Maui Homes Guide

10/10/2026

**Maui Bill 88 Update: What Condo Owners and Buyers Need to Know**

If you own a Maui condominium, are considering purchasing one, or rely on short-term rental income, recent developments involving Bills 9 and 88 deserve your attention.

In late September, two important actions took place:

• **September 22:** The Maui Planning Commission recommended hotel rezoning for five of 48 properties reviewed, while recommending against rezoning the remaining 43.

• **September 29:** The Maui County Council voted to refer another 32 condominium properties for consideration under the new H-3 and H-4 hotel zoning districts.

**Here's the important distinction: Being considered for hotel rezoning does not mean a property has been rezoned.**

And while the legislative process continues, owners and prospective buyers still have important decisions to make.

Before relying on short-term rental income or assuming a property's future eligibility, consider:

✓ Current zoning and legally permitted rental uses
✓ Potential effects of Bill 9's phase-out provisions
✓ Association reserves, maintenance fees, and capital projects
✓ Insurance costs and coastal exposure
✓ The financial implications if rental income becomes unavailable

These considerations matter whether you're purchasing a vacation property, evaluating an investment, or planning to hold a Maui home for many years.

At Maui Homes Guide, we believe informed ownership begins with understanding the entire picture, not simply the purchase price or rental projections.

We've updated our Bill 88 guide with the latest developments and practical considerations for Maui property owners and buyers.

**Read the updated article:**
https://www.mauihomesguide.com/2026/07/maui-bill-88-explained-hotel-rezoning.html

Do you own a condominium potentially affected by these changes, or are you considering purchasing one? What questions are most important to you as the process continues?

*Extraordinary Ownership Begins Before Closing.*

Maui Homes Guide | Ownership Intelligence for Maui's Residential & Resort Communities

Maui Bill 88 update: H-3/H-4 hotel rezoning, September 2026 Council decisions, Bill 9 implications, and essential ownership due diligence.

10/08/2026

**Maui Condo Owners: Do You Know What Your Insurance Actually Covers?**

Owning a condominium means sharing certain responsibilities, but that doesn't necessarily mean sharing all the insurance protection you may need.

Your association's master insurance policy and your individual condominium policy serve different purposes. Understanding where one ends and the other begins is especially important here on Maui, where hurricane exposure, rising insurance costs, and potentially significant deductibles can create unexpected financial obligations.

Before assuming you're fully protected, take time to understand:

• What your association's master policy covers and excludes.
• Whether your individual policy provides adequate hurricane and flood protection.
• How association deductibles, uninsured losses, and potential special assessments could affect you.
• Whether your personal coverage addresses improvements, belongings, and loss assessments.

Mahalo to the Hawaiʻi Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs for sharing this important reminder.

**Extraordinary Ownership Begins Before Closing.** And informed ownership continues long afterward.

Maui Homes Guide | Ownership Intelligence for Maui's Residential & Resort Communities

Own a condo? Don’t assume your condo insurance will cover hurricane damage.

Your personal belongings and certain types of damage may be covered, but hurricane wind damage, as well as flooding, will typically require separate policies.

Your condo association’s master policy may cover parts of the building and common areas.

Before a storm is on the horizon:
🔎 Review your condo insurance policy.
🏢 Find out what your association’s master policy covers.
🌪️ Ask your insurance agent or company if a separate hurricane policy may be right for you.
💰 Know your deductibles and coverage limits.

Every policy is different. Understanding your coverage before a hurricane can help prevent surprises afterward.

Learn more about preparing for disasters and understanding your insurance at cca.hawaii.gov/ins/resources.

10/06/2026

Owning a home on Maui while spending much of your time elsewhere requires a tremendous amount of trust.

The right property manager does much more than coordinate repairs. They become an important part of protecting the home, anticipating problems, overseeing vendors, responding when something goes wrong, and helping make ownership feel less complicated from thousands of miles away.

Before choosing a property manager on Maui, some of the most important questions are surprisingly practical:

How often will someone physically inspect the home?
What does preventive maintenance include?
Who supervises vendors and verifies their work?
What happens during an emergency?
How are expenses approved and documented?
How does the manager coordinate with an HOA or AOAO?
And who is actually responsible when your primary contact is unavailable?

For second-home and resort-residential owners, the goal shouldn't simply be finding someone to “look after the house.”
It should be creating a management structure that provides clarity, accountability, and confidence when you're not here.

Our newest Maui Homes Guide article explores what owners should evaluate before making that decision:

Choosing a Property Manager on Maui: What Owners Should Evaluate Before Hiring
Read the full guide: https://www.mauihomesguide.com/2026/09/choosing-property-manager-on-maui-what.html

Because extraordinary ownership isn't only about choosing the right property. It's also about how that property is cared for after closing.

Maui Homes Guide
Ownership Intelligence for Maui's Residential & Resort Communities

10/05/2026

Buyers have more homes to choose from nationally than they've had in years.
That's welcome news, but more inventory introduces a different challenge: determining which opportunity is actually the right one.

On Maui, comparing homes should go well beyond price, square footage, and finishes.
Community fit, insurance, HOA/AOAO finances and governance, property condition, ongoing carrying costs, use restrictions, amenities, privacy, and future marketability can all materially affect the ownership experience.

More choice can give buyers greater negotiating leverage and greater selectivity. But the real advantage comes from knowing what deserves comparison.

The goal isn't simply to have more properties to choose from.
It's to make a better-informed ownership decision among them.

Extraordinary Ownership Begins Before Closing.

09/30/2026

Buyers begin evaluating a home before they ever step inside.
The landscaping. The approach. Exterior condition. Lighting. The front entry.
Together, those details create something more important than curb appeal. They create the first impression of how the property has been cared for.

For sellers, preparation does not always require a dramatic renovation. Sometimes the greatest opportunity is simply to view the property through a buyer’s eyes and address the details that subtly influence confidence.

On Maui, where the relationship between the home, landscape, and outdoor environment is so important, that arrival experience can be particularly powerful.
Present the property with intention.
Because selling well is not simply about putting a home on the market. It is about helping buyers recognize its value when they experience it.

09/29/2026

A year ago, my spouse and I became homeowners in Maui Lani.

I spend a great deal of time helping others think through Maui ownership decisions.

But becoming the buyer again reinforced something that can be easy to lose sight of when evaluating properties:

You are choosing much more than a house.

We considered the things I believe every buyer should understand before closing: location, lifestyle, association governance, community standards, ongoing ownership responsibilities, and how the property would actually fit the way we live.
A year later, one of the most meaningful parts of that decision has been something no inspection report or set of association documents could fully reveal.

Our neighbors.

We've become close with several of them, and those relationships have added a dimension to homeownership that is difficult to quantify. A house can meet every technical requirement, but feeling connected to the surrounding community is something else.

It's also reinforced one of my strongest beliefs about Maui real estate:

The right Maui community isn't determined by prestige. It's determined by fit.

For one owner, that may mean the privacy and amenities of a resort community. For another, the character of Upcountry.

For someone else, proximity to the ocean, work, schools, family, or everyday conveniences may matter most.

For us, Maui Lani fits the life we actually live.

That's why I believe the better question at the beginning of a Maui property search isn't simply, “What kind of home do I want?”

It's “What do I want my life on Maui to look like?”

The property should follow the ownership objective rather than define it.

A year into our own experience, that principle feels more relevant than ever.

Extraordinary Ownership Begins Before Closing.

Maui Homes Guide
Ownership Intelligence for Maui's Residential & Resort Communities
What has mattered most to you in choosing the Maui community you call home?

09/21/2026

Should you wait for mortgage rates to come down before buying?

It is a reasonable question. But I don't believe the rate alone should determine the answer.

A lower mortgage rate can improve affordability. Yet the ownership equation also includes the price you pay, available inventory, negotiating leverage, insurance, HOA/AOAO costs, property condition, maintenance, taxes, financing structure, and how long you expect to own the property.

And if rates decline, other parts of the market may change too. More buyers may enter. Competition can increase. Negotiating leverage can shift.

On Maui, this deserves particular attention because the ongoing costs and experiences of owning a property can differ substantially from one to another, even at similar purchase prices.

So instead of trying to predict the perfect rate, I would ask a different question:

Does the opportunity available today align with my finances, objectives, and long-term ownership plans?

Sometimes the answer will be to buy.

Sometimes it will be to wait.

Good advice should help you understand the difference.

If you're considering a Maui property and trying to determine what today's market means for you, I'm always happy to help you work through the ownership equation.

09/18/2026

Nearly 1 in 3 home sales happen during the final four months of the year.

For homeowners who assume the opportunity to sell disappears after summer, that is worth considering.

But I would take the conversation one step further.

On Maui, the decision to sell should rarely be based on the calendar alone. Property condition, pricing, competing inventory, insurance and carrying costs, community dynamics, buyer demand, and an owner’s next objective can all matter more than the month in which a property reaches the market.

There can also be an advantage to entering the market when fewer sellers are competing for attention, provided the property is positioned correctly.

So rather than asking, “Did I miss the best time to sell?” a more useful question may be:

“Given my property and my objectives, what would a successful sale look like now?”

Good market information provides context. Good advice helps turn that information into the right decision for the individual owner.

If you are considering a Maui sale before year-end—or simply beginning to think about what comes next—I’m always happy to help you evaluate the options.



L

09/17/2026

What are you really buying when you purchase an exceptional home on Maui?

The obvious answer is the property.

But for many second-home and UHNW buyers, the more important answer is an ownership experience.

Before deciding between an estate, resort residence, private club community or another ownership environment, it helps to define what the residence is actually expected to do.

Will it be a seasonal home? A family gathering place? A private retreat? A legacy property?

How much responsibility do you want?

What does privacy mean to you?

Who takes care of everything when you're away?

And perhaps one of the most valuable questions:

What could make you regret the purchase—even if the property itself is extraordinary?

My newest Maui Homes Guide article looks at seven questions that can help define the ownership objective before the property search takes over.

Because the best property isn't necessarily the most impressive one.

It's the one most closely aligned with the life you intend to create around it.

Read the full article:
🔗https://www.mauihomesguide.com/2026/09/what-are-you-really-buying-on-maui-uhnw.html

Maui Homes Guide
Ownership Intelligence for Maui's Residential & Resort Communities

09/13/2026

A new season is a good opportunity to reassess—not necessarily to act.

The Fall 2026 Buyer and Seller Guides are now available, offering a useful overview of the housing market and key considerations shaping real estate decisions as we move toward year-end.

For Maui buyers and sellers, however, national market information is only the beginning.

Every ownership decision here has another layer: community-specific inventory and value, insurance, HOA/AOAO governance and reserves, carrying costs, property condition, rental restrictions where applicable, financing, liquidity, and long-term ownership objectives.

That is why I believe the better question is rarely simply:

“Is now a good time to buy or sell?”

It is:

“What does today’s market mean for my particular situation?”

The answer can vary greatly from one property, community, or owner to another.

If you would like a complimentary copy of the Fall Buyer or Seller Guide, comment "BUYER" or "SELLER" below or send me a private message.

And if Maui is part of your decision, I’m always happy to help put the broader market into local context.

Extraordinary Ownership Begins Before Closing.