If you are considering Airbnb or VRBO, read this first before booking. Hawaii vacation rental squeeze.
37 thoughts on “Hawaii Vacation Rental Squeeze As Crackdowns Occur Statewide”
Comments are closed.
If you are considering Airbnb or VRBO, read this first before booking. Hawaii vacation rental squeeze.
Comments are closed.
I completely agree with what the state of Hawaii is trying to accomplish. They are just trying to put things into places they are supposed to be. That should make life easier for everyone.
If a person owns a property, they should be able to do what they like with it, include make money, without government interference. Shameful the government is always trying to get their hands into our pockets.
Will not supply and demand considerations now increase prices for Hawaiian vacations?
What might those that receive significant income (which Hawaii doesn’t mind taxing) from participating in home-based tourism now do? Check the vaccination status of visitors at the airports?
It might be more merciful for Hawaii to just euthanize its tourism industry, turn off the lights, and put its people to work in a state sponsored Great Depression style Works Program.
Info about Honolulu is incorrect… there is a bill No. 41 proposed to limit
certain areas to short term rental and all other areas to min 180 days rental
period… the bill has its first of FOUR readings and the second reading will
be in January… allowing time for review and input…
Of course such govt action will have unintended consequences with higher hotel rates (along with higher hotel taxes) and lower transient rental income.
Dropping tourism to only the rich… ecofriendly ???
I believe the Bill 41 referred to is Bill 41 from the 2019 Legislature. This would be the bill, among other things, provided for 6 enforcement personnel to take care of the illegal rentals. Never hired a single enforcement person. Illegal rentals would not now be a problem if the State had hired the authorized enforcement personnel. The legal rentals with GET and TAT licenses pay taxes too.
You didn’t mention Hawaii Island, but the STVR system has worked well here. Please note that our STVR (vacay rental)has been listed for three years on AirBnB. It is a full rental condo, and our experience has been nothing like what you mentioned in the NYC example. Also, it’s easy to check the past comments, overall points rating and owner history before booking. Booking through a management company will Always result in higher costs than booking with a direct owner.
When you rent a hotel room or any densely populated accommodations such as a condo or town homes, you do not get to choose your neighbors. Increasingly, my experience is that 25% of your nearby neighbors just do not know how to behave. My strategy for hotels is that you should only book at the 3-star level and bring ear plugs. For VROB or Airbnb always rent accommodations that are completely separate unless the owners reside on the property.
Thank you for great content!
Hi Hough.
Thanks for your comments and for those nice words.
Aloha.
I am unsure about what constitutes an illegal short-term rental. I am planning on moving back to Hawaii after many years, with my new partner, and we are planning on renting while looking for a home or condo to buy. Would it be necessary for us to sign a one-month lease, or a six-month one? Could we arrange a long-term stay in a hotel? I’m not clear on what the legal ramifications are.
Any stay over 29 days is considered a long-term rental. That would open you up to more available inventory if your search and closing takes that long. You didn’t indicate which island, but there are legal STVR (vacay rentals)available on all islands. Your hotel idea would be pretty pricey by comparison.
I own a condo on Oahu. Legally, I can get around this by renting for 30 days or more. If they only want to stay for two weeks, they still have to pay me for the month. My rate is still cheaper than a hotel. The catch is on my end. To be legal, I can’t rent to anyone else until the 30 day period is up. Other than that, no problems. I would still have to collect the TAT tax, just like everyone else.
I haven’t done this because Covid made travel here not worth it. But in the future, I can.
Help me out here, what constitutes an “illegal rental”?
If a condo on Maui is located in a “Apt zone” then STR’s are a permitted use. A legal rental advertised on Airbnb or other sites must include their Tax ID #. An illegal rental would be a “residential zone” where rentals are not a permitted use. Legally the owner needs to apply for a conditional use permit which would be rejected due to recent caps by the County Council.
Currently the Planning Committee is drafting a bill (PLSU 34) to reduce the # of rentals in Maui by 3,000.
On Maui, a rental located in a “residential zone” is not a permitted use and would require a conditional permit which would be rejected due to a recent cap on permits. Any legal rental listing is required to include the Tax ID #. STVR’s located in an “Apt zone” are a permitted use, but that’s changing.
The Maui Planning Committee is drafting a bill (PSLU-34) to eliminate 3,000 rentals by 1/1/22. The stated goal by the chair person is to reduce the number of tourists.
Thank you Galen
Aloha. “ The stated goal by the chair person is to reduce the number of tourists.” Uh-huh. One of the bylines on this article is trumpeting $62 airfares. That is so cheap it will not even cover the fuel cost per airline seat one way. This seems to be a game of blame someone else for overcrowding, because apparently nobody is responsible…
Mahalo
Again Hawaii is shooting itself in the foot. I am a travel nurse. Most of the time our contracts are 13 weeks long. Hawaii does not pay it’s travel nurses as well as the mainland because it’s considered a desirable contract. That being said, we still have to live on the pay while being thousands of miles away from home AND still paying a mortgage, taxes and utilities. If Hawaii continues to restrict and tax the heck out of us we will just not come.
I am responding to your post since I am a recently retired ER Hawaii RN.Hawaii has depended on outside nurses for too long ,and has neglected to train new graduate RN’s. Maybe this housing situation. will force Hawaii to train Hawaii nurses into specialty units and not depend on outside help.
Not only nurses come to Hawaii on rotation. Doctors, physical therapists, speech therapists, and other medical specialists often do rotations to the islands and that enriches the medical care available to all of us, but especially those of us who live on the outer islands. I hope the new “rental regulations” on all the islands take into account that some short-term rentals are necessary and legitimately needed.