Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

On September 22, the Maui Planning Commission voted 6-2 to recommend hotel zoning for only 5 of the 48 vacation rental properties the County Council had sent it. A week later, the Council voted 5-4 to send the commission another 32 shoreline condo complexes in Maalaea, Kihei and West Maui. Neither vote rezoned anything. Both tell you a lot about how Maui's condo vacation rental phase-out is likely to play out.

The right read depends on where you sit, so I'll take it one situation at a time.

Where things stand this fall

Bill 9, now Ordinance 5909, was adopted December 15, 2025. It ends transient vacation rental use in Maui County's apartment districts after an amortization period. That use is allowed through December 31, 2028 in the West Maui community plan area and through December 31, 2030 everywhere else. Validly existing timeshare units and uses operating under a variance are exempt.

Bill 88, now Ordinance 6008, took effect June 22, 2026 and created two new hotel districts, H-3 and H-4. They're reserved for properties that were zoned A-1 or A-2 and had permitted vacation rentals. The ordinance itself rezoned nothing. Each property needs its own rezoning and community plan change, which goes to the planning commission for a recommendation and then back to the Council.

Of the five properties the commission endorsed, two have decades-old variances, two are entirely timeshare, and one was found to operate as a hotel. For the larger complexes billed as hotel-like, commissioners said they wanted more objective standards than a front desk or housekeeping staff. The commission's public hearing on the second group of 32 shoreline properties is set for November 24, 2026. The Council can still approve a property the commission rejected, but that takes 6 of its 9 votes, and the September referral passed with 5.

Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

You own in West Maui and your building was in the first group

West Maui has the earlier deadline, so the math is tighter. If your property was among the 43 the commission recommended against, I'd plan as if December 31, 2028 is your last night of legal short-term rental use. If the Council later finds six votes, that's upside.

The two lawsuits filed in December 2025 by condo owners argue the phase-out is an unconstitutional taking. As far as I can find, neither has produced a ruling or an injunction, and the deadlines are still running. More than once I've had an owner ask me whether the lawsuits will make this go away. Maybe, but I wouldn't build a plan around a court date nobody can schedule.

The practical choices are the same ones owners have had all year: keep renting short-term until the deadline, convert to a long-term rental, use the unit yourself, or sell. I'd look at the long-term rent the unit can actually get against the maintenance fee, taxes and insurance before deciding.

Your building is one of the 32 shoreline complexes

To make the second list, more than half of a building's footprint had to sit in the state's sea level rise exposure area (at 3.2 feet of rise), a special flood hazard area or the shoreline setback area. Buildings originally meant for affordable or workforce housing were left out. So were properties where at least 25 percent of units were classified as long-term residential in 2008. That test drew pushback in testimony, and two other complexes dropped under it couldn't be added back because they weren't on the agenda.

The Maui Planning Commission has scheduled its public hearing on the 32 shoreline properties (Resolution 26-129) for November 24, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in Wailuku, with a videoconference option. Given how the first group went, I'd treat inclusion as a chance, not a plan. The same shoreline exposure that put these buildings on the list is something I'd raise with any buyer, because it bears on insurance, reserves and future repairs whatever the zoning ends up being.

Photo: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 US, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped and resized)

You're shopping for a Maui condo now

Sales picked up in September. The Realtors Association of Maui reported 72 condo sales countywide in September, up 56.5 percent from a year earlier, at a median of $660,000, up 1.1 percent. The median condo took 199 days to sell, so sellers are waiting longer.

When a buyer asks me about a Maui condo, the first thing I want to know is whether the building is on the Minatoya list, and if so, which resolution it's in and where that resolution stands. Then I underwrite it on long-term rent or personal use, not on vacation rental income that may end. I also check tenure. Several properties in the first group were partly or fully leasehold, and some of those leases end in the 2030s. If you're still choosing an area, my Maui neighborhoods guide is a good place to start.

FAQ

If my building gets H-3 or H-4 zoning, can every unit keep renting short-term?

Not automatically. The new districts carry over the same conditions that applied under apartment zoning, including that vacation rental use was legally conducted before September 24, 2020. I'd confirm your unit's own history with the county and your association.

Does the phase-out apply to timeshares or hotel-zoned resorts?

No. It targets transient vacation rentals in apartment districts. Validly existing timeshare units and uses operating under a variance are exempt, and hotel- and resort-zoned properties aren't covered.

Is it a bad time to buy an affected Maui condo?

Depends on why you're buying. If you'll live in it or rent it long-term and the numbers work on that basis, the phase-out matters less. If the deal only works with nightly rental income past the deadline, I'd pass or wait for a final Council vote.

This post is general information, not legal, tax, insurance or financing advice.

Sources: Maui Department of Planning staff report on Resolutions 26-110 and 26-111, September 22, 2026; Maui County Ordinance 5909; Honolulu Star-Advertiser, September 23, 2026; Maui Now, September 30, 2026; Maui Now, June 22, 2026; Honolulu Star-Advertiser, December 24, 2025; Maui Now, October 9, 2026 (Realtors Association of Maui September data); Notice of Public Hearing, Maui Planning Commission (Star-Advertiser legal notice, Oct 23, 2026).

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

If you own or are eyeing a Maui condo and want help reading where your building stands, call me at 808.201.3577.

Photo: ArdentArbitration, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

On March 26, 2026, the Hawaii Real Estate Commission replaced its old condominium rules with a new set, Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapters 16-119.1 through 16-119.8. In June, Act 100 changed how some very small associations handle reserve study reviews. Neither made the evening news, but both change what shows up in the condo documents you get after an accepted offer, and what you should ask for.

Here is the checklist I use with buyers now, built around what actually changed.

What changed in 2026

The new rules replace former Chapter 16-107 and cover developers, project registration, managing agents, replacement reserves and association registration. The parts that matter most to a buyer:

• Any approved budget a board gives owners must come with reserve study updates, an accountant's findings on reserve adequacy (or a statement that there were none) and where to see the full study.
• Unit floor area in the declaration and developer public report is net living area, measured from the interior surface of the perimeter walls, with lanais, patios, storage and garages listed separately.
• New developer public reports must be written at no higher than a 12th grade reading level.
• Starting July 1, 2027, associations must file a short summary with their registration explaining how owners can get association records, how long it takes and what it costs.

Act 100, signed June 5, 2026, is narrower. State law already requires a reserve study not prepared by an independent reserve study preparer to be reviewed by one at least every three years. Associations with fewer than 20 units, in buildings of no more than two stories, can now vote to skip that review for one three-year period, but not two in a row. They still have to disclose reserve information every year.

1. Read the reserve study, not just the monthly fee

More than once I've had a buyer focus entirely on the maintenance fee and open the reserve study only after the offer was accepted. That's backwards. The fee tells you what owners pay today. The reserve study tells you whether today's fee is enough.

The new rules are blunt about what happens when it isn't. A board can borrow or specially assess owners if it underestimated reserves for an item, or if a big repair would drop the reserve fund below 50 percent of a full reserve (100 percent under a cash-flow plan). The rules even include a worked example of a roof replacement forcing an assessment.

What I look for:

• Whether last year's reserve contributions fell short of what the study called for. The budget summary has to disclose that.
• Big-ticket items due in the next five years: roof, elevators, plumbing, spalling repair.
• Any component the study leaves out, and the stated reason.
• For a small walk-up, whether owners voted to waive the independent review under Act 100. It's legal, but I want to know.

Photo: Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)

2. Ask where an older Honolulu tower stands on fire safety

This is a city rule, and it hasn't gone away. After the 2017 Marco Polo fire, Honolulu required existing residential high-rises without sprinklers to either install them or pass a Building Fire and Life Safety Evaluation. Under Ordinance 25-4, owners must meet with unit owners and file a written compliance plan by May 3, 2030, and buildings that don't comply with sprinklers must pass the evaluation by May 3, 2038. The Honolulu Fire Department keeps a list of affected high-rises, last updated April 24, 2026.

Why it belongs on a buyer's checklist: state law lets a Honolulu reserve study forecast a loan or special assessment for fire safety work. Civil Beat reported in November 2024 that just over 20 of roughly 300 Honolulu high-rises had an acceptable score in the city's August 2024 report, so many buildings still have decisions ahead. In an older tower, I ask early whether it's sprinklered, whether the evaluation is done and what the board has said about a plan.

3. Compare square footage the way the rules measure it

I've seen listings in the same building quote different square footage for what looks like the same floor plan, usually because one counted the lanai and one didn't. The new rules settle it for declarations and public reports: living area from the inside face of the walls, lanai on its own line.

That standard governs the official documents, not every listing remark, and older projects were registered under the old rules. So when I compare price per square foot across buildings, I pull figures from the declaration or public report, keep living area and lanai separate, and ask where the listing number came from. For a conversion project, I also read the added disclosures the rules now require, including outstanding building code violations and the estimated cost to fix them.

FAQ

Do the new rules raise my maintenance fees?

Not directly. They don't set fees. They make the reserve math more visible, and if a building has been underfunding, that tends to come out at budget time.

Is a small building that waived its reserve study review a red flag?

Not by itself. Act 100 allows it for buildings under 20 units and two stories or less. I'd read the annual reserve disclosure more carefully and make sure the board didn't waive it twice in a row, which the law doesn't allow.

How do I find out if a Honolulu high-rise passed its fire safety evaluation?

Start with the Honolulu Fire Department's high-rise list, then ask the association or managing agent for the evaluation and any compliance plan. I put that request in writing during due diligence.

This post is general information, not legal, tax, insurance or financing advice.

Sources: Hawaii Real Estate Commission, Hawaii Condominium Bulletin, September 2026; Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapters 16-119.1 to 16-119.8 (effective March 26, 2026); Act 100, SLH 2026 (HB 1824), signed June 5, 2026; City and County of Honolulu Ordinance 25-4; Honolulu Fire Department, Sprinklers; Honolulu Civil Beat, November 19, 2024.

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

If you're weighing a condo and want a second set of eyes on the reserve study or building documents, call me at 808.201.3577.

Buyers say "I want ocean" and mean two completely different things. One wants to open a door and walk onto sand. The other wants to pour coffee, look out the window, and see blue water over the rooftops. Those are two different houses, two different price tags, and two very different things to own. After 20+ years selling on this island, I can tell you they are easy to conflate until you see the numbers side by side. So let's separate them clearly.

What "oceanfront" and "ocean view" actually mean

Oceanfront means the property sits directly on the water with no public road or lot between you and the shoreline. Think Portlock, Kahala Avenue, Diamond Head's Gold Coast, the Kailua and Lanikai beachside lots. You have the water at the edge of your yard, and in most cases direct or near-direct access to it.

Ocean view means you can see the ocean from the home, but the house is set back from it, often well back and well above it. A home on Hawaii Loa Ridge, up Wilhelmina Rise, in Waialae Iki, or on the slopes of Diamond Head can have a jaw-dropping blue-water panorama while sitting a half mile or more from the nearest beach. The view is the asset. The water is scenery, not your backyard.

There's also a loose middle ground: "ocean views" that are really a sliver of blue between two neighbors, or a view that disappears the day someone downhill builds up. That's where knowing the specific street matters, because the listing photo and the reality don't always match.

The price gap is bigger than people expect

Here's the honest version: on Oahu the jump from a strong ocean-view home to a true oceanfront home is often measured in millions, not in a percentage. A view home in a desirable area can be an outstanding property at a price that, while high, is reachable for a lot of buyers. Step onto the sand and you're frequently looking at a multiple of that.

I'm not going to print a specific premium figure here, because it moves with the neighborhood, the lot, the beach itself, and what's trading that quarter. Oceanfront on a wide sandy Kahala beach prices differently than oceanfront on a rocky Portlock point, and both differ from a beachside Lanikai lot. When a client is weighing the two, I pull live comps for the exact stretch of coast rather than quote an island-wide number that would be close to meaningless. What I can tell you plainly is that the gap is large and it has stayed large.

Why? Supply. They stopped making oceanfront lots a long time ago, and on Oahu the number that will ever exist is effectively fixed. Ocean-view lots are far more plentiful because almost any elevation on this island sees water. Scarcity on one side, relative abundance on the other. That alone explains most of the spread.

What the waterfront premium actually buys

When you pay up for oceanfront, you're buying a few things that an ocean-view home simply cannot replicate:

• Access and sound. You walk to the water in seconds, and you hear it all night. For a lot of buyers that's the entire point, and nothing else substitutes.
• A view that can't be built out. No one is constructing a house between you and the Pacific. An ocean-view home carries real risk that a downhill project or growing trees erode the sightline over time.
• Scarcity at resale. The same fixed supply that makes it expensive to buy tends to protect it when you sell. Genuine oceanfront on a good beach has a deep, if small, buyer pool.

An ocean-view home gives you most of the daily emotional payoff, the blue horizon every morning, for materially less money, usually with a newer or larger house for the dollars, and often with fewer of the headaches below.

What oceanfront costs you after you buy

This is the part that doesn't show up in the listing price, and it's where I slow buyers down. Owning on the water carries ongoing costs and constraints that an inland view home mostly avoids.

Insurance

Two separate things are in play on the coast. Flood insurance is one. Oahu's new FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps took effect June 10, 2026. Coastal lots often fall in a high-hazard "V" or "VE" zone, which accounts for wave action and not just rising water, and if you have a federally backed mortgage on a home in a Special Flood Hazard Area, your lender can require flood coverage. Hurricane insurance is the second piece. In Hawaii, standard homeowner policies commonly exclude hurricane damage, so most owners carry a separate hurricane policy that lenders generally require. Premiums on the water can run well above inland, so I'd confirm actual numbers with a licensed insurance agent before you fall in love with a specific house.

Erosion and the shoreline setback

This one surprises people. Honolulu rewrote its shoreline setback rules under Ordinance 23-3 (Bill 41, 2022). Since July 1, 2024, new building or major redevelopment on an oceanfront lot outside the urban core generally has to sit back 60 feet plus 70 times the lot's annual coastal erosion rate, up to a maximum of 130 feet from the certified shoreline (inside the Primary Urban Center it's 60 feet). On an eroding beach, that formula can push buildable area well back from where an older home currently sits, which matters enormously if your plan is to tear down and rebuild. The law also restricts "shoreline hardening," so you can't assume you'll be allowed to drop in a new seawall to defend an eroding lot, and violations can bring significant fines. Know the setback math on the specific parcel before you write an offer that assumes a big new footprint.

Maintenance

Salt air, spray, and surf are hard on a house. Oceanfront owners budget for corrosion, more frequent exterior work, and mechanical systems that age faster than they would three blocks mauka. A view home up the hill doesn't take that beating.

So which one is right

The right answer is about how you'll actually live. If the goal is to wake up and step onto the sand, no view home will ever scratch that itch, and the premium is the cost of the real thing. If what you love is the panorama and the blue horizon, an ocean-view home can deliver that for a fraction of the price, frequently with a better house and far less to worry about on insurance and erosion. Both are wonderful ways to own here. They're just not the same purchase, and it helps to stop treating them as interchangeable.

Frequently asked questions

How much more does oceanfront cost than ocean view on Oahu?

More than most people guess, and it's a dollar gap rather than a neat percentage. True oceanfront on a good beach often trades for several times what a comparable ocean-view home up the hill would. I won't quote an island-wide number because it swings hard by neighborhood and by the beach, so when a client is deciding I pull live comps for that specific stretch of coast. That's the only figure worth trusting.

Is oceanfront more expensive to insure?

Usually, yes. On the coast you're dealing with flood insurance, often in a high-hazard V or VE zone that accounts for wave action, plus the separate hurricane policy most Hawaii owners carry and lenders require. Premiums can be meaningfully higher than inland. I always tell buyers to get a real quote from a licensed insurance agent on the actual address before they commit, because it can shift the overall cost of owning.

Can I build a seawall to protect an oceanfront home?

Don't assume so. Under Honolulu's current rules, shoreline hardening like new seawalls is restricted and generally not allowed just to defend an eroding private lot. The setback rules also push new construction back from the water based on the lot's erosion rate. If your plan involves rebuilding or armoring the shoreline, that's a question to run past a land-use attorney and the City before you buy, not after.

Is an ocean-view home a safer investment than oceanfront?

Different, not strictly safer. Oceanfront has fixed supply, which tends to hold value, but it carries higher ownership costs and erosion risk. Ocean-view is more plentiful and cheaper to own, but the view itself can be vulnerable if someone downhill builds up or trees grow in. I'd rather talk through your actual time horizon and plans than hand you a blanket rule, because the honest answer depends on the specific property.

What technically counts as "oceanfront" versus "ocean view"?

Oceanfront means the lot sits directly on the water with nothing between you and the shoreline. Ocean view means you can see the water from the home but it's set back, often up a slope. Watch the loose middle ground too, a partial or "peek" view that a listing can dress up. I always confirm what you're really getting by standing on the property, because photos flatter and the reality on the ground is what you're buying.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional. Shoreline setback, flood zone and insurance rules apply differently to every parcel.

Sources: City and County of Honolulu, FIRMs effective June 10, 2026, Honolulu DPP shoreline setbacks (Ordinance 23-3)

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Weighing oceanfront against ocean view?

I can pull live oceanfront and ocean-view comps for the exact neighborhoods you're considering and walk you through the real ownership costs on each. You can also browse Oahu oceanfront and beachfront listings, explore our East Honolulu community guides, or read my take on oceanfront versus marina-front living if a waterfront home in Hawaii Kai is on your list. When you're ready, see what's available in oceanfront neighborhoods like Kahala or reach out to me and I'll help you compare.

The way you hire a real estate agent to buy a home changed in August 2024, and this past summer the last legal question got answered. If you bought on Oahu before then, or you're relocating and your last purchase was years ago, the first thing that happens when we start working together will feel new. You'll sign an agreement before I unlock a single door. Here's what that is, why it exists, and how it actually plays out when you're buying a home in Hawaii.

What actually changed, in plain terms

A group of home-seller lawsuits against the National Association of REALTORS and several large brokerages ended in a settlement. The practice changes from that settlement took effect nationwide on August 17, 2024. For a while there was still a question of whether appeals might unwind the whole thing. That question closed on August 19, 2026, when the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the settlements and ended the case. So the rules below aren't temporary or up in the air anymore. They're how buying works now.

Two things are different for you as a buyer:

• You sign a written buyer agreement before you tour a home. If an agent is going to represent you and take you into a property, in person or on an agent-led video walkthrough, there has to be a signed agreement in place first.
• Agent pay isn't posted on the MLS anymore. It used to be that a seller's offer to pay the buyer's agent was built into the listing in the MLS. Those fields are gone. Compensation is now worked out in writing between you and your agent, and separately handled in the deal.

That's the core of it. Everything else is detail.

The agreement you'll sign with me

In Hawaii, the form most of us use is the Hawaii REALTORS Buyer Representation Contract, form RR104 (Hawaii REALTORS standard forms library). It's short and it's readable. It spells out that I'm representing you, what I'll do, how long the agreement runs, and what my compensation is.

A few things I want you to know before you sign anything, with me or anyone else:

The compensation has to be a real, fixed number. The settlement requires it to be specific and not open-ended. So it's a set percentage or a flat dollar figure, written down. An agent can't put "whatever the seller offers" or a vague range on the form. And here's the part that protects you: once we agree on a figure, I can't collect more than that from the deal, even if a seller happens to be offering more. If I agree to represent you for a certain amount and a seller is offering above it, the difference doesn't come to me.

It's negotiable, and it always was. Commission rates are not set by law in Hawaii or anywhere else, and never have been. The rate, the length of the agreement, whether it covers one property or your whole search, all of that is up for discussion before you sign. If an agent tells you a number is fixed by rule, that's not correct.

You don't have to marry an agent to see a house. The agreement can be written to cover a single property, a short trial window, or a full exclusive search. If you're not sure about an agent yet, you can start narrow. I'd rather earn the exclusive than demand it on day one.

So who actually pays me?

This is the big question, so I'll be straight about it. Your agent's pay can come from the seller, from you, or from a split of both. It's negotiated deal by deal now instead of being assumed.

In practice on Oahu, a lot of sellers still choose to offer compensation to the buyer's side, because a home that's friendly to buyer financing tends to sell better. They just can't advertise it on the MLS. We find out a different way. When we're interested in a property, I ask. Often the seller is offering something, and that covers all or most of what you owe me under our agreement.

When a seller isn't offering enough to cover it, you have options, and none of them means writing me a surprise check at closing:

• We can ask the seller to cover your agent's compensation as a term of your offer, the same way buyers have long asked sellers to cover a share of closing costs. In a lot of Oahu price ranges there's room to negotiate this.
• If a seller won't budge and you want the house, the gap can sometimes be worked into your financing or paid directly, and we'd talk through that before you're ever committed to it.

The point is you'll know the number up front, in writing, and we'll have a plan for how it gets covered before you fall in love with a place. No one likes a mystery fee at the table. There won't be one.

Why this is more good than bad for buyers

I've been doing this on this island for 20+ years, and honestly, putting the buyer's agent relationship in writing is healthy. For a long time the buyer side was the fuzzy part of the transaction. You'd meet an agent at an open house and suddenly they were "your agent" with nothing ever discussed about what they'd do or what they'd be paid. Now it's on paper. You know what you're getting and what it costs, and you can hold me to it.

It also means you should interview your agent like it matters, because it does. When you're buying in a market like Oahu, where a leasehold property, a condo in a non-conforming building, or a home in a flood zone or tsunami evacuation zone can turn into a real problem after closing, who's sitting on your side of the table is not a small thing. Ask how long they've worked the neighborhoods you're looking at. Ask what they've seen go wrong in those buildings or on those streets. The paperwork is new. The reason you want a sharp buyer's agent is not.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really have to sign something before I can look at a house in Hawaii?

If you want an agent representing you and walking you through properties, yes. The rule is that the written buyer agreement is in place before the tour. If you're just wandering into an open house being hosted by the seller's agent, that's different, no agreement needed for that. But the moment you want someone on your side showing you homes, we sign first.

Does the agreement lock me in with one agent forever?

Only if you write it that way. An agreement can cover a single property, a short trial period, or a full exclusive search. If you're testing the waters with me, let's start small and you can decide once you've seen how I work. The term and the scope are both negotiable.

Is the buyer's agent commission paid by me or the seller now?

Depends on the deal. A lot of Oahu sellers still offer to pay the buyer's side, they just can't post it on the MLS anymore, so I find out by asking. When the seller covers it, great. When they don't, we can ask them to as part of your offer, or we work out another way, and you'll know the plan before you're committed to anything.

Can I still negotiate what my agent gets paid?

Always. Commission is not set by any law or rule in Hawaii. The rate, the length of the agreement, what it covers, all of it is on the table before you sign. Any agent who tells you otherwise is wrong.

Is the NAR settlement final, or could it change again?

It's final. The practice changes took effect in August 2024, and the appeals court upheld the whole settlement in August 2026, which ended the case. This is how buying works now, not a trial run.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional. Buyer agreements are contracts, so review yours carefully.

Sources: NAR consumer guide to written buyer agreements, Eighth Circuit decision upholding the NAR settlement (No. 24-3444), Hawaii REALTORS Standard Forms Library (RR104 Buyer Representation Contract)

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Buying on Oahu? Let's talk before you sign anything.

If you're starting a home search here, whether you're local, relocating from the mainland, or PCSing in with the military, I'm happy to walk you through the buyer agreement line by line before you commit to a thing. No pressure and no obligation to sign on the spot. Start with my guide to buying on Oahu, browse neighborhoods and listings, and reach out to me when you want a real conversation. If you're buying from out of state, my remote buyer's guide covers how we handle that, and when you're ready to compete, here's how to win in a multiple-offer situation.

"I'm paying $2,800 a month in rent and it feels like I'm throwing money away. Should I just buy?" It's a fair question, and it deserves a better answer than "yes, buy, rent is dead money." Buying can work out very well, and stretching into a purchase you should have waited on can hurt. The difference almost always comes down to whether they ran the actual numbers instead of the feelings.

So here is how I'd run it. No cheerleading, just the math and the questions that change the answer.

Step one: the price-to-rent ratio gives you a 60-second read

Before you touch a mortgage calculator, there's a quick sanity check. Take the price of a home you'd buy and divide it by a year of rent on a comparable place. That's the price-to-rent ratio.

As of September 2026, the median Oahu condo sold for $523,000 (Honolulu Board of Realtors). The average Honolulu two-bedroom rents for about $2,643 a month, or roughly $31,716 a year (RentCafe/Yardi Matrix, October 2026). Divide $523,000 by $31,716 and you get about 16.5.

Here's the rough rule planners use: a ratio under 15 usually favors buying, 15 to 20 is a genuine toss-up that depends on your timeline, and over 21 tilts toward renting. Oahu has sat in that middle "it depends" band for years, which is exactly why there's no one-size answer. The ratio won't make the decision for you, but it tells you how hard you need to look at the rest of the math. At about 16.5, you need to look hard.

Step two: compare your real monthly carry, not rent versus mortgage

The mistake I see most is comparing rent to a mortgage payment. Those aren't the same animal. Owning carries costs a renter never sees, and if you leave them out you'll talk yourself into a bigger payment than you think.

Take that same median condo at $523,000 with 20% down, financing $418,400. At the 30-year fixed rate Freddie Mac reported at 7.40% the week of October 15, 2026, principal and interest run about $2,900 a month. Then add the parts people forget:

• Property tax. Honolulu's owner-occupant residential rate is $3.50 per $1,000 of assessed value for fiscal year 2027. On a $523,000 condo that's about $1,830 a year, or roughly $150 a month, and the owner-occupant home exemption lowers it further if you live there and file on time.
• Insurance. A condo owner's HO-6 policy is usually the smaller line here, because the building's master policy is paid through the maintenance fee. For this example I'll assume $50 a month; get a real quote. A single-family home with hurricane and sometimes flood coverage is a different story.
• AOAO maintenance fees. This is the big one on Oahu condos, and it's the number that wrecks a lot of back-of-napkin math. Fees vary widely by building, with full-amenity towers at the high end and older walk-ups at the low end. For this example I'll assume $700 a month; use the actual fee for any building you're considering. That money doesn't build you any equity.

Stack it up with those assumptions (about $2,900 principal and interest, $150 property tax, $50 insurance and $700 in fees) and a median condo bought today carries about $3,800 a month all-in, against about $2,643 to rent a comparable two-bedroom. I'm not going to pretend that gap doesn't exist. At today's rates, owning the median Oahu condo costs noticeably more per month than renting one. That's the honest starting point.

These are illustrative figures to show the method. Your rate, down payment, the building's fees and your tax situation will move every line, so run your own.

Step three: how long are you staying?

This is the question that flips the whole thing, and it's the one people skip. Buying and selling on Oahu isn't free. Between closing costs going in and the commission and conveyance tax going out, you're looking at real transaction friction on both ends, which I break down in my piece on closing costs in Hawaii.

Because of that friction, there's a breakeven point, the number of years you need to own before buying comes out ahead of renting. Sell before you hit it and renting would have been cheaper even with "dead" rent money. On Oahu I generally tell people to plan on holding at least five to seven years for the math to turn in their favor. If there's any real chance you're leaving the island or upsizing in three years, renting is often the smarter financial call.

If you're planted here for the long haul, the calculus changes completely, which brings me to what the monthly comparison leaves out.

What the monthly number doesn't capture

That gap of more than $1,100 a month in the example isn't the whole story, or nobody on Oahu would ever buy. Three things work in the owner's favor over time.

Principal paydown. A chunk of that $2,900 payment isn't a cost at all, it's you paying yourself. In the early years it's small, but it's real equity, and it grows every month.

Appreciation. Oahu is land-constrained in a way almost nowhere else in the country is. We can't sprawl, and that scarcity has been a long-run support for values. It is not guaranteed and it does not move in a straight line, the single-family median actually slipped 3.9% year-over-year this September while condos rose 2.8%, but scarcity tends to favor patient owners. A renter captures none of that.

The fixed payment. Rent goes up. Honolulu rents climbed about 6% in the last year alone. A 30-year fixed mortgage does not move. Lock in a payment today and in year ten you're paying roughly the same principal and interest while your neighbor's rent has climbed for a decade. That's the point I make in my older post on why rents rise while a mortgage stays flat.

One honest counterweight: the down payment isn't free either. That $104,600 sitting in your home could be invested elsewhere, so part of running the numbers is being real about what else that money could do for you.

The Oahu-specific wrinkles that change the answer

A national rent-versus-buy calculator will get you in the wrong neighborhood here, because it doesn't know our market. AOAO fees are the big one. Oahu maintenance fees are often higher than buyers from other markets expect at the same price point, and that money never converts to equity.

Leasehold is the other trap, and it burns people who don't know to ask. Some Oahu properties sit on leased land, not fee simple, and the price looks like a deal until you understand the lease. Read my explainer on leasehold versus fee simple in Hawaii before you chase a cheap listing. And on a single-family home, budget for hurricane coverage, plus flood insurance depending on the zone, which renters and most calculators ignore.

So, rent or buy right now?

Here's where I land. If you're staying on Oahu for the long haul, your down payment isn't your entire safety net, and you can carry the all-in monthly number without stress, buying still makes sense even at 7.40%, because you can refinance a rate but you can't go back and buy at today's price. If you might leave the island inside a few years, or the only thing you can afford carries an AOAO fee that eats the whole advantage, renting is the responsible move and there's no shame in it.

The worst outcome isn't renting or buying. It's deciding on a feeling about "dead money" instead of the actual numbers for your situation.

Rent vs. buy on Oahu: quick answers

Is it cheaper to rent or buy on Oahu in 2026?

Month to month, renting is usually cheaper right now. At 7.40%, owning the median condo runs noticeably above renting a comparable two-bedroom. Buying wins over time through equity and a fixed payment, but only if you stay long enough. I'd want five to seven years at least.

What's a good price-to-rent ratio in Honolulu?

Under 15 leans buy, over 21 leans rent, and 15 to 20 is a toss-up. Oahu usually sits in that middle band, around 16 to 17 for condos right now, which is why your timeline matters more than the ratio itself.

How long do I need to own before buying beats renting?

On Oahu I tell people to plan on at least five to seven years, because our closing costs going in and selling costs going out are real. Sell before that and renting probably would have been cheaper. Stay past it and the math usually turns.

Do AOAO fees really matter that much?

More than almost anything. A high maintenance fee is money that never becomes equity, and on Oahu condos it varies widely by building. I always pull the exact fee and what it covers before anyone falls for a low list price.

Why buy at a 7.40% rate instead of waiting?

You can refinance a rate later, but you can't un-buy at today's price. If the numbers work at today's payment, waiting for a lower rate is a timing bet nobody wins reliably. If they only work at a lower rate, that's your sign the home is a stretch.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional.

Sources: Honolulu Board of REALTORS, September 2026 Oahu market report, RentCafe Honolulu average rent, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, City and County of Honolulu FY2027 real property tax rates

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Want me to run your actual numbers?

If you tell me the neighborhood you're looking at, your rough budget and how long you plan to stay, I'll run the real rent-versus-buy math for your situation, including the specific building's fees and tax picture, with no pressure either way. You can start by browsing Oahu communities or looking at your financing options, then reach out to me and we'll put numbers to it.

Whether it's a Waikiki studio bought for the income or a Kaimuki rental held for 20 years, the question investment sellers ask is some version of "what do I actually walk away with?" The honest answer is that the sale price is rarely the number that matters. What matters is what is left after the taxes take their cut, and on an investment property in Hawaii there are four separate bites to plan for. Here is how each one works, in plain English, so you can have a real conversation with your CPA before you list.

Your "profit" is bigger than you think

Most owners calculate gain as sale price minus what they paid. The IRS does not. Your taxable gain is the sale price minus your adjusted basis, and your adjusted basis is lower than your purchase price if you have been renting the property out.

Every year you owned a rental, you were allowed to claim depreciation as a deduction, and that depreciation reduced your basis. So a condo you bought for $700,000 and depreciated by $150,000 has an adjusted basis of roughly $550,000, not $700,000. When you sell, the gain is measured from that lower number, which is why the taxable gain often lands well above what felt like your real profit. This catches people off guard more than anything else on this list.

Bite one: federal capital gains tax

If you owned the property more than a year, the gain is a long-term capital gain at the federal level, taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your taxable income. Most sellers of an Oahu investment property land in the 15% or 20% range. As a rough guide for 2026, the 20% rate kicks in above roughly $545,500 of taxable income for a single filer and about $613,700 for a married couple filing jointly.

On top of that, higher earners pay the Net Investment Income Tax of 3.8%. It applies once your modified adjusted gross income passes $200,000 if you file single or $250,000 if you file jointly, and a large one-time gain can easily push you over that line in the year you sell.

Bite two: depreciation recapture

This is the one that surprises people. Remember all that depreciation that lowered your basis? The IRS wants some of that benefit back when you sell. The portion of your gain that comes from depreciation you claimed (what the tax code calls unrecaptured Section 1250 gain) is taxed at a federal rate of up to 25%, which is higher than the long-term capital gains rate most sellers pay on the rest of the gain.

So in that $700,000 condo example, the roughly $150,000 of depreciation gets taxed at up to 25%, and the rest of the gain at your regular long-term rate. You owe recapture whether or not you actually deducted the depreciation each year, so confirm with your accountant that you claimed what you were entitled to.

Bite three: Hawaii's state capital gains tax

Hawaii taxes the gain too. The state's top ordinary income tax rate is 11%, one of the highest in the country, but Hawaii law caps the rate on net capital gains at 7.25% for individuals under its alternative capital gains tax. Bills to raise or remove that cap come up at the Legislature (in 2026, HB 1850 would have raised it to 9%), but that bill died and the 7.25% cap is still current law as of this writing. It is worth keeping an eye on, because it comes back most sessions.

So on the state side you are usually looking at around 7.25% of the gain rather than the full 11%, but the exact treatment depends on your return.

Bite four: HARPTA withholding at closing

This one is not an extra tax, but it feels like one because it takes cash out of your proceeds the day you close. HARPTA is the Hawaii Real Property Tax Act, and it requires the buyer to withhold 7.25% of the gross sale price from any seller who is not a Hawaii resident, then send it to the state. It is reported on Form N-288 and N-288A. Note that this is 7.25% of the full sale price, not of your gain, so on a $1.2 million sale that is roughly $87,000 held back.

The good news is that HARPTA is a prepayment, not a final tax. When you file your Hawaii return and reconcile what you actually owe, you get the difference back as a refund. There are also ways to reduce it up front. A resident seller, or a seller using a nonrecognition provision such as a 1031 exchange, can file Form N-289 to certify an exemption. And if your actual gain is small, you can apply for a withholding certificate on Form N-288B to lower the amount held at closing instead of waiting a year for the refund.

Separately, if the seller is a foreign person, the federal FIRPTA rules add their own withholding of 15% of the sale price. Foreign sellers can face both HARPTA and FIRPTA, so that is a conversation to have with your CPA and escrow well before the signing date.

Legal ways to defer or soften the hit

You have more options than most sellers realize, and the right one depends on your situation:

• 1031 exchange. If you are selling one investment property to buy another, a 1031 exchange lets you defer both the federal and Hawaii gain, including the depreciation recapture, as long as you follow the timing and reinvestment rules exactly. The deadlines are strict, so you line this up before you close, not after.
• Installment sale. If you carry back financing and collect the price over several years, you may be able to spread the gain across those years rather than recognizing it all at once, which can keep you in a lower bracket.
• Converting to a primary residence. The Section 121 exclusion of up to $250,000 of gain for a single filer or $500,000 for a couple applies to a primary home, not a rental. If you move into a former rental and live there long enough to qualify, part of the gain can be excluded, though special rules reduce the exclusion for the years it was a rental and you still owe recapture. It is worth professional advice.
• Timing and offsetting losses. Selling in a lower-income year, or pairing the sale with capital losses elsewhere in your portfolio, can meaningfully change the bill.

A simple example of how it stacks up

Say you bought an East Honolulu rental for $700,000, claimed $150,000 of depreciation, and sell for $1,200,000 with about $80,000 in selling costs. Your adjusted basis is around $550,000 and your total gain is roughly $570,000. Of that, the $150,000 tied to depreciation is taxed at up to 25% federally, and the remaining $420,000 is taxed at your long-term capital gains rate, plus the 3.8% NIIT if you are over the income threshold, plus Hawaii's 7.25%. A mainland owner also has 7.25% of the $1.2 million held back by HARPTA at closing and reconciled later. These numbers are illustrative only, meant to show the moving parts, not a prediction of your result.

Frequently asked questions

Do I pay Hawaii capital gains tax if I live on the mainland?

Yes. The gain is taxed where the property is, so a California or Washington owner still owes Hawaii tax on a sale of Oahu property, and HARPTA will withhold 7.25% of the price at closing. You file a Hawaii nonresident return to settle up and get any over-withholding back.

How do I get my HARPTA money back faster?

Two ways. You can file Form N-288B before closing to apply for a reduced withholding if your real gain is small, or you file your Hawaii return after the sale and claim the refund. I always tell out-of-state sellers to loop in their CPA early, because the N-288B route can free up a lot of cash that would otherwise sit with the state for a year.

Does a 1031 exchange get me out of depreciation recapture?

It defers it, not erases it. A properly structured 1031 exchange pushes both the capital gain and the recapture into the replacement property, so you owe nothing at the time of sale. The tax is still there in the background and comes due if you eventually cash out without exchanging again. The timing rules are unforgiving, so set it up before you list.

What about the conveyance tax when I sell?

That is separate from income tax. Hawaii's conveyance tax is a transfer tax paid at closing based on the sale price, and it is usually part of the seller's closing costs rather than a tax on your gain. I break those down in my Hawaii closing costs guide.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional. Talk to a licensed CPA or tax attorney about your own return before you make a move.

Sources: IRS Topic 409, capital gains, Hawaii Department of Taxation, HARPTA forms (N-288, N-288A, N-288B, N-289), HB 1850 (2026)

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Plan the tax before you list, not after

The sellers who keep the most are the ones who ran these numbers with their accountant before the sign went in the yard, not the ones who found out at closing. I am happy to walk through what your property would likely sell for today and connect you with tax people who know Hawaii rules, so you see the real net before you commit to anything. Read how I approach selling, then reach out to me and we'll talk through your numbers.

Retiring in Hawaii usually starts with the view. Fair enough. But after 20+ years selling on Oahu, I can tell you the view is the easy part. The decisions that actually shape your retirement here are quieter: how you hold title, how your income gets taxed, whether you can still climb your own stairs at 80, and how far you are from Queen's or Straub when something goes sideways. Here's the order I'd work through before anyone writes an offer.

First question: are you moving your income here, or just your mailbox?

Hawaii is kinder to retirees on taxes than its reputation suggests, but only in specific ways. The state does not tax Social Security benefits, and it does not tax employer-funded pension income, which includes military retirement pay. That's a real advantage if a pension or Social Security is the backbone of your retirement.

Where it flips: money you pull from accounts you funded, like a traditional IRA or your own 401(k) deferrals, is generally taxable as Hawaii income, and the state's brackets run from 1.4% all the way up to 11% at the top. So two households with the same spending can owe very different state tax depending on where their income comes from. If most of your retirement is in a 401(k) or IRA, model that out before you fall in love with a house. This is educational, not tax advice, so please run your actual numbers by a Hawaii-licensed tax professional.

The property-tax break almost no one files for on time

Oahu already has one of the lowest effective property-tax rates in the country. On top of that, if you own and live in your home, you can claim a home exemption that knocks taxable value off the assessment, and the exemption is larger once you turn 65.

Right now, through June 30, 2027, the basic Honolulu home exemption is $120,000 of assessed value, rising to $160,000 for owner-occupants age 65 and older. The City has those figures scheduled to increase to $140,000 and $180,000 on July 1, 2027. The catch is the calendar: you have to file your exemption claim with the City by September 30 for it to apply to the following tax year. Miss it and you can leave a full year of savings on the table.

Buy the floor plan that works for the long haul, not just the one you like today

This is the part a spreadsheet won't tell you. A lot of Oahu's prettiest homes are built into hillsides, which means stairs, sometimes a lot of them. If you're buying a place you intend to grow old in, I push clients to look hard at single-level living from the start.

On the house side, single-story floor plans and a level walk to the car are easier to find in flatter areas like parts of Hawaii Kai, Aina Haina, and Kailua. On the condo side, an elevator building with secured parking solves the stairs problem outright. Think about door widths, step-in showers, whether the primary bedroom and a full bath are on the entry level, and how far it is from the garage to the kitchen with an armful of groceries. None of that shows up in the listing photos.

Condo or house? Run it on carrying cost, not sticker price

Plenty of people trade a mainland house for an Oahu condo and are happy with the move. Just go in with your eyes open on two things.

First, maintenance fees. A condo's monthly AOAO fee can run from a few hundred dollars to well over a thousand, and in older buildings a special assessment for plumbing re-pipes or spalling repair can land without much warning. The fee buys you a lot, but read the budget, the reserve study, and the minutes before you commit, not after.

Second, how the building holds title. A meaningful share of Oahu condos, especially in Waikiki and parts of town, are leasehold rather than fee simple. Leasehold can look like a bargain on price, but you don't own the land, the lease rent can reset, and the lease has an end date, which matters a great deal if you plan to hold the property for decades or leave it to someone. I'm not against leasehold, but it deserves a hard look. I wrote a full breakdown of the difference, linked below.

Medical access and the distance to the mainland

Medical access is a practical, objective factor worth mapping before you pick an area. Oahu's major hospital systems, including The Queen's Medical Center, Straub, and Kaiser Permanente's Moanalua facility, are concentrated in and around the urban core. Specialist care in particular tends to be town-side. If you're choosing between a quiet windward or North Shore spot and something closer in, factor the drive to the care you actually use, because island traffic turns a 15-mile trip into a real commitment.

The other honest conversation is distance from the mainland. Flying back and forth is a five-hour trip minimum from the West Coast and a budget line, not an afterthought. The distance is easy to underestimate from a vacation. Better to weigh it now.

A word on "the condo will pay for itself"

Some folks plan to offset costs by renting the place short-term when they're on the mainland. Be careful. Oahu's short-term rental rules are strict and have tightened, legal nightly-rental zones are limited, and many buildings prohibit it outright in their house rules regardless of what the island zoning says. Do not bank your retirement math on rental income until the specific unit, building, and zone are confirmed to allow it. If a vacation-rental strategy is central to your plan, that's a different search with different inventory, and we'd approach it deliberately.

The estate-planning piece luxury buyers miss

Hawaii is one of a minority of states with its own estate tax. The exemption sits around $5.49 million per estate, separate from the federal exemption, and there's no state inheritance tax. For most buyers that's not in play, but if you're buying at the high end of East Honolulu or Kahala, your Hawaii real estate can push an estate over that line. Coordinate the purchase and how you hold title with an estate attorney. Again, educational only.

How I'd sequence it

Get your tax picture modeled first, because it may change how much house you should carry. Lock in the care and distance factors next, since those narrow the map fast. Then shop floor plans and carrying costs, and only then start weighing views. Do it in that order and the view ends up being the reward, not the thing that talked you into a house that doesn't fit the next 25 years.

Frequently asked questions

Does Hawaii tax my retirement income?

It depends on the source. Hawaii doesn't tax Social Security or employer-funded pensions, including military retirement. But distributions from accounts you funded yourself, like a traditional IRA or your own 401(k) contributions, are generally taxable here, and rates go up to 11%. I always tell clients to have a Hawaii tax professional model their specific mix before they set a budget.

Is there a property-tax break for seniors on Oahu?

Yes. If you own and occupy the home, the Honolulu home exemption is currently $120,000 off assessed value, and $160,000 once you're 65. Both are scheduled to rise in July 2027. Just file your claim with the City by September 30 so it applies the following tax year. People miss that deadline constantly.

Should I buy a condo or a single-family home for retirement?

Honestly, it comes down to stairs and upkeep more than price. An elevator condo solves the stairs and hands off the maintenance, but you're taking on an AOAO fee and whatever the building's reserves look like. A single-level house gives you control but keeps the yard and roof on your plate. I'd rather show you the real carrying cost of each than guess.

Can I rent my place short-term when I'm away to help cover costs?

Maybe, but don't assume it. Oahu's short-term rental rules are tight, legal zones are limited, and plenty of buildings ban it in their own rules. I'd never let a client count on that income until we've confirmed the exact unit and building allow it in writing.

Is leasehold a problem for a long-term hold?

It deserves a hard look. You don't own the land, the lease rent can reset, and there's an end date, which matters more the later in life you buy. It's not automatically wrong, but I want you to see exactly what you're signing up for first.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional.

Sources: Honolulu Real Property Assessment Division, home exemption, Hawaii Department of Taxation, individual income tax, AARP Hawaii state tax guide, Honolulu DPP short-term rentals, Hawaii Department of Taxation, Outline of the Hawaii Tax System (2025), Form M-6 instructions (Hawaii estate tax exclusion $5,490,000)

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Let's map your version of it

Everybody's retirement math is different, and the right move on Oahu depends on your income sources, your health picture, and how you actually want to spend your days here. If you're thinking through a move, reach out to me here and we'll build the plan around your numbers before we ever set foot in a house. You can also search current Oahu listings to get a feel for pricing.

Most buyers think the home inspection is one appointment and one report. On Oahu it usually isn't. The items that actually move money in a Hawaii deal tend to sit outside the general report: termites, the cesspool question on older homes, the solar agreement attached to the roof, and the roof itself. Any of the four can turn a clean-looking house into a renegotiation. Here's how I walk clients through inspections here, and what I tell them to look at hardest.

What a Hawaii inspection actually covers (and what it doesn't)

First thing worth knowing: Hawaii does not license home inspectors at the state level. There's no state exam or mandatory certification to call yourself a home inspector here. That's not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to choose carefully. I steer clients toward inspectors who carry a credential from a national body like ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) or InterNACHI, because those come with a standards of practice and a code of ethics that a totally unregulated inspector may not follow.

A standard general inspection is visual and non-invasive. The inspector looks at the roof, structure, electrical, plumbing, appliances, drainage, and so on, and gives you a report. What it generally does not include are the specialty items: a termite report, a cesspool or septic evaluation, and a real review of any solar or photovoltaic agreement. Those are usually separate, and on an older Oahu property they're the ones I care about most. Your purchase contract sets an inspection contingency period, so you want your general inspector and your specialists lined up early, not scrambling in the last two days of the window.

Termites: the one I never let a buyer skip

Hawaii has two termite problems, and they're different animals. Drywood termites live inside the wood itself, often up in the framing or furniture, and you can have them without any contact with the soil. Formosan subterranean termites nest in the ground and tunnel up into the structure, and they are the aggressive, fast, genuinely destructive ones. A mature Formosan colony can do serious structural damage, and because so much of it is hidden, a house can look fine and still have an active problem.

This is why a termite inspection is standard practice in local transactions and why I treat it as non-negotiable. A licensed pest control operator does the inspection and issues a report (often called a termite inspection report or PC report). That report is its own document, separate from the general home inspection. If the home is financed with a VA loan, ask your lender early whether a termite report is required, and remember that who pays for the inspection and any treatment is something we negotiate in the contract rather than assume. I go deeper on this in my post on buying a house with termites, because a termite finding is almost never a reason to walk away. It's a reason to understand the scope and price out the fix.

Cesspools: the expense that surprises mainland buyers

If you're looking at an older home, especially outside the newer subdivisions, ask early whether it's on a cesspool. This is the single item that surprises mainland buyers the most. Under Act 125 (2017), Hawaii requires every cesspool in the state to be converted or upgraded (to a septic system or connection to sewer) by 2050. The state Department of Health counts roughly 88,000 cesspools statewide, with more than 11,000 of them on Oahu.

Here's why it matters at the closing table: converting a cesspool is a real expense, and the obligation follows the property. If you buy a home on a cesspool, that 2050 clock is now yours. The actual cost depends heavily on the lot, the terrain, access, and whether sewer is even available nearby, so I won't throw out a single number here. What I do is get a qualified contractor to look before my client is committed, so we're negotiating with a real estimate instead of a guess. The state has also been working on funding help, and I cover the state program in my piece on Hawaii's cesspool loan fund. None of this should scare you off a great house. It should just be priced in with eyes open, not discovered after you own it.

Solar: read the agreement before you fall for the panels

A roof full of PV panels can be a real asset or a complication, and the difference is in the paperwork. The two questions I ask immediately are whether the system is owned or leased, and what the grid agreement is.

On ownership: if the seller owns the panels outright, they usually convey with the home, and that's the clean case. If the panels are leased or financed through a third party, that agreement has to be transferred or assumed, and sometimes there's a UCC filing tied to the equipment that needs to be handled in escrow. I always want to see the actual lease or financing documents, not a verbal summary, because the monthly payment and transfer terms vary a lot.

On the grid side, the rules changed years ago. Hawaii's original Net Energy Metering (NEM) program closed to new residential applicants back in October 2015. Existing NEM customers were allowed to keep their agreements, which is why a grandfathered NEM system can be genuinely valuable, but newer systems fall under Hawaiian Electric's Smart Renewable Energy programs, with much lower export credits. If the system's value to you depends on how it interacts with Hawaiian Electric, confirm exactly which program the home is on before you assume anything. I keep more detail on my solar page, and for an existing system I always recommend verifying the current terms directly with the provider and with HECO.

Roofs and the island-specific stuff

Roofs here take a beating. Sun, salt air near the coast, and heavy rain in the valleys all age a roof faster than a lot of mainland buyers expect. On an older home I want to know the roof's age and condition early, because it affects two things at once: the repair budget and the insurance. Insurers increasingly care about roof age and condition, and a roof near the end of its life can complicate coverage or raise your premium. That ties straight into hurricane and flood coverage, which is its own conversation worth having before you commit.

A few other local items I flag for inspection: older electrical panels, plumbing in post-and-pier homes, drainage and grading on sloped lots (we have plenty of those), and any signs of prior water intrusion. A good inspector catches a lot of this, but even the best one misses things, which is exactly why I wrote up the things a home inspector will miss. Inspections reduce risk. They don't erase it.

FAQ

Do I really need a separate termite inspection in Hawaii?

In my experience, yes. The general home inspection isn't a substitute for a termite report done by a licensed pest control operator, and with Formosan subterranean termites on this island, I don't let buyers go without one. It's one of the cheapest forms of insurance in the whole deal.

How do I find out if a home is on a cesspool?

Ask me or your agent to check the records and the seller's disclosures, and have it confirmed during the inspection period. It's more common on older and more rural properties. If it is on a cesspool, I bring in a contractor for an estimate before you're locked in, because that 2050 conversion obligation transfers to you as the new owner.

Are leased solar panels a problem when buying?

Not a problem, just a step. Leased or financed systems come with an agreement that has to be transferred or assumed, and sometimes a UCC filing to clear in escrow. I always want the actual documents in hand so we know the payment, the term, and the transfer rules before closing. Owned, paid-off systems are the simple case.

Are Hawaii home inspectors licensed by the state?

No, Hawaii doesn't license home inspectors at the state level. That's why I recommend hiring someone certified through a national organization like ASHI or InterNACHI, so you're getting a defined standard of practice rather than guessing at someone's qualifications.

Can I waive the inspection to win a competitive offer?

I understand the temptation in a tight market, but I rarely recommend waiving it outright on an older home here. There are smarter ways to make an offer competitive without taking on termite, cesspool, or roof risk blind. Talk to me about structure before you give up your inspection contingency.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional. Have a licensed inspector, pest control operator and contractor look at the specific home.

Sources: Hawaii Department of Health, cesspools, Hawaii Pest Control Board termite inspection report form, Hawaiian Electric Smart Renewable Energy programs, Hawaii State Auditor, Sunrise Analysis: Regulation of Home Inspectors (2019)

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Thinking about buying on Oahu?

Inspections are where local knowledge actually earns its keep, because the report only tells you half the story. The other half is knowing what a finding means here and how to negotiate around it. If you're getting ready to buy, reach out to me here and let's talk through what to watch for on the specific home or neighborhood you have in mind, or start by searching current Oahu listings.

Most of my luxury sellers think their biggest decision is which agent to hire. It isn't. It's the price they put on the property the first week it hits the market. I've been selling homes on Oahu for 20+ years, and the high end forgives almost nothing right now. Price it wrong and a home that should have sold in 60 days sits for a year while the market quietly decides you're overpriced.

So let me walk you through how I actually price and prepare a luxury home on Oahu, using real numbers from the current market, plus the seller costs people forget.

The luxury market is split in half right now

There isn't one Oahu luxury market. There are several, and they're behaving very differently. Here's what the second quarter of 2026 looked like for single-family homes, from List Sotheby's International Realty's tracking:

• $2M to $3M: 67 homes sold, up about 17% over the same quarter a year earlier, with roughly 8 months of inventory. This is the busiest slice of the luxury market.
• $3M to $5M: only 19 homes sold, down sharply from the prior year, with more than 15 months of inventory sitting on the market.
• $5M to $10M: 9 sales, up year over year, with about 12 months of supply.
• $10M and up: one sale for the quarter, with inventory measured in years. The top single-family sale was $10.5M in the Beachside area of Kailua.

In the $3M to $5M band there was over a year of supply. That's the number that should shape your pricing. When there are that many comparable homes for every one that sells in a quarter, the buyer sets the price, not the seller. I'm not telling you that to talk you down. I'm telling you so you don't spend six months learning it the expensive way.

How I price an oceanfront home when the comps don't exist

Pricing a tract home is arithmetic. Pricing a true oceanfront property on Oahu is judgment, because no two are alike and the recent sales you'd want to compare against often don't exist. There may not have been a sale on your exact stretch of shoreline in two years. Here's what I look at instead of just closed comps:

What the buyer is actually paying for

On the water, the value isn't the house. It's the frontage, the exposure, and whether you can actually get in the ocean off your property or just look at it. A sandy-bottom swimmable frontage in Kahala prices differently than a rocky shoreline in Portlock with a dramatic view but no easy water access. I price the shoreline first and the structure second.

Setback, seawall, and shoreline reality

Serious oceanfront buyers ask about shoreline erosion, seawall condition, and setback rules before they ask about the kitchen. If your certified shoreline survey is old or your seawall is a question mark, that uncertainty comes straight out of your price. I'd rather get ahead of it than have a buyer's engineer surface it during escrow and use it to renegotiate.

Current active competition, not last year's sales

With more than a year of inventory in the upper brackets, the homes you're competing against are the ones listed right now. If three view homes are sitting unsold above $4M, listing a fourth at an aspirational number just makes theirs look reasonable.

Staging an oceanfront home: less is almost always more

People assume luxury staging means filling a house with expensive furniture. For oceanfront homes on Oahu it's usually the opposite. The view is the product, and my job when I prep a property is to get everything out of the way of it.

A few things I do on nearly every high-end listing:

• Clean the sightlines. Clear glass, clean lanai, nothing on the counters or railings competing with the water. The first photo a buyer sees should be the ocean framed by the house, not a cluttered great room.
• Fix the salt-air wear first. Rusting hardware, clouded windows, a tired lanai deck. Buyers at this level read deferred maintenance as a discount, so small repairs before listing protect a much bigger number at closing.
• Light it for the time of day it shows best. If the property faces a sunset, we shoot it and show it then. That's not a trick, it's showing the home honestly at its strongest moment.
• Stage for scale, not for taste. Right-sized furniture that proves a room holds a real dining table or a king bed does more than a decorator's personal style ever will.

Beautiful homes can lose buyers over nothing more than glare, clutter, and one dated bathroom. Fixing that is cheap. Cutting the price because the home showed poorly is not.

The seller costs people forget on a luxury sale

On a high-priced Oahu sale, two seller costs surprise people, and both scale with the price.

Hawaii conveyance tax

The seller generally pays Hawaii's conveyance tax, and the rate climbs steeply at the top. It also depends on whether your buyer will qualify for a county homeowner exemption, meaning whether they intend to live there. Under the Department of Taxation's current schedule, the rate applies to the whole price (it is not marginal), and the top bands look like this:

• $2M to under $4M: 0.50% if the buyer qualifies as an owner-occupant, 0.60% if not.
• $4M to under $6M: 0.70% owner-occupant, 0.85% if not.
• $6M to under $10M: 0.90% owner-occupant, 1.10% if not.
• $10M and up: 1.00% owner-occupant, 1.25% if not.

To make that concrete: on a $3M sale to a buyer who won't occupy the home, conveyance tax is $18,000. On a $6M sale to a non-occupant it's $66,000. Rates can change, so confirm the current rate with your escrow officer when you list.

HARPTA if you're an out-of-state seller

A lot of my luxury sellers live on the mainland. If you're not a Hawaii resident, HARPTA requires 7.25% of the gross sales price to be withheld at closing and sent to the state. On a $4M sale that's $290,000 held back. It isn't a tax you owe outright, it's a prepayment against your actual Hawaii tax, and in most cases you get a large chunk refunded after filing, or sooner by filing Form N-288C. Foreign sellers face a separate federal withholding, FIRPTA, at 15%. Plan for the cash-flow hit so it doesn't blindside you at closing.

Capital gains

If the home was your primary residence for at least two of the last five years, federal rules currently let you exclude up to $250,000 of gain if you're single or $500,000 if married filing jointly. Anything above that is taxable, and Hawaii taxes capital gains too. On a luxury home that's appreciated for decades, the gain often blows past the exclusion. I'm a REALTOR, not a tax professional, so run your specific numbers with a licensed CPA before you sell.

Frequently asked questions

Should I list high and come down, or price it right from the start?

Price it right from the start, especially in the slower upper brackets. The most attention any listing ever gets is in the first two or three weeks. If you're priced above where buyers see value, you burn that window, and the price cuts that follow always look like something's wrong with the house. I'd rather generate real interest at a defensible number than chase the market down.

Is it worth spending money to stage before I list?

Usually yes, but selectively. On oceanfront homes I spend the money on cleaning up sightlines, fixing salt-air wear, and professional twilight photography before I spend it on rented furniture. The goal is to get the view and the condition working for you. I'll tell you honestly what's worth doing and what isn't for your specific property.

How long should I expect a luxury home to take to sell on Oahu?

Depends entirely on price band. Around $2M to $3M is moving reasonably well. Once you're above $3M or $4M there can be over a year of inventory, so a correctly priced home might still take several months and an overpriced one can sit indefinitely. I'll show you the actual months-of-supply for your range.

I live on the mainland. How does that change things?

Mainly through HARPTA: as a non-resident seller you'll see 7.25% of the sales price withheld at closing. It's largely refundable, but you need to plan for the timing. I coordinate with escrow and your tax preparer to handle the paperwork and recover what you're owed as quickly as the state allows.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional.

Sources: List Sotheby's International Realty, Luxury Market Report Q2 2026, Hawaii Department of Taxation, Form P-64A instructions (conveyance tax rates), Hawaii Form N-288 instructions (HARPTA), IRS FIRPTA withholding, 2026 Legislature bill text

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Let's price your home against the real market

If you're thinking about selling an oceanfront or luxury home from Kahala to Portlock to Lanikai, the smartest first step is an honest read on where your property sits in today's market. I'll walk your home, look at what's selling and what's sitting, and give you a straight number with a plan to defend it. Reach out to me here, look at how I approach selling, or browse current Oahu luxury homes and oceanfront listings to see what you're up against. For every line item on the seller side, see my guide to closing costs in Hawaii.

Insurance is where a lot of Oahu escrows get real. Buyers come in focused on the price, the view, the school, and then the lender asks for proof of coverage and the questions start. Why do I need a separate policy for hurricanes? What is a flood zone and why does it change my closing? Do I have to worry about lava out here? Here is the plain version of how home insurance works in Hawaii, without the sales pitch.

Four things drive most of it: wind and hurricane, flood, the condo association picture, and lava. On Oahu, three of those four matter to almost everyone, and I will tell you which one usually does not.

Your standard homeowners policy does not cover a hurricane

This surprises people every time. In Hawaii, a standard homeowners (HO) policy generally covers ordinary wind damage, the kind you get from a strong storm or a trade-wind gust that takes down a tree. It does not cover hurricane damage. Hurricane coverage is a separate policy you buy on top of your homeowners policy.

The state's own consumer guidance spells this out. According to the state Insurance Division's hurricane insurance FAQ, most companies use a "72-hour clause": once the Central Pacific Hurricane Center issues a hurricane watch or warning, damage sustained during the 72-hour period after that watch or warning is issued is covered under the hurricane policy. The exact trigger language varies by policy. Flood damage and lesser, non-hurricane wind events are not part of the hurricane policy. That is why you can end up with three separate things: homeowners, hurricane, and flood.

Two points I make sure buyers understand before they remove their contingencies. First, a hurricane deductible is usually calculated as a percentage of your dwelling coverage, not a flat dollar amount, so on a higher-value home it can translate into a large out-of-pocket number. Read it before you sign, not after a storm. Second, premiums are priced on the construction type, the deductible you choose, and the age and condition of the home, so an older single-wall house and a newer home on the same street can quote very differently. The exact terms vary by carrier, so confirm your numbers with a licensed Hawaii agent.

If you are buying a condo, the association's coverage is half the story

When you buy a single-family home, you control the policy. When you buy a condo, your unit sits inside a building insured by the AOAO (the association of apartment owners) under a master policy, and you carry a smaller personal policy (an HO-6) for the interior and your belongings. Over the last couple of years Hawaii's condo buildings have been through a real squeeze on master insurance, especially hurricane coverage, and it has shown up as higher maintenance fees and, in some buildings, special assessments.

Part of the state's response is the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund. Created in 1993 after Hurricane Iniki, it went dormant for years and was reactivated in 2024 to help stabilize hurricane coverage for condo and townhouse associations when the private market cannot fully cover them. It sells hurricane-only excess coverage to associations whose buildings are insured for more than $10 million and that have been turned down by at least two licensed insurers. The fund only pays above the first $10 million of hurricane coverage, which the association still has to buy privately, and policies run one year at a time. It is aimed at the building, not your individual unit, but it affects your monthly fees and it is worth asking about.

If you are shopping condos, I go deeper on this in my write-up on where the condo insurance market stands now. Before you commit, get the building's current master policy and loss history through escrow.

Flood insurance is its own separate policy

Homeowners policies exclude flood. If your home needs flood coverage, it usually comes through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is a federal program. For a single-family home, NFIP building coverage tops out at $250,000 and contents coverage at $100,000; if your home is worth more than that, you cover the gap with a private excess flood policy.

Here is the part that catches buyers off guard at the closing table. If your property sits in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area and you are using a federally backed mortgage, flood insurance is generally mandatory. It is not optional and it is not something you decide later. Whether a specific address falls in that zone comes down to the FEMA flood maps, and those maps change. Oahu's updated FEMA flood maps took effect on June 10, 2026, which moved some properties in and some out. I broke down what that means in my post on Oahu's new flood maps. Coastal and low-lying areas are the ones to check most carefully, so if you are looking at properties near the water in places like Hawaii Kai or along the shore, pull the flood determination early.

Lava zones, and why they probably do not touch your Oahu purchase

Lava is a common question from buyers new to the islands. It is a fair question, and the honest answer for Oahu is reassuring: Oahu is not in a lava hazard zone at all. The USGS lava flow hazard zone map for the Island of Hawaii runs from Zone 1, the most hazardous, to Zone 9, the least. Oahu and Kauai have no designated lava zones because their volcanoes are long dormant.

So where does it matter? If you are also looking at the Big Island, the zone is a real factor in both risk and insurability. Zone 1 covers the summits and rift zones of Kilauea and Mauna Loa; Zone 2 is the adjacent downslope area, parts of which have been covered by lava within the last couple of centuries. Higher-numbered zones are far safer, such as Kohala, where the last eruption was tens of thousands of years ago. Lenders and insurers pay attention to the zone, so a Puna property in Zone 1 or 2 is a very different insurance conversation than a home in Kona. On Oahu, you can set this one aside.

What I tell buyers to do before they lift contingencies

The mistake I see is treating insurance as a formality you handle right before closing. In Hawaii it can change your monthly cost and, occasionally, whether the deal pencils at all. A few habits keep clients out of trouble:

• Get real quotes during your inspection period, not estimates. Ask for homeowners, hurricane, and flood as separate line items so you see the full picture.
• Read the hurricane deductible and calculate the actual dollar figure on your home's value.
• For condos, request the AOAO master policy and recent loss runs through escrow, and ask whether the building has taken or is facing a special assessment.
• Order the flood determination early. If the address is in a Special Flood Hazard Area and you are financing, budget for the premium from day one.
• Loop in a licensed local insurance agent. Hawaii's market has carriers and quirks that a mainland agent may not know.

Frequently asked questions

Do I really need a separate hurricane policy in Hawaii?

In most cases, yes. Your standard homeowners policy here covers ordinary wind but generally not hurricane damage, so hurricane coverage is a separate policy on top. If you are financing, your lender will usually require it. Confirm the specifics with your agent, because the trigger language and deductible vary by carrier.

How is a hurricane deductible calculated?

It is typically a percentage of your dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount. That means on a pricier home the deductible can be a large number, so I always have buyers run the actual figure before they get comfortable with a quote.

Is flood insurance required on Oahu?

Only if your property is in a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area and you have a federally backed mortgage. Then it is generally mandatory. If your home is not in that zone, it is optional, though plenty of owners near the coast or in low-lying areas carry it anyway. The FEMA flood map for the exact address is what decides it.

Do I need to worry about lava zones if I buy on Oahu?

No. Oahu is not in any lava hazard zone. The USGS lava zones only cover the Island of Hawaii and Maui. Lava zone only becomes part of the conversation if you are buying on the Big Island or in certain parts of Maui.

Why did my condo's fees jump because of insurance?

Hawaii condo buildings have faced steep increases and, in some cases, gaps in master insurance, especially hurricane coverage. When a building's master policy gets more expensive or an insurer pulls out, the association passes that through as higher fees or a special assessment. Always review the building's insurance and budget before you buy.

How much coverage does NFIP flood insurance provide?

For a single-family home, NFIP caps out at $250,000 for the building and $100,000 for contents. If your home is worth more, you fill the gap with a private excess flood policy. Your agent can price that alongside the base NFIP policy.

This is general information from a licensed Hawaii REALTOR, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Rules and figures change, so confirm anything that affects your decision with the right licensed professional.

Sources: Hawaii Insurance Division hurricane insurance FAQ, Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (DCCA Insurance Division), FEMA FloodSmart, NFIP coverage limits, City and County of Honolulu, FIRMs effective June 10, 2026, USGS lava flow hazard zones, Hawaii Insurance Division, Frequently Asked Questions on Hurricane Insurance, FEMA FloodSmart (NFIP coverage limits), USGS lava flow hazard zone maps

Photo credits: Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped); Thomas Tunsch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).

Tony Kawaguchi, REALTOR, license RS-66616, The Kawaguchi Group, eXp Realty (RB-21841). 20+ years and $1B+ in Oahu sales, leading a team of 20+ agents.

Get the insurance picture before you fall in love with the house

I would rather have this conversation early than watch a deal wobble two days before closing over an insurance number nobody checked. If you are buying or selling on Oahu and want a straight read on what a specific property will cost to insure, reach out to me here. You can also search current Oahu listings and send me anything you want a closer look at.