We have received a number of inquiries this week for a new land listing on Maui. At first glance, it is hard not to be excited about this listing. Three plus acres across the street from the ocean for $50,000 seems like a phenomenal deal. The catch is in the percentage ownership. If you look at the listing, you will see that the seller is only offering 25% ownership. A little more digging on our part revealed that there may be some title issues that would likely prohibit title insurance. This means no conventional financing. The percent ownership and seclusion of the lot makes construction difficult. The reality is that building lots on Maui start in the $350,000 range and go up. There are a few exceptions under $300,000 and they are limited. These limited lots tend to be smaller or “off the grid. “If you go off Maui and go to the neighboring island of Molokai, you may find building lots in the $100,000+ range.
We realize percent ownership listings can cause a bit of confusion. When searching the Maui real estate listings on our site be mindful of the percent ownership value in the search results. We have made a suggestion to our local board of Realtors to create a separate search category for percent ownership properties. They recognize the issue and are trying to make an improvement while juggling the logistics of creating new search categories.
Feel free to contact us if you ever have questions on properties that appear to be too good to be true or any other property for that matter.