Buyer Rebates

Man holding keys after working with us for property management in Hawaii

Leading Property Management Services in Hawaii

Jeffrey Samuels Real Estate Services is the largest property management company of individual single-family homes and condos throughout Hawaii. We currently manage hundreds of homes and condos for clients worldwide. The cost of our full service property management is 10% of the gross monthly rent. Our price is very competitive to the standard industry price for this type of management. Unlike many of our competitors we don’t charge set up/start up fees, leasing fees or fees during a vacancy.

We provide the highest quality property management service at one of the best rates in town. As a testament to our quality service, we continue to grow every year through referrals from our satisfied clients.

Our full service management is a comprehensive service, starting from the leasing and screening of tenants to financial record keeping and bill paying. We make owning your property simple and only require you to read your monthly statement and receive your monthly check.

Don’t live on Oahu? Call 808-221-0557 or email us how we can make arrangements to view your property.

After visiting your property, we will call or Email you within 24 hours (or next business day) with our suggestions, rental quotes and to answer any questions you may have.

Services

Advertising

We create an extensive web presence for your rental property by placing your property on over 100 rental websites including the most trafficked property management site in Honolulu. Beyond web traffic, we also use property signage and the Jeffrey Samuels referral base. Jeffrey Samuels Management is known locally as the market leader and many renters look to us first. Jeffrey Samuels Property Management marketing program, combined with our dominant position in the property management marketplace increases exposure for your rental property. As a result, we are able to consistently rent properties, priced at current market rates, to qualified tenants in less than 30 days.

Management

Your property will be assigned a management team that specializes in your property’s area. Having a manager with specific market knowledge is extremely valuable in assessing rents and knowing local Hawaii market trends. Your assigned management team will offer suggestions to make your property rent-ready, or to enhance the appeal of your property. If your property is not currently in rent ready condition, your management team can help you with this process to ease the transition into management. Our managers have years of industry specific experience and have a wide array of procedures to shield owners from unnecessary liability and help tenants feel they are being well looked after.

Tenant Screening

We only place the best possible tenants in your property. Our thorough screening process for rental applicants has consistently kept our eviction rate very low. Jeffrey Samuels Property Management also provides our owners with the optional “Eviction Protection Program” for further piece of mind. Prospective tenant screening includes running industry-specific credit reports, verifying employment, income and previous rental history. We run credit reports on all applicants age 18 years or older. This report includes a search for prior evictions. We verify driver’s licenses, social security cards and pay stubs as well as contact their prior landlords for confirmation that they have been good tenants in the past. As a Hawaii property management company, we have many procedures to eliminate problem tenants prior to ever renting to them. Placing the right tenant is the single most important step in the process.

Maintenance

Jeffrey Samuels Management is very flexible with regards to maintenance. We outsource much of your property’s maintenance needs to a preferred list of vendors, some of which we have been using for over fifteen years. This relationship and purchasing power helps our clients get a better than market price for most of the work that is requested.

Accounting

Our accounting department provides owners with monthly financial statements confidentially posted to your owner web portal. The monthly statement includes all financial activity and copies of the bills we paid on your behalf. This same report also has year to date information, so your December statement has all of your annual figures for tax purposes. If you ever have questions regarding your statement, you can contact one of our helpful accounting staff members.


Owners Services

  • Advertising on more than 100 rental websites
  • Showings 7 day a week by appointment
  • Rental Agreement Execution and Enforcement
  • Rent and Security Deposit Collection
  • Maintenance & Rent Ready Repairs
  • Financial Record-Keeping & Bill Paying
  • Serving Legal Notices & Legal Proceedings
  • Move-In and Move-Out Reports
  • Monthly Owner’s Statements
  • Professional “For Lease” Signage
  • Tenant Screening
  • HOA Rules and Regulation Enforcement
  • Landlord/Tenant Interaction
  • Maintenance Supervision
  • Inspection as necessary or by request
  • Legal Updates

Owners FAQ’s

Development on the beach that is eligible for home buyer rebate in Honolulu, Hawaii

Looking for a property manager and a property management company in Honolulu Hawaii? This FAQ section is designed to help you decide if our property management company is right for you. After all, you need a property manager who takes good care of your interests but different property managers have different property management styles. We believe that there should be a good fit between you, your property manager and your property management company. After all, every property manager is not right for you and you are not right for every property manager!

Provided below are answers to some common questions about our Property Management services in Honolulu Hawaii. Click on any line to see the answer for that question or just scroll down the page. Our goal on this page is to provide a clear picture of what you can expect if you hire us as your property management company. Let our professional property manager take care of your needs.

What type of rental properties do you manage?

We specialize in single family homes, condos, town homes and apartments in and around the Honolulu Hawaii area. 

What areas do you handle?

Our Property Management service area is the island of Oahu, Honolulu County. Most of our rental inventory is in the Waikiki, Diamond Head, Kahala, Kailua and Hawaii Kai areas.

What Property Management experience and credentials do you offer?

Jeffrey Samuels offers you the level of experience and expertise you should seek from any property management company you hire. See the About Us page, if you haven’t already, for a complete introduction to our property manager and professional team.

Why should I hire you as my Property Management Company? 

You should hire us only if you think we are the best match for your property management needs. Frankly, we are not a perfect fit for every property owner and it would be arrogant and wrong for us to simply proclaim "we are the best, hire us!" We may be the best property manager for some owners and properties but not for others. That is why this FAQ page exists so that you can learn about us and the guiding principles the property manager will employ in the management of your property.

Turning over your rental property to the care of an unknown property manager can be an emotional and frightening experience. Talk to other property managers before hiring one, and ask questions. You want to be able to trust your property manager so that you won’t be worrying about your home. The more research and information you gather, the better you will feel about your final decision. Of course, we’d love the chance to earn your trust and manage your property, so please read on.

How much will my house rent for? 

We are asked this question more than any other by new owner prospects. Of course it depends on a lot of factors, but in general, most homes in and around Honolulu are currently renting for about 0.5% to 0.8% of the home’s market sales value.

The more expensive your home, the lower the ratio of sales to rent value. For example, a $360,000 three bedroom home may rent for $2400 to $3300 per month in Honolulu depending on the neighborhood, the competition and the condition, while a $760,000 home may only rent for $3800 to $4200. This is a very generalized range but will in fact hold true in most instances.

Sales values raced past rent values in the last decade in Honolulu Hawaii. Many owners who have purchased in the past 8 years, and made a small down payment, cannot lease the home for an amount that will cover the carrying costs – especially in newer neighborhoods that are not yet built out. You also might not have enough equity to sell without bringing money to the closing table. If you are in this situation, you are not alone. Some of our new clients are "involuntary landlords", forced into leasing their home by market conditions. The good news is, if you can ride out the market, you are likely to be much better off in a few years than if you sell your home now at a deeply discounted price. This in fact is why many out of state investors bought investment homes in Honolulu, expecting the long term gain to offset the short term cash flow loss.

The most important thing to know is that the rental market is indifferent to your mortgage payment amount. The rental market does not care that you might have a negative cash flow, and will punish with extended vacancy owners who overprice their rental homes. When you hire us as your property manager, we will look at the rental market in your particular area, survey the competing homes, and make sure your home is priced so that it will be viewed favorably against the competition.

What will you do to rent my house?

We give it maximum exposure while it is for rent and we carefully scrutinize all interested parties.

FOR RENT SIGNS – Posted at the property with our website and phone number clearly displayed. Prospective renters can find out very easily – even at 7PM on a Saturday – the price and size of your property and when it will be ready for move-in.

MLS – Your rental property data is entered in the Honolulu Multiple Listing Service giving access to over 6,000 other Realtors and Renters. All Honolulu MLS for rent listings are now available to home searchers through the various public gateways, such as the HICentral.com website and StarAdvertiser.com as well as others.

INTERNET LISTINGS – Our available homes for rent in the Honolulu area are posted online complete with photos, maps and property details for the convenience of those searching for a new home.

LEASING LOCATORS – We make all of our listings available to the many Lease Locator companies in Honolulu. These non-realtor companies specialize in helping tenants find apartments, duplexes and homes for rent in Honolulu County.

WORD OF MOUTH / REFERRALS – Current and past tenants, friends of our tenants, referrals from other agents that we network with.

CORRECT PRICING – Even the best and nicest homes will not lease quickly if overpriced. We make sure your rental home is priced according to current market conditions.

THOROUGH PREPARATION – Even the best located and well-priced rental homes will not lease quickly if the rental home is not in top showing condition. Homes for rent in Honolulu County absolutely must show well and have an attractive "curb appeal" or they may sit empty for extended periods. Part of our job as property manager is to make sure your rental home is presented in a clean and attractive condition so that it will attract a good tenant.

What, specifically, do you do to qualify a tenant after they have applied to rent my house?


This is the most important aspect of the successful management of rental property. Application processing is typically done by us in-house. We don’t send the application to a third party for processing as do most other property managers. In general, we look at an applicant’s past behavior and assume their future behavior will be the same. An applicant must demonstrate a history of being a good, responsible tenant or homeowner as well as meeting credit standards. Nobody in Honolulu screens their tenants as well as our property management team.

LANDLORD REFERENCES – We personally talk to past landlords and ask detailed, open ended questions about the applicant’s past performance.

CREDIT REPORT -  Our property manager and leasing agent has a direct connection with the Experian credit reporting service. We obtain a credit report which tells us the applicant’s current and past performance toward meeting their financial obligations. It also tells us their monthly debt, credit score, and shows their previous addresses (which we compare to addresses listed on the application). An applicant must meet established credit standards.

DRIVER LICENSE VERIFICATION - We pull a copy of the applicant’s public driver’s license data. This tells us not only if the addresses given on the application are consistent but also when and what the last driver’s license activity was, such as a renewal or change of address. This is important because if someone says they have been living at a certain address for the past three years, but then we see they renewed their driver’s license a year ago at a different address, a red flag goes up and we often find in that situation that the applicant is trying to conceal bad rental history.

PROPERTY TAX SEARCH – If a private individual is listed as previous or current landlord, we will pull the tax records and verify that the person listed actually owns the property. The property tax record crosscheck, along with pulling driver license data, is what reveals most of the fraud attempts that we encounter and is a level of scrutiny that most other property management companies do not even perform.

EMPLOYMENT/INCOME – We contact the employer to verify length of employment, status, and income. An applicant needs to earn at least 3 times the monthly rent in gross income to qualify for rental and we will want to see a copy of their pay stub.

PETS – We don’t generally permit animals/pets into managed properties unless you allow us to do so, however, 50% to 70% of renters have pets. When we make the decision to accept an applicant with pets, we minimize your risk by limiting the breed, age, number and size of the pets. We also use a special pet addendum for your protection. We are careful in selecting tenants who wish to bring pets with them.

OTHER FACTORS – Many of our managed properties are subject to Home Owner Association restrictions such as no boats or trailers, and limits on the type and number of vehicles. An otherwise qualified applicant may be unable to lease a property if, for instance, they own a boat and want to park it in the driveway. We make sure issues like that are covered up front to avoid surprises after move-in.


How do you make sure the tenant is taking good care of my home while renting?

There are several ways your property manager has to know this. Above all, careful tenant selection from the outset protects your property from being rented to irresponsible people. During the lease term, we may have occasion to enter the property for repair or maintenance reasons and will use that opportunity to have a look. If we are fortunate enough not to have any repairs or maintenance at your property over an extended period of time, your property manager will schedule a preventative maintenance walk-through to make sure the air filter is being changed, that the smoke alarms have batteries and that there are no unreported problems at the property.

What do you do if they are not taking care of my property as they should, or you discover unauthorized pets?

Your property manager gives the tenant an opportunity to correct the situation and usually they will. If a problem persists, we will make a decision based on that specific situation.

What happens if the tenant does not pay their rent?

About the 5th of each month, we send late notices to all tenants with unpaid rent. We will post an eviction notice about the 10th day of the month if payment is not received by then. Whether or not the property manager eventually proceeds with a formal eviction depends on the specific circumstances. It is always financially better for all involved if a solution can be worked out. If the tenant has experienced a one-time event which is causing them a financial hardship, and we have had no previous problems with them, it is better for you and the tenant if we give them a chance to catch up – if there is reason to believe they can do so. If the tenant has demonstrated an ongoing pattern of late payments, broken promises about payments and/or evasiveness, we know from experience that eviction is the best course of action.

Each case is unique and the property manager will make a decision based what is best for you and your home in the long run. That said, we always proceed with the legal notices required for eviction regardless of any other factors. We will simply postpone the actual filing of the eviction if the tenant is showing favorable effort toward resolution. Eviction for non-payment of rent in Hawaii is a slam dunk and there is no way a tenant can prevail in court if they have not paid rent and the landlord has properly executed the notices and filing process. Full evictions, when necessary, can often be completed by the third week of the month.

How informed will I be about what happens with my property?

Absent any special considerations unique to you or your property, our rule of thumb is this: If something may cause a potential interruption in your ordinary cash flow (loss of tenant or non-emergency repair in excess of $300), we will let you know about it right away. Other than that, the saying "no news is good news" is most appropriate. Non-emergency items will be communicated along with your monthly statements and, of course, we encourage you to contact the property manager anytime you have a question or wish to discuss something.

We know some owners desire a level of involvement that our property management system is not designed to accommodate. We try our best to make sure you are a good match for our style of property management. Part of that process is this Question and Answer page so you can obtain a sense of how we think and how the manager will manage your investment property.

If you are a worrisome property owner or someone who desires a high degree of personal involvement with the property or who needs constant communication from the property manager, such as a phone call before any repairs are completed, we are not a good match for your needs. The property owners who appreciate us the most are those who truly want everything handled for them turn-key and don’t want to be bothered unless something important is happening. That is the type of property management service we offer.

How do you handle maintenance requests?

Tenants may fax or mail their requests to us, but most fill out an online form on our website. After we receive a repair request, the property manager may contact the tenant and ask them questions which will help us determine the exact nature of the problem before sending a service technician. We also make sure it is not something the tenant can fix themselves (ex: reset button on the disposal, tripped breaker) before your money is spent on a service call. After determining that it is a legitimate problem, we will send the appropriate service vendor to make the repair.

We tell our tenants that we are able to handle most repair requests within 1 to 3 working days, and in fact are usually able to do so. Comfort items such as Air conditioning, no hot water or heat, receive highest priority and are usually attended to the same or next business day.

Do you use the cheapest maintenance people you can find?

No. Our people are middle of the road in price and are competent and reliable. We also have dedicated all-around maintenance sub-contractors who are capable in a wide range of home repairs including air-conditioning, light plumbing and electrical. Our main "go to" guys charge $45 per hour. Our other vendors range in price from $35 per hour to $75, and sometimes more for conditions such as an after-hours emergency sewer backup. We try to have our main guys handle most of the multi-trade and make-ready tasks and use other vendors when we are backed up. This saves our owners a lot of money on multi-trade repairs by cutting down on the number of service calls to the property by different vendors. It also means that if we are called out on a dishwasher repair, we are going to be checking the a/c filter, sink drains, smoke alarms and general condition of the property – something that a single trade vendor will not do for you.

We think we have developed a very sensible approach to handling maintenance and repairs and that you will realize cost savings that other property managers simply can’t deliver.

How do I know your property manager won’t spend my money on large repairs without my approval?

This is a legitimate fear. We promise in writing not to do that. For ordinary maintenance and repairs of less than $300, the property manager will take care of it without notifying you. You will find out when you receive your monthly statement. If we think a repair might exceed $300, we will call you and let you know what is happening, what we think should be done, and what the estimated cost might be.

Sometimes expenses such as a replacing a bad water heater, a roof leak that needs patching or repair, or emergency A/C and furnace repairs are unavoidable. In those cases where 1) the health or safety of a tenant is an issue, or 2) in instances where there is only one option to consider or 3) the property will incur damage if immediate action is not taken, the property manager will initiate the repair work, even if it is higher than the $300 limit, and then let you know of the situation and what we are doing about it. Mainly, we don’t think important repairs should be delayed while we try to contact you for permission to do the obvious.

What if I want you to use my plumber, A/C company, etc.? 

We already have a stable of very qualified and reasonably priced vendors that we have used for many years. If you would like to nominate a service company to be added to our vendor list, they can contact us and we will interview them and let them know what documentation and references we need, what our invoicing and payment policy is, etc. We cannot guaranty however that your favorite company will be sent on all service calls to your home. Our concern is always to resolve repair problems in the most efficient way possible with the best available vendor at the time. Property managers can’t keep track of a pre-established roster of vendors assigned to certain properties – it would be a cumbersome and inefficient property management system and would not achieve the best service to the tenant and your investment property.

Our professional reputation as property managers, both with tenants and owners, is largely, if not almost entirely, determined by the effectiveness with which we handle maintenance. We follow a practice that is most likely to insure the best possible response and resolution to maintenance and repair problems for your property.

You guys seem sort of picky about the clients and properties you take, why is that?

Well, we’ve been property managers long enough to have seen and experienced everything imaginable, and we prefer to anticipate and avoid common problems rather that deal with the same ones repeatedly.

We strive to maintain a group of "like-minded" clients with properties that are at the same time diverse, yet homogenous enough that our systems, methods and style can be applied uniformly across all properties we manage. The worst property manager you can hire is one who good heartedly tries to accommodate every special circumstance or request from his various owners until his operational system is so scattered and ill-defined as to be dangerous. We like the consistency and predictability that comes with welcoming owners and properties that are compatible with our system of property management.

If you think about it, when you hire a property manager, you are for better or worse, employing that property manager’s system (or lack thereof). We promise you our system of property management is mature, stable and time tested. We will make good decisions for you. Your property will receive professional care and maintenance. Your lease agreement with the tenant will be enforced in a cordial businesslike manner, and we will always act in your best interest while at the same time insuring that your tenant receives fair and ethical treatment. You can expect also that we are always looking for ways to improve our service.

We do want you to thoroughly examine our company, ask for references, ask any questions that are not answered for you on this website, and make sure that ours is the property management system you want serving you and your property.

When do you mail the owner’s checks and statements?

Owner’s proceeds are electronic deposit the 10th of each month but no later than the 15th for that month’s activity. Most months, you will have your check and statement in hand by the 15th.

Can you put my rental proceeds directly into my checking account?

We will be happy to send your proceeds directly to your bank for immediate deposit while you can view your statement online. This is an electronic transfer through Bill.com.

What will I receive with my monthly statement?

The monthly statement showing all income and expenses for the accounting period and the original receipts for any repairs. We don’t mark-up repair invoices and we send you the original copy so you’ll see what was done.

How much is your monthly property management fee?

Our property management fee is 10% of the gross monthly rent for 12-month rentals.

Are your property management fees negotiable?

No. We don’t try to compete against lower priced property management companies or Realtors who practice property management as a side business. Frankly, we know you can find a cheaper property management company in Honolulu County. We just don’t think price should be the determining factor in deciding which property manager you hire to manage your home.

The ultimate cost of using a property manager is determined by many things other than the fee charged. The efficiency and manner in which maintenance and tenant relationship problems are handled, and the attention to detail during the leasing process are two of many areas in which we excel. We feel that our set of services, our systems, and the experience and expertise we offer are a good value at the fee structure we have established.

Are there administrative fees or other service charges up and above the property management and leasing fees?

There are no administrative fees or start-up costs. We don’t charge for copies, long distance calls, mileage, or other incidentals. We don’t mark-up maintenance costs or nickel and dime you with petty fees as do some property management companies. The only other expenses you could incur would be for services which fall outside the normal scope of our property management agreement (such as contracting a major renovation, restoration or remodel, assisting in sales efforts for which we are not otherwise being paid). These scenarios are all outlined in the Property Management agreement but rarely come about.

Does your property management agreement give you exclusive right to sell my property?

No. We can sell your property if you would like us to, but we don’t bind you to that in the management agreement. This is another trick that discount property managers use. They manage your home at little or no profit knowing they have you locked into an eventual sales listing. We think, at the time you decide to eventually sell, you should be free to decide who the best listing agent will be for your property given its location and characteristics. Most of our owners choose a full time sales agent to sell their home and we encourage them to do so in most instances.

Who holds the tenant’s security deposit?

All security deposits must be held in our deposit trust account.

How much security deposit do you charge the tenant?

One full month of Rent.

Are you a licensed Property Manager?

We are licensed Realtors and a member of the National Association of Residential Property Managers. There is no "Property Management License" requirement in Honolulu County, but professional property managers in Honolulu must have a Hawaii real estate license in order to charge commissions.

How soon can you start managing my home?

We can start the process immediately. We will start by obtaining some information about you and your property and helping you decide if we are a good fit for your needs. Contact us online or call 808-221-0557