doing so lets them pick from a wider base of homes and find the better bargain.

If you have more questions on which properties would make the smartest buys for you as a real estate investor, please don’t hesitate to call or send an email….Aloha, Jon

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 11:55 pm and is filed under For Buyers, Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.