Every January, Oahu landlords face the same question: what’s coming this year, and how do I position my property for it? But 2026 isn’t a typical year. We’re entering what many industry observers are calling the “Era of Regulation” — a period where the most consequential changes aren’t coming from market forces but from the…

You bought a condo in Kakaako during a vacation. Or you were stationed at Pearl Harbor, got PCS orders to Virginia, and decided to keep your Ewa Beach home as a rental. Maybe you inherited a family property in Kalihi and aren’t ready to sell. Whatever brought you here, you’re now a mainland-based owner of…

If you own rental property on Oahu, November is the month to have a serious conversation with your tax advisor. The window between now and December 31 represents your last opportunity to make strategic moves that reduce your 2025 tax liability — and with major federal tax law changes taking effect this year, the stakes…

On October 16, 2025, Honolulu’s Skyline rail opened its second segment to the public, extending service from Aloha Stadium through Pearl Harbor, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, and into the Middle Street Transit Center in Kalihi. Within days, ridership tripled — jumping from roughly 4,000 daily riders to over 11,000. By the end of the…

There was a time when “smart home” meant a novelty — a talking speaker on the kitchen counter or a thermostat you could control from your phone while sitting on the couch. That era is over. In 2025, smart home features have crossed from luxury to expectation, and for Oahu rental property owners, they’ve become…

August in Honolulu means the highest temperatures of the year, humidity levels that can push past 80%, and the peak of Central Pacific hurricane season. It’s the month when every Oahu landlord should be thinking seriously about the three forces that do more cumulative damage to island rental properties than any tenant ever could: mold,…

Nobody gets into rental property ownership hoping they’ll need to evict a tenant. But across a long enough investment timeline, most Oahu landlords will face a situation where a tenant stops paying rent, violates the lease, or creates conditions that make the tenancy unsustainable. When that happens, knowing exactly how Hawaii’s eviction process works —…

If you own a rental condo on Oahu right now, you’ve almost certainly felt the sting. Maybe it arrived as a letter from your AOAO announcing a 200% jump in the building’s master insurance premium. Maybe it was a special assessment you didn’t see coming — $5,000, $10,000, or more — to cover the gap.…

Here’s a truth that catches many new Oahu landlords off guard: Hawaii doesn’t have a traditional sales tax. What it does have is a web of tax obligations that apply to every dollar of rental income you collect — and the penalties for getting it wrong can erase months of rental profit in a single…