Help! I'm Torn Between House & Condo Living in Hawaii!

I feel like we all want a house. Everybody wants a house. It's the American dream, right? We want to own our four walls. We want to have authority over our own place and have a say. We want to have a yard. But then sometimes when it comes to the maintenance or even the budget, having a single family home really isn't in the cards. And then we have to look elsewhere or not do it at all. So today we're talking about 10 things you need to know about buying a townhome. If you're new here, I'm Myla Gibson-Bandman with Dwell Hawaii along with my partner Koa Cassidy and Yasu behind the camera. We're real estate agents here in Hawaii. And if there's anything we can do for you by way of real estate here on Oahu, if you're looking to buy or sell, please get in touch with us through the links in the description box. We also love to hear from you. We'd love to engage with you in the comment section, although we don't always see the comments. And that's why we ask that you go ahead and email us if you want to learn more about what we're sharing with you today or about anything on this channel. Info at DwellHawaii.com. We're at Pohakea Point. This is in a neighborhood called Lili Puna in Kaneohe. This neighborhood boasts beautiful views of the Ko'olaus as well as Kaneohe Bay. These townhouses are pretty awesome. They're over a thousand square feet. You've got two and three bedrooms in this entire community. They sell around in about under a month. So there's nine on the market currently. A mixture of two bedrooms and three bedrooms in different condition. This one's in excellent condition, so the likelihood of it being gone by the time you see this video is pretty high. But we want to show it to you anyway because this is an area that military service members also like being close to the Marine Corps base. So you might see some more activity in here with people moving in and out every three years. So let's go take a look at the unit. Welcome to Pohakea Point. We're in Kaneohe and oh my gosh the view is so amazing. But we'll show you that in a little bit. Let me tell you a little bit about this unit. This is three bedrooms. It's over a thousand square feet and it's currently listed at $915,000 by our friend Walton Young with Sunrise Properties. The reason I picked this one to show today is because it's single level. So that's one of the things that I find a lot of our buyers are after, especially in this price point. We get a lot of like right sizers. We get a lot of first-time homebuyers in this $900,000 and below or a million and below price point. And single level three bedrooms is very appealing to most buyers. Here's bedroom number one. Wally was in the unit and so he just left. He didn't want to be on camera. So if you hear anything, that's Wally. Anyway, we've got three bedrooms here. We've got split ACs, which is awesome. This unit was built in 1990 and then we've got our primary suite here. Okay. Let me go into the first point that you need to know about owning a town home. Of course, price is going to be a consideration. I looked at homes in Kaneohe today to see what types of single family home inventory might compare to this. And there's really not much. There's actually one home on the market right now. That's quoted to be an excellent condition around this same size and it's priced right at about a million dollars. Now with that, you get about a 5,000 square foot lot. So imagine a thousand square foot home. It's relatively small here. You've got a little over a thousand square feet for 915,000. So that's point number one already. You're going to pay less than you would pay in a single family home in comparison to the square footage. Oh my gosh. This view. I could sit out here all day. You've got the Koolau mountains. You've got Kaneohe Bay. It's amazing. By the way, I know somebody's already typing it. Yeah. The price is less than a house, but you didn't mention the maintenance fees. We will get there. Don't worry. Maintenance fees are certainly a consideration when buying a town house. However, I've been striking out lately with a lot of buyers that have been wanting things like a view. We want to see the mountains, but we want a single family home and we want it to be single level and we're just not finding it right now. So I'm trying to encourage them to look towards a condo or a townhouse like this instead. Single level, very uncommon. So we've got a single level unit here, but there is a flight of stairs to come down to get to the front door. So know that in a lot of townhouses, you're going to see more split level just because they're, of course, trying to cram in as many units as they possibly can into a smaller project. This unit, however, is single level in the living, but like I said, you've got to come down a flight of stairs. The third point, what was my third point? Oh, options. So with townhouses and condos, you're going to find that you have options. You've got two bedrooms in this community. You've also got three bedrooms. Not every single unit has this type of expansive view and prices will be reflected as you look to different floor plans. Now we've made our way to Lanikai in Kailua. This unit that we're about to see is at a place called Bluestone. Bluestone sits on the mid-pack country club golf course. Some of the units give you mountain views. Of course, you've got golf course views. I don't know that there's really any that give you ocean views, but nevertheless, you've got elevation here, which is kind of rare in Kailua. And I'll also give you three more things to know about owning a townhouse. So number four, safety. This community is gated. The last one we went to in Kaneohe wasn't gated, but it has its own like private entrance, which already serves to be like a deterrent for anybody to just drive in and park along the curbs. There's rules about that. You can't just park anywhere that you want. So typically for people that we work with that are looking for a second home, and usually they're looking in places like Kaneohe and Kailua, Kailua being the most popular for a second home, safety becomes a concern, especially in the price ranges of like two and a half million dollars and below. Now, if you're going like four million dollars and up, those homes are going to be, you know, gated and they're going to be built already and in communities where safety is of highest concern. But when you get in like the two million dollar range and below, you know, safety might be a little bit more of a concern. Locking and leaving your home for half the year could feel a little bit uncomfortable. So looking at a townhouse is going to be a great option for you. And something like this could be that. Number five, pools and recreation. We get a lot of people that want to own a house here in Kailua and then they'll ask us, how much do you think it'll cost to put in a pool and can we put in a pool? Count on a swimming pool starting at two hundred thousand dollars and that's really just like base price. But here at Bluestone, you've got tennis courts, you've got a pool, I think you've got a jacuzzi over there, you've got a barbecue area, you've got a clubhouse. So those are things that you get with your maintenance fees, which we're going to talk about in a little bit. And then speaking of maintenance, repairs are going to be built into those fees, right? You don't have to worry about exterior paint, you don't have to worry about replacing the roof, you know, landscaping, security, staff, those things are covered in your maintenance fees. So just another, you know, benefit to owning a townhome and another thing to know. That's enough talking for now. Let's go inside and see the unit. Welcome to Bluestone. This unit is 411 Ka'elepulu Place, drive unit E, listed by our friend Gregory Stutt with American Dream Realty. And we're going to just check this out. So very nicely renovated. This project was built in the 70s, the late 70s. This unit is over 2,000 square feet, including the lanai, which we'll walk out to in a moment. HOA fee here is under $1,800 a month. We like to see HOA fees at a dollar or less. And then so this unit pretty much boasts that. Lives like a house. So in Kailua, if you're looking to buy a home that is the same square footage, you should expect to be paying like one and a half million. And that's on like the inland side of Kailua, one and a half million or more. We've got clients right now striking out in the two and a half million dollar range for something that's in walking distance to the beach, on a larger flat lot, something where they can put a pool in. Those homes are so incredibly competitive. A lot of the time it's family homes where somebody has passed away and the kids are managing the sale of the property. There's a lot of emotions involved. And then it just like, I swear, like all the buyers looking in Kailua all want that same house. And so we've got buyers that have been competing against those same buyers. And so something like this could really be an alternative to something like that. You do have walking distance to the beach is just down the hill. You've got the views outside here of the mountains and the golf course, and you've got the Lanikai Pillbox hike right around the corner. Let's check out the outside. Wow. This lanai is pretty big. Like you could sleep out here if you wanted to, because the weather up here is typically very temperate. It's hot today though. That's why I'm wearing a white flowy dress. I just couldn't put anything else on. I don't know. Anyway, this property is listed right around $1.3 million. So again, in comparison to what you would get, same size for a single family home with views, this could be a deal. This is pretty cool. Let's check out the bedroom first. Wow. So you've got an en suite on this side here, full bathroom in here. This has Airbnb vibes. And we'll talk about that in a moment, but I want to look around first. Love this. I guess you would call this a study, not necessarily an office. Got a Murphy bed here. So you can tell that they've maximized the square footage in this home so that a lot of people can stay here at once and really enjoy it. And then we've got another en suite. This would be the primary. And we've got a copper tub. Don't want to make that too hot. You might boil in there, but no, very cool. Very nicely appointed and renovated. Wow. And the view. Now on the Airbnb subject, Bluestone, you can only rent at a minimum of 90 days. Right now, the law says 30, but they are moving to change that to 90 for the entire island of Oahu. Kaka'ako is six months. So Bluestone operates a little bit like that where they're their own association and they set their own rules. So while the city and county of Oahu or city and county of Honolulu is saying you can do minimum of 30 days, Bluestone says you can do a minimum of 90. Finally, we're in Hawai'i Kai and we're at a place called Mawa'ena Kai. Now, quick trivia for you. I was actually in escrow on this very unit back in 2021. Quite frankly, my husband and I just chickened out. But one of the reasons why we chickened out was because of our dogs. Now, all three units we're showing you today are pet friendly and typically townhomes are going to be pet friendly. Some condos, high rises, are going to disallow pets and they're going to have stricter guidelines. But with a townhome, usually we'll see in the condo docs that it'll say pets in a reasonable number, whatever that means. Sometimes it'll say like only two pets. The weight restrictions aren't often as stringent as what you'll find in condos in Kaka'ako. Although condos in Kaka'ako have lifted those restrictions quite a bit and now you can have dogs like up to 80 pounds in some places. But here we were just a little bit afraid that our dogs were going to be too noisy because there is a unit above you in this unit and then there's not really like a gated area for pets here. So that was our reasoning, but we think about this unit all the time and I'm excited that we get to show it to you today. This is listed by a good friend, agent named Jessica White with Quran V Realty. Let's take a look. Welcome to 7007 Hawaii Kai Drive, unit L14. This is three bedrooms, two baths. What I really liked about this unit back in the day was that it was, it's kind of single level. I mean you've got these two steps down into the living room and then those same steps exist in the primary suite. Love the view. So that's another great point to make about townhomes or another thing to know. I don't know. Sorry. Views. So we get a lot of people who have views as one of their must-haves and it's really hard to find a house with views of either the ocean or mountains in that one and a half million dollar, two and a half million dollar range. And if you do find it, again it's going to be competitive. But with townhomes being that there's so much more available and you know so many of them built on one piece of land, here you're going to get a view of the marina. And even across from us is a community called Peninsula. Reference our other video of Colony at the Peninsula. But those also offer views of the water. So with a townhouse or a condo, the chances of you getting something with a view are much higher than a single family home. Bedroom two. You have a lanai out here so that's kind of nice, nice option. And then this is the other bedroom and this is the access to the lanai. So I like this. I love these units so much. And then of course the kitchen. When you're washing dishes, you can look out at the water, see the boats going by, the ducks. And then you've got your primary suite on this side. So this one kind of lives like a single family home. I don't know, maybe not so much as some of the bigger more expansive spaces you'll find in townhomes. But mostly what I love about this is just the location of it and being able to be on the water. If you were to buy a house around this same size, this is about 1,200 square feet, a house on the water in Hawai'i Kai is going to be two and a half hundred dollars. So this is listed at 1.1 million. Back when we were in escrow on it, it was 950. That was in 2021. So you can also see, and I'll just throw in a little bonus here, things to know about townhouses. Capital appreciation is going to be a little bit more conservative than a single family home. We ended up buying a house instead of this. And our house appreciated 20% within the first six months. Of course, the market was crazy back then. But, you know, big difference in how much it's appreciated here. Another side note about this particular unit, it is VA assumable. So you've got a 2.75% interest rate on this from 2021. The seller has about an $875,000 balance. So of course, you'd have to come up with the gap between $875,000 and $1.1 million. You do have to be a veteran with a VA entitlement. Every now and then you'll find somebody that's willing to let you assume their mortgage, even if you're not a veteran. But most times just know that that's, it's really not going to happen. Most veterans want to retain their entitlement. Okay. Number nine, I think, I don't know if I have 10 points, but something like that, you know where I'm going with all of this. Pests. So one of the things that we discovered when we moved into our house and mind you, I, my, the first place I bought was a townhome. The second place we bought was a condo. And then we went straight into a house and we were going to buy this. So we went into the house and like the second day we found huge roaches. And then like the third day there was a centipede. I mean, my gosh, it couldn't be worse than that. And my husband lost his mind. So the one thing that you'll get when you live in a condo or a townhome or that you won't get is as many pests or at least the crazy big ones. Like you might get little roaches in your condo, but your association is typically going to like send in Terminix or whoever they've got like a monthly treatment plan. So know that that's actually an advantage for living in a townhome, right? Because in your maintenance fee, you have pest treatment. Finally, number 10, the grand finale, let's talk about maintenance fees. I could probably do a whole video on this, but they have certainly gotten a bad rap. They've always had a bad rap, but especially this year with insurance costs that have gone up so significantly. Do maintenance fees ever come down? Pretty much no. Although there are a couple of projects right now that are touting that their maintenance fees are coming down by like $200 a month because they overcompensated for the insurance costs. Does anybody really like that bill when it comes? No, but, and I'm only saying this because I have my husband as a reference. Of course, like I'm a real estate agent and you could easily say like, you're a SCSI realtor. Of course, you're going to tell us there's nothing wrong with maintenance fees. I'm not saying that there's nothing wrong with them, but if I could just shed a little bit more light on them, why they're in place and how they could work for you. That's really the point of talking about them. A lot of people buy condos and town homes. Usually we do them in seasons of our lives. So like for us, we bought our first town home when we were newly married. Then we bought the condo when we wanted to move into town and live that lifestyle. And I gotta say like that condo life was some of the best days of our lives. And now we're in a house and we made our dreams come true. We've got the yard, we've got the three dogs, but we've also got the roof that we had to put on the weekend we moved in. We had to put gutters because there weren't any gutters. I've said this in other videos, I know. We installed a yard. We didn't have a yard prior to that. We painted last year and that was like another $15,000. And these are costs that surprise you and they're costs that you typically don't budget for. With a maintenance fee, it's something that you can budget for every month. Now when they increase, it's not a happy thing. Do they ever go away? No, they don't. But maintenance fees don't go away on a house either. As real estate agents, Koa and I really pride ourselves on making sure that we look through your condo docs with you. We can't necessarily say or we're not supposed to interpret them for you. That's really up to you. Our contract also advises you to hire an attorney if you feel that's what's best for you. But know that we're going to be there with you reviewing the maintenance fees, looking at the reserves. We're especially going to be looking for capital projects to see when is that roof going to be replaced? What is their termite tenting schedule? Are they going to be striping the parking lot anytime soon? Is there a plumbing retrofit coming? So there's a lot of really old condos here on Oahu. Townhouses in Hawaii tend to be much older. This one here was built in 1988. So this one's relatively new. We really care about making sure that we look out for the best options for what you're looking for. But more importantly, we don't want you to feel that maintenance fees or condos or townhomes have such a huge stigma that you're never going to buy anything at all. Really what it all boils down to is your peace of mind. And so if owning a townhouse checks all the boxes, gives you the views, gives you the amenities that you're looking for, gives you the safety and the peace of mind, then we're here to help you open your mind up to what's right for you. Once again, I'm Myla Gibson-Bandman along with my partner Kola Cassidy with Dwell Hawaii. Shoot us an email at info at dwellhawaii.com. Subscribe if you haven't done so. We've got a ton of videos and we're going to be doing a lot more. We're on a schedule of doing one video a week. And thanks for watching.