If you’re on Maui, don’t worry – you have good real estate deals in your own backyard. You don’t have to live on Oahu to start picking up good flip properties or cash flow rental units in Hawaii. Want a rehab job in Kihei or Kahului or a fixer upper along The Road to Hana? Some cash flow rental condos in Lahaina or Wailuku? There are deals to be had on all islands statewide, even though most of the press and news is focused on Oahu. So Valley Isle residents, this is for you.
One of the keys to successful real estate investing in Hawaii (and anywhere else) is proper & diligent networking. It’s extraordinarily difficult to be a one-man (or woman) show. You really want to network with others and leverage those relationships. That means buying properties from wholesalers whose marketing turns up properties you wouldn’t otherwise find, acting as the wholesaler yourself for other buyers, private lending for other investors’ deals to earn a high rate of return on your money, going in on joint venture deals or any other scenario where you work together with other like-minded folks to create wealth in real estate right here in Hawaii.
So how do you build these relationships? Well, you could call up any people that post “We Buy Houses” bandit signs and get on each others’ buyers lists, you could reach out to folks on Craigslist who seem to be active or you could just tell everyone you know that you are now actively searching for good deals or other local real estate investors.
However, I also suggest you check out the Real Deals group this Thursday evening in Wailuku. Real Deals is an investment group that meets monthly in Honolulu and shares knowledge and actual deals with other investors (disclosure: I’m currently working on two deals with the Oahu group right now). The Maui “branch” is relatively new, so you should definitely attend and meet some others that can help grow your real estate business! Remember, strength in numbers. You’re likely to pick up marketing tips, ideas on creative financing and opportunities to purchase actual deals on Maui itself in addition to the aforementioned networking (hint: bring business cards and a notebook). Here are the details:
When: Every 3rd Thursday of the month
Next Meeting: April 21, 2011
Time: 7-9pm
Where: J. Walter Cameron Center, 95 Mahalani St, Wailuku, HI 96793
If you go, be sure to tell them you read about it right here on HawaiiHousingNews.com!