Sell smart. Net more. Skip the guesswork.

The honest answer is: it depends on six things — your micro-market (Princeville vs Poipu vs Kapaa), property type (condo vs SFR), tenure (fee simple vs leasehold), STR eligibility (TVR/TVNCU status), condition, and how recently comparable units have closed. A Live CMA pulls the last 12 months of subdivision-level closes, filters by your tenure + bed count + sqft, and gives you a price band — not a single number. Run one free at /cma.

Commissions are negotiable. Kauaʻi listings most commonly land at 5–6% total, split between the listing side and the buyer side. Post-NAR settlement (effective Aug 17 2024) the buyer-side compensation is no longer published on MLS — it gets negotiated in the buyer-broker agreement and the seller decides whether to offer co-op. A licensed Realtor walks you through what the local market will actually accept.

Hawaiʻi sellers typically pay: (1) commission (most often 5–6%), (2) HRS §247 conveyance tax — 0.15% to 1.25% of sale price, tiered by price and buyer-occupancy status, (3) escrow + recording fees (around $3,000–$4,000), (4) prorated property tax, HOA, and utilities, and (5) any mortgage payoff. The Net Proceeds Estimator on this page lets you plug in your number and see the bottom line in real time.

Kauaʻi has two soft seasons (May–June and October–November) where mainland buyer eyeballs spike — May/June covers summer-trip planners, October/November covers winter-escape and tax-year buyers. Inventory typically thins in late spring, which can favor listings going live in late April. That said: time-on-market matters more than season for properly priced units. A well-priced Princeville STR sells in any month; an over-priced one sits regardless.

Two real numbers decide this: cap rate (net rental income / current market value) and your equity position. If your cap rate is under 4% and your equity is significant, the math often favors selling and 1031-ing into a higher-yielding asset — Mainland multifamily, syndication, or even a different Hawaiʻi property with stronger ADR. If your cap rate is 6%+ and the property is in a TVR/TVNCU-stable district, holding usually wins. Run the math at /1031 first.

Fee simple = you own the land + the structure outright. Leasehold = you own the structure but lease the land from an underlying owner (often the Robinson Estate, Kamehameha Schools, or a private trust on Kauaʻi). Leasehold properties sell at a steep discount (30–60% of fee value depending on years remaining + lease rent), and have a smaller buyer pool because most lenders won't finance leases under 30 years remaining. A licensed Realtor reads your DROA + lease addendum and prices accordingly.

You can sell FSBO (for-sale-by-owner), but every offer still goes through the same Hawaiʻi-specific contracts (DROA, HARPTA, Lead-Based Paint disclosure, Seller's Real Property Disclosure, plus county-specific TVR/TVNCU disclosures on STR properties). A licensed Realtor handles all of that plus MLS exposure, buyer-agent commission negotiation, and the actual showings. On a $1.5M Kauaʻi close, the commission spread between FSBO and listed routinely gets recovered in the higher final price.

HARPTA (Hawaiʻi Real Property Tax Act) requires that 7.25% of the sale price be withheld at closing from a non-Hawaiʻi-resident seller, remitted to the state, then reconciled when you file your Hawaiʻi return. If you're a Hawaiʻi resident or have lived in the property as a principal residence under certain conditions, you can file Form N-289 to claim exemption. HARPTA isn't a tax — it's a withholding that prevents non-resident sellers from skipping out on Hawaiʻi capital gains. Plan for the cash-flow timing; most non-resident sellers reclaim a significant portion when they file.

Median days-on-market on Kauaʻi varies by area and price band. North Shore (Princeville, Hanalei) tends to clear faster on STR-eligible units. Sub-$1M condos in walkable areas (Poipu, Kapaa) often close inside 60 days at proper pricing. Luxury (>$3M) and leasehold inventory regularly sit 120+ days. The live by-area table on this page shows current medians.

Run a free Live CMA at /sell/cma — type your address and we pull real Kauaʻi MLS comps (sold within 12 months, same tenure, same bed/bath/sqft band, same subdivision when available) and return a price band, median $/sqft, and a Moku read on positioning. For high-value or unusual properties, schedule a listing consult and we'll walk it together.