Three things decide a Wailea-Makena luxury sale before price does: pricing against the few truly comparable sales and their rate of sale, having Hawaii’s required paper ready before you list (the seller disclosure, a condominium’s association documents and, for a nonresident, a HARPTA plan), and planning how an off-island owner signs and closes. The conveyance tax the statute places on you runs 0.10 to 1.25 percent of the price.
Every rate, form and deadline below was checked against State, County and federal sources on October 21, 2026.
Price against the few sales that truly compare
In Wailea-Makena the comparable sales for a luxury property are usually a handful, so the price comes as much from how fast those few sell as from what they sold for. A true comparable shares your complex or subdivision, your relationship to the ocean and your use rules.
What counts as a comparable here
For a condominium, the first comparables are other sales in the same complex, adjusted for floor, view, size and finish. Zoning belongs in the comparison: a hotel-zoned unit that can still be rented by the night and an apartment-zoned unit whose vacation rental use ends on January 1, 2031 are different products to a buyer who wants rental income. For a home, the comparables share the kind of lot, and in Dennis’s published method oceanfront and beachfront property is also weighed on “beach quality, ocean access, privacy, views, lot characteristics, zoning, vacation-rental eligibility and replacement cost.”
Rate of sale and months of inventory
Dennis’s guide to rate of sale and months of inventory sets out the two measures. Rate of sale is comparable sales in a period divided by comparable listings, times 100: 4 sales against 20 listings is 20 percent. Months of inventory is active listings divided by average monthly sales: 20 listings selling 2 a month is 10 months. A low rate of sale means buyers have choices, so price, condition and presentation carry more weight.
One unusual sale can move either number in a small market, so neither is used alone. Dennis frames the decision as a different question from value: at this price, how likely is the property to sell within the seller’s timeframe? We publish no island-wide median or days-on-market figure, because averages describe a broad market, not your lot.
Have Hawaii’s required paper ready before you list
Hawaii’s disclosure deadlines start on the day an offer is accepted, so gather the documents before the listing goes live.
The seller disclosure statement, HRS chapter 508D
Hawaii’s seller disclosure law, HRS chapter 508D, covers property with one to four dwelling units or a residential condominium, so a vacant lot falls outside it. It exempts some sales, including a sale to a co-owner, to a spouse, parent or child, by court order, and a condominium sale with an unexpired developer’s public report.
The statement must disclose every material fact within your knowledge or control, or observable from visible, accessible areas: any fact that “would be expected to measurably affect the value to a reasonable person.” You may prepare it in good faith from your own knowledge, government records, existing professional reports and the managing agent’s information, and the statute does not require you to hire anyone.
| Step | Deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| You sign the disclosure statement | Within 6 months before, or 10 calendar days after, acceptance of the purchase contract | HRS 508D-4 |
| You deliver it to the buyer | No later than 10 calendar days after acceptance | HRS 508D-5(a) |
| The buyer reviews it and may rescind | 15 calendar days after receipt; deposits returned on rescission | HRS 508D-5(b) |
| You deliver recorded declaration documents | 10 calendar days after you and the buyer receive a current title report; the buyer then has 15 calendar days | HRS 508D-3.5(c) |
| Before closing, you learn of a fact that directly, substantially and adversely affects value | Amended statement within 10 calendar days of discovery, and no later than noon of the last business day before recording | HRS 508D-13 |
You and the buyer may agree in writing to shorten or extend the delivery and review periods (HRS 508D-5(c)).
Coastal disclosures on this shoreline
HRS 508D-15 adds disclosures that matter on this coast. Where maps by tax map key are available, you must disclose it when the property lies in a FEMA special flood hazard area, a tsunami inundation area on the State’s emergency management maps, or the sea level rise exposure area designated by the Hawaii Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission. Next to the shoreline, you must also disclose all permitted and unpermitted erosion control structures, their permit expiration dates, and any notices of alleged violation or fines.
Association documents for a condominium or a Wailea home
If the property is subject to a recorded declaration, HRS 508D-3.5 requires you to provide the association’s articles, bylaws, declaration and rules, with a 15-day buyer review. That covers a condominium, and a home inside the Wailea Community Association, which tells owners its CC&Rs “are included in the title to your property.” The preliminary title report shows which declarations apply.
A condominium association must keep records detailed enough for “disclosures related to resale of units” (HRS 514B-152), give owners and their agents the declaration, bylaws, house rules and financial records within 30 days of a written request (HRS 514B-154.5), and may charge reasonable fees for resale documents and statements of unpaid assessments (HRS 514B-104). Request the package the week you list.
Permits and the County record
Compare what is built with the County’s permit records and your real property tax record. Anything built or altered without a permit may be a material fact for the disclosure statement, and it is better found by you than by the buyer’s inspector.
Choose how the listing reaches buyers
Compass offers three launch paths, its 3-Phased Marketing Strategy, described on our Compass marketing page. A Compass Private Exclusive is shared with Compass agents and their buyers and stays off public home search sites. A Compass Coming Soon goes public on Compass.com without showing days on market or price-drop history. The third phase is a full launch on the MLS and public sites.
Compass notes that the Private Exclusive program “is not available in all markets” and that local policy may restrict sharing, so the path for a Maui listing is chosen with your agent under the rules in force when you list. The listing agreement sets the commission, which is negotiable.
What would your Wailea-Makena property sell for now?
Tell us about the property and your timing, and we can go through its true comparables and their rate of sale with you.
Request a home value reviewThe purchase contract and escrow set the timeline
Most Hawaii resales are written on the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® standard purchase contract and close through an escrow company; under HRS 449-5, an escrow depository must be a corporation licensed by the State’s Commissioner of Financial Institutions, with narrow exceptions such as banks (HRS 449-3). In Dennis’s experience, most Wailea-Makena resales close without a closing attorney, though many sellers have an attorney or CPA review the contract and the tax questions.
Escrow holds the deposit, orders the preliminary title report, collects signatures, pays off your mortgage and liens, records the deed and disburses your proceeds. The contract sets the deposit, the inspection, financing and appraisal contingencies, and the closing date. The statutes add fixed points:
- Acceptance: escrow opens and orders the preliminary title report.
- Within 10 calendar days: you deliver the disclosure statement, and the buyer’s 15-day review starts on receipt.
- Within 10 calendar days after the title report: any recorded declaration documents, with their own 15-day review.
- At least 10 working days before closing: any HARPTA withholding certificate application on Form N-288B must be filed with the Department of Taxation.
- Closing: the conveyance tax is paid before the deed records (the outer limit is 90 days after the transaction), escrow disburses, and the buyer’s HARPTA payment is due by the 20th day after the transfer.
So the time a sale takes has two parts: the marketing time, which the rate of sale for your comparables predicts better than any island-wide average, and the escrow period, which your contract sets.
What it costs to sell in Wailea-Makena
One seller cost is fixed by statute: the conveyance tax, which HRS 247-4 makes payable by the seller. The rest are set by the listing agreement, the purchase contract and the escrow, title and association schedules.
| Cost | Who pays | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| State conveyance tax | Seller, by statute | HRS 247-2 rates, paid with Form P-64A |
| Escrow fee | Customarily half each | Escrow company’s schedule; your contract |
| Standard owner’s title insurance | Customarily 60% seller, 40% buyer; the buyer pays for extended and lender’s coverage | Title insurer’s rates; your contract |
| Brokerage commission | Seller, under the listing agreement | Negotiable |
| Mortgage payoff, liens, recording to clear title | Seller | Lender payoff letters |
| Drafting the deed, your notary fees, any required survey staking | Seller, by custom | Your contract |
| Association resale documents and statement of unpaid assessments | As your contract allocates; the standard form lists association ownership transfer fees as the buyer’s | The association’s reasonable charges (HRS 514B-104) |
| HARPTA and FIRPTA withholding | Withheld from your proceeds | HRS 235-68 and federal law; a prepayment of income tax, not a cost |
The customary split comes from paragraph F-6 of the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® purchase contract, which lists “customary closing costs” and lets escrow charge other costs as the parties direct. Every line is negotiable in your contract.
Hawaii conveyance tax rates as of October 21, 2026
The conveyance tax is a percentage of the actual and full consideration, normally the price less any personal property included (Form P-64A, line 3), set by price band and by the buyer: HRS 247-2 charges more on a house or condominium sold to a buyer ineligible for a county homeowner’s exemption, for example one who will not make it a principal residence. The band’s rate applies to the whole amount, not only the part above the band’s floor. These rates have applied since July 1, 2009; the 2026 Legislature considered bills to restructure the tax, including SB 3028 and HB 2049, and neither became law.
| Price | All other sales | House or condo, buyer ineligible for a homeowner’s exemption |
|---|---|---|
| Under $600,000 | 0.10% | 0.15% |
| $600,000 to under $1 million | 0.20% | 0.25% |
| $1 million to under $2 million | 0.30% | 0.40% |
| $2 million to under $4 million | 0.50% | 0.60% |
| $4 million to under $6 million | 0.70% | 0.85% |
| $6 million to under $10 million | 0.90% | 1.10% |
| $10 million or more | 1.00% | 1.25% |
The buyer’s declaration decides which schedule applies
Because the higher rate turns on the buyer, the standard purchase contract asks the buyer to declare whether the property will be the buyer’s principal residence (paragraph F-7). If the buyer later changes that answer to “other than Buyer’s principal residence,” the form charges the buyer the difference in conveyance tax at closing. Read that box before you counter: on a $4,000,000 sale the two schedules are $28,000 and $34,000.
Worked example, with hypothetical numbers: a Wailea home sells for $3,000,000. If the buyer will make it a principal residence, the conveyance tax is 0.50 percent, $15,000. If not, it is 0.60 percent, $18,000.
The price lines are cliffs
Hypothetical: two offers on the same home from buyers who will not live in it, $3,990,000 and $4,000,000. At $3,990,000 the conveyance tax is 0.60 percent, $23,940. At $4,000,000 it is 0.85 percent, $34,000. The extra $10,000 of price costs $10,060 in tax, so the higher offer nets you $60 less before commission. The rate also steps at $600,000, $1 million, $2 million, $6 million and $10 million.
If you are not a Hawaii resident, plan the withholding before you list
When the seller is not a Hawaii resident, HARPTA (HRS 235-68) requires the buyer to withhold 7.25 percent of the amount realized and pay it to the Department of Taxation by the 20th day after the transfer; in practice escrow withholds it from your proceeds. The Department’s Tax Facts 2010-1 puts it plainly: “HARPTA is not a tax.” It is an estimated payment credited to you, settled on your Hawaii return or earlier through Form N-288C. A resident seller gives the buyer Form N-289 instead. Form N-288B reduces the withholding before closing only for a sale with no gain, insufficient proceeds, or a home sale whose entire gain is excluded under federal section 121; Hawaii allows no reduction to a seller’s maximum tax liability (TIR 2017-01), so any other excess comes back through your return or Form N-288C. If you are a foreign person, FIRPTA requires a separate federal withholding, generally 15 percent, so both can apply to one sale.
The trap: withholding comes out of your proceeds at closing
On a hypothetical $3,000,000 sale by a mainland owner, escrow holds back $217,500 for HARPTA; a foreign owner has another $450,000 withheld for FIRPTA. If your mortgage payoff and selling costs leave too little to cover the HARPTA amount, Tax Facts 2010-1 lets you apply on Form N-288B with a tentative closing statement, filed at least 10 working days before the transfer or it will not be approved. Check your net before you list, and file as soon as escrow can produce that statement. Our HARPTA and FIRPTA guide walks through every form.
Selling from the mainland
Most of a Wailea-Makena sale can be handled from away. Plan early for what needs your signature, your identity or your wiring instructions.
Signing without flying in
A deed acknowledged before a notary in another U.S. state, with a certificate of acknowledgment in proper form, is entitled to be recorded in Hawaii (HRS 502-45). Hawaii’s remote online notaries may also notarize for a person appearing by audio-video link, after confirming identity and recording the session (HRS 456-23). A power of attorney granting authority over real property lets an agent sell and convey it for you (HRS 551E-34). Ask escrow early which method its title insurer will accept.
Expect your identity to be checked
On June 16, 2026, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center warned of criminals who impersonate owners of vacant parcels: fake IDs, email and internet phone numbers, refusal to meet, pressure to close fast, and proceeds wired to an account in another name or place (alert I-061626-PSA). A genuine owner who lives away can look similar on paper, so expect escrow to verify who you are. Never act on wiring instructions that arrive or change by email; confirm them by calling escrow at a number you already have.
Closing your Hawaii tax accounts if the property was a rental
If you rented the property, you hold a general excise tax license and, for stays under 180 consecutive days, a transient accommodations tax registration, which is not transferable to the buyer (HRS 237D-4). When you stop renting, the Department of Taxation says to cancel the licenses in Hawaii Tax Online or on Form GEW-TA-RV-1, after filing every return due up to that date; the annual GET and TAT returns are due by the 20th day of the fourth month after the tax year (HRS 237-33 and 237D-7). Maui County’s own transient accommodations tax is paid separately to the County’s Director of Finance, so settle it with the County too.
Rental history, bookings and the Minatoya list
Zoning and rental status are among the first questions a buyer’s agent asks about a rented condominium. As of October 21, 2026, under Ordinance 5909 (Bill 9), signed December 15, 2025, vacation rental use in Maui’s apartment districts (A-1 and A-2) must cease on January 1, 2031 outside West Maui, including Wailea and Kihei, unless the property is rezoned to a hotel district; hotel-zoned condominiums are outside the phase-out. Settle guest bookings that run past closing in the contract. Our guides to Maui’s vacation rental rules and Bill 9 and to hotel-zoned and apartment-zoned condos cover the law and how to confirm a complex’s zoning.
The team’s record on the seller side
The team’s published sales history lists 73 closed sales in the Maui MLS from January 2021 to October 2026, with Dennis as agent of record. Dennis represented the seller on 48: 43 as listing agent and 5 on both sides. 31 of the 73 are in Wailea-Makena, $157.4 million in all, including 10 of the 14 sales at $5 million or more.
Listing-side sales include 38 Ualei Place, Makena, $28,500,000, in October 2022, the highest recorded Maui home sale of 2022 according to Fidelity National Title Maui, as reported by Maui Now on January 10, 2023; 15 Malukai Lane, Wailea, $13,700,000, in February 2024; and Wailea Beach Villas G301, $10,900,000, in 2023.
Frequently asked questions
Selling a luxury home in Wailea or Makena starts with pricing against the few truly comparable sales and how fast they sell, then gathering what Hawaii law requires before listing: the HRS 508D seller disclosure, association documents under any recorded declaration, and a HARPTA plan if the seller is not a Hawaii resident. The sale then usually closes through a licensed Hawaii escrow company.
No official figure is published for how long a Maui luxury home takes to sell, and island-wide averages mix very different properties. A Wailea-Makena sale has two clocks: the marketing time, which depends on the rate of sale and months of inventory for truly comparable properties, and the escrow period, which the purchase contract sets. Inside escrow, Hawaii law gives the buyer 15 calendar days to review the seller disclosure after receiving it.
Pricing a luxury home with few comparable sales means using the closest true comparables, in the same complex or subdivision with the same ocean relationship and use rules, and measuring how fast they sell. Dennis Rush uses rate of sale, comparable sales divided by comparable listings over a period, and months of inventory, listings divided by monthly sales.
Typical Hawaii seller closing costs are the State conveyance tax of 0.10 to 1.25 percent of the price, which the statute places on the seller, the commission set in the listing agreement, and by custom half the escrow fee and 60 percent of the standard owner’s title insurance premium, plus deed and notary fees. HARPTA withheld from a nonresident seller is a prepayment of income tax, not a cost.
The seller pays the Hawaii conveyance tax. HRS 247-4 makes the tax payable by the grantor or seller, and the Department of Taxation’s Form P-64A instructions name the seller as the person generally subject to it, due no later than 90 days after the transaction. The buyer still matters: a higher rate applies when the buyer of a house or condominium is ineligible for a county homeowner’s exemption.
Hawaii conveyance tax rates in 2026 run from 0.10 percent of the price under $600,000 to 1.00 percent at $10 million or more, and from 0.15 to 1.25 percent when a house or condominium buyer is ineligible for a county homeowner’s exemption. Bands break at $600,000, $1 million, $2 million, $4 million, $6 million and $10 million, each rate applies to the whole price, and the rates date from July 1, 2009.
A Hawaii seller of a home or condominium must give the buyer a disclosure statement covering every material fact within the seller’s knowledge or control or observable from visible areas, under HRS chapter 508D. It is due no later than 10 calendar days after the purchase contract is accepted, and the buyer then has 15 calendar days to rescind. Flood, tsunami and sea level rise areas, and shoreline erosion control structures, must be disclosed where they apply.
A Wailea condominium seller owes the buyer the association’s declaration, bylaws, rules and articles under HRS 508D-3.5. HRS 514B-104 lets the association charge reasonable fees for resale documents and statements of unpaid assessments, and HRS 514B-154.5 requires association records within 30 days of an owner’s written request, so the request belongs in the week the condominium is listed.
A Maui property can usually be sold without the owner flying in. A deed acknowledged before a notary in another U.S. state can be recorded in Hawaii under HRS 502-45, Hawaii’s remote online notaries can notarize by audio-video link under HRS 456-23, and a power of attorney can authorize an agent to sell real property under HRS 551E-34. Expect escrow to verify the seller’s identity, and confirm any wiring instructions by phone.
HARPTA applies when a seller who is not a Hawaii resident, including a mainland owner, sells Hawaii real property. Unless an exemption or an approved Form N-288B applies, the buyer must withhold 7.25 percent of the amount realized and pay it to the Hawaii Department of Taxation by the 20th day after the transfer, usually through escrow. The withholding is an estimated tax payment, settled on the seller’s Hawaii return or through Form N-288C.
Related guides
- HARPTA and FIRPTA when you sell Maui property (2026)
- Maui vacation rental rules (2026): Bill 9 and the Minatoya list
- Hotel-zoned vs apartment-zoned condos on Maui (2026)
- Maui property tax for second homes and luxury homes (2026)
- How to calculate rate of sale and months of inventory
- Our sales history
- Selling as a Compass Private Exclusive
- Dennis Rush, Wailea and Makena luxury real estate agent at Compass
Planning a Wailea-Makena sale?
The team’s published sales history lists 73 closed sales in the Maui MLS from January 2021 to October 2026, $259.7 million in all, 31 of them in Wailea-Makena. Dennis can go through your comparables, your disclosure and document list, your conveyance tax and your withholding plan with you before you list.
Contact Dennis & Martha RushSources
- Hawaii State Legislature, Hawaii Revised Statutes, current compilation: chapter 508D (sections 1, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 9, 13, 15); 514B-154.5, 514B-104 and 514B-152; 247-2, 247-4 and 247-5; 235-68; 449-1, 449-3 and 449-5; 502-45; 456-1.6 and 456-23; 551E-34; 237-33, 237D-4 and 237D-7. Read October 21, 2026.
- Hawaii State Legislature, 2026 measure status, SB 3028 and HB 2049. Read October 21, 2026.
- Hawaii Department of Taxation, Form P-64A Instructions (REV. 2025), files.hawaii.gov; Tax Facts 2010-1, Understanding HARPTA, revised April 2025, files.hawaii.gov; Form N-288B Instructions (REV. 2025); Tax Information Release 2017-01, June 28, 2017, files.hawaii.gov; Licensing Information, last updated October 2, 2023; Form GEW-TA-RV-1 (REV. 2022). Read October 21, 2026.
- County of Maui, Maui County Transient Accommodations Tax, as captured May 5, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service, FIRPTA Withholding, updated July 21, 2026.
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, alert I-061626-PSA, Parcel Owner Impersonation, June 16, 2026.
- County of Maui, Bill 9 signing release, December 15, 2025, and Bill 9 (2025) CD1 FD1.
- Wailea Community Association, FAQ, read October 21, 2026.
- Hawaii Association of REALTORS®, Purchase Contract RR201 (Rev 2/19), paragraphs F-6 and F-7, a members’ form with no public copy.
- Compass program descriptions on dennisrush.com/compass-marketing/ and /private-exclusives/, read October 21, 2026; Dennis Rush, rate of sale article, August 28, 2026; team sales history, January 2021 to October 2026, read October 19, 2026.
- Maui Now, January 10, 2023, citing Fidelity National Title Maui on 2022 sales.
Rates and rules can change; we update this guide when the State or County acts. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm the details for your own situation with a Hawaii real estate attorney, a Hawaii CPA or tax advisor, or your escrow officer.
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