Maui is almost filled to capacity with visitors over the Christmas holiday. Many of these visitors are staying in condominiums that are classified as condotels. Condotels are basically condominiums with front desks in place to help accommodate vacation rentals. Invariably, the lure of Maui leads a number of our visitors to inquire about purchasing a unit at one of these condotels. If you are on island for anywhere between a week and a couple of months a year, it is nice to be able to rent the condo when you are gone to help defray expenses.

In the age of low down payments and 100% financing, prospective buyer’s should be aware of the financing rules associated with condotels.

• Mainland lenders often have trouble with condotel loans. Many mainland lenders will not lend on condos with anything less than a 60 or 70% occupancy rate. Those that do provide loans will often do so at a much higher interest rates.
• Lenders familiar with the Hawaii market often have loan packages designed for condotels. In general, they require a minimum of 20% down. Interest rates tend to be a little bit higher than what you would expect with a second home loan.
• It is worth noting, that condotels will provide income, but they are seldom cash flow positive ventures unless a buyer has a down payment of 50% or greater.

Check out our blog post on Purchasing Maui Vacation Rental Properties for a more in depth discussion of condotels and condotel ownership.