VRMA Administrator
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos aims to shake up Hawaii's vacation sector with his investment in Arrived Homes, which offers fractional ownership in single-family rental properties. He invested $37 million in seed money last year and then $25 million in a more recent round. Although no Hawaii vacation rental properties have as yet made it to Arrived Homes, they are forthcoming. Arrived Homes' rival, Pacaso, is a higher-end company that purchases homes, then sells them via membership in an LLC to those wanting a new kind of Hawaii fractional ownership; the wrinkle to this approach is that property owners do not know each other. It remains unknown whether such investments might include nightly stays or discounts thereon. Pacaso announced this past spring that it was selling shares of its first Hawaii second-home, a Kapalua, Maui condominium, at $1.45 million per share, based on a maximum of four owners participating. Pacaso has said it will not unsettle the mid-priced Hawaii real estate market since it will only buy Maui homes with a value above $4 million, but residents and the state government are concerned, with a Maui council member saying they are scrutinizing the legality of such practices.
Beat of Hawaii (08/22/22)
