Insurance

Both as a home owner, and as a tenant, you will want to make sure you are properly insured. As we see with the recent hurricanes sweeping our nation, you never know when you will need that insurance to kick in. 

Home Owners:
Some home owners think they are covered by their association/building's general overall policy. This is not always the case. If your property is a rental - you should always have your own policy. 

Usually, the main building policy will have a high deductible and will not always cover liability, etc. Check with your insurance provider and be sure that you are covered. 

As a professional Property Management company, we always require that our clients have their insurance providers add us as Additional Insured under their policy. This is standard business practice - if your current company is not requiring this, you may want to reconsider if they are a qualified, professional company. 

The reason we need to be added, is that as your representative, if anyone were to go after your insurance for a claim, they will not only go after you, but also the building, association, and us. Since we are representing you, we require this layer of protection. 

Tenants: 
For around $100 a year, you can get covered through renter's insurance. Renter's insurance can cover things such as your property if there is a break in; cost to replace food in your fridge if the refrigerator goes out; the cost of repairs to the unit if you are responsible for accidentally setting a house fire. Check with your current insurance agent whom you use for your car insurance, etc - they will usually give you a discount for adding on another policy. 

Amanda Frazier, R, RMP (RB-21435)

Cornerstone Properties

Property Manager and Chief Operating Officer 

The Current Market

For over a year now, many rental proeprties on Oahu have had to lower rental prices in order to get renters. Our market is directly affected by the military presence here - more soldiers and their families have been moved off island than have come in. In addition, new batches of housing have become available on base for those families that are here - which has significantly decreased not only the demand in the rental market but also the money available from renters.

Keeping a higher price means your property will most likely sit vacant longer. In the past when demand was higher than supply, we would get multiple applications for one property, and properties would rent in one to two weeks.

Today, when we show a property, we get feedback that the potential tenant is looking at 5-10 other units that same day/week, and we have seen many rentals sit for several months empty. It's rare to receive applications these days, and we are not the only company seeing this. This is being seen across the island for all types of properties and from all property management companies.

Having a nice unit in a good location will not be enough to get a good renter these days. Price is one of the biggest factors because of the large amount of inventory. Keep this in mind when pricing your rental unit in today's market. 

Amanda Frazier, R, RMP (RB-21435)

Cornerstone Properties

Property Manager and Chief Operating Officer