Setting and achieving goals in life provides happiness. To begin, you must identify your values and your definition of success. Following that, mindset is concerned with aligning your actions to your ideas. Duke Kimhan is the successful business visionary who gained this approach. He is a real estate broker specializing in investment homes, condos, military relocations, 1031 tax swaps, and commercial properties, was born and raised in Honolulu and grew up in Manoa Valley. He is now the HIPacific Property Management’s Principal Broker.
Duke originally bought and sold his own houses before becoming a broker himself. He has worked as a property broker with Coldwell Banker in Florida, Realty Experts in Hawaii, and Condo.Com in Hawaii. His newest challenge is managing the HiPacific Property Management division with his team.
Real estate brought excitement and diversity with different people, buyers, and sellers each day. After returning to Honolulu from Florida due to a divorce, Duke found property management to be consistent. A fellow realtor suggested he focus on property management full-time, and he made the switch in 2008, dedicating himself to providing exceptional services.
Duke has earned numerous Real Estate designations, such as: Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR), Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), Certified Real Estate Broker (CRB), Graduate REALTOR® Institute (GRI), Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES), Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE), and Broker Price Opinion (BPO), and continues to educate himself in all areas of real estate to better serve his clients and his friends. Duke’s career path took a significant turn when he entered real estate in 2000. Previously in the restaurant business for over 25 years, he enjoyed it but didn’t love it.
Success through the Journey
Duke has experienced significant personal growth over the years, particularly in his ability to be patient with the notion of “perfection.” He has come to understand that certain levels of perfection are simply unattainable. Duke has a strong preference for cleanliness and strives to maintain a tidy environment at all times.
Having grown up in Honolulu, sports played a major role in Duke’s life. However, at the age of 19, he made the decision to move to the mainland and explore various job opportunities. Eventually, Duke set his sights on the restaurant industry, starting five different concepts and later selling them.
Duke chose to work for chain restaurants for several years, and it was during this time that his perfectionist mindset began to take hold. In the chain restaurant setting, the quality of your work was constantly evaluated by others, fueling Duke’s desire for perfection. He found great satisfaction in seeing his colleagues and employees exceed his expectations as they grew and developed. He states, “I love my dog and Playing poker. I have a great wife who also shares our interest in Poker, Travel, Real estate, and our dog, Mochi!”
The Company
Hi Pacific Property Management, a full-time real estate company specializing in property management, is proud to announce the significant advancements and guarantees it offers to realtors entering the property management field. Over the past decade, the industry has evolved with the integration of advanced technologies and innovative guarantees, creating a more efficient and rewarding work environment.
With the help of revolutionary apps, Hi Pacific has transformed the property management domain. Tasks such as tenant background checks, credit and background report deliveries, and automatic rent payment setups have become effortless, thanks to user-friendly interfaces. The use of real estate pinning apps enables quick property location, which is essential for handling inquiries about rental rates.
However, Hi Pacific goes beyond simply adapting to technological advancements. They have set new industry standards by introducing their groundbreaking ‘Threefold Guarantee’ system:
- Communication Guarantee: Hi Pacific pledges to answer calls or return them within one hour, ensuring prompt and reliable communication.
- Rent Guarantee: They provide a written agreement specifying a minimum asking rent. If a tenant is not secured at this rate within 30 days, Hi Pacific will pay the agreed-upon rent.
- Eviction Guarantee: In the unfortunate event of a tenant defaulting on rent, despite passing rigorous background checks, Hi Pacific covers the legal costs associated with eviction.
By embracing the new era of property management technology, Hi Pacific ensures optimal tenant compliance and offers Realtors a more engaging and profitable career path. They invite Realtors to experience the future of property management with Hi Pacific Property Management—a progressive community at the forefront of transforming the industry.
Hi Pacific PM has learned that the Real estate landscape continues to grow and change. Ad marketing is always changing. It advertises its services in the print media, online, radio, and TV. The online media is where it gets the most leads, and the team tries to capture an appointment to meet with new owners as soon as possible each week! Duke states, “We hope to soon have 2000 owners under contract.”
Facing Challenges Everyday
According to Duke, challenges arise in every hour of his day, from owners arguing cost amounts to renters opposing repairs. There are so many things that may go wrong throughout the course of a working day! Repair requests come in at all hours of the day and night. It employs a maintenance crew to handle all calls and obtain authorization from the owner to fix the products. They must then deploy the appropriate suppliers in a timely manner! Then, pay the vendor and charge the appropriate account owner. All in 2-3 days—that’s my toughest weekly task!
Aside from dealing with these problems, Duke’s daily routine consists of ensuring that the office has all it requires and leading the PMs in the development of their businesses. He goes out on most Owner meetings to assist them with the brand’s Rent Guarantee amounts and sign all leases and PM agreements. He signs all the checks going out and is available to take any and all calls. The best part of Duke’s Day is the problem-solving he gets to do with the PMs and the office staff!
Plans for Hi PM
Duke defines success as continuing to develop and watching his people grow; the numbers will come as the people grow; he is well beyond the money and revenue side of this business and wants his people to accomplish their personal growth. That is where true life progress takes place.
Duke solely intends to move forward in the future; there are no intentions to stop or sell. He’s having a lot of fun right now. He explains that there is just laughter, cheers, and jokes in the office every day, and that as long as that continues, the team will expand!
Advising Visionary Realtors
Duke finds that One of the largest barriers in the PM business is one’s own ability to grow! He mentions, “Are you prepared for growth, Staffing in the office is my toughest barrier.” He further adds, “Hiring licensed PMs was never an issue, as I speak to other owners. Finding good PMs is a challenge, but for Hi PM we have a great staff of PMs who, like me, are perfectionists and want to do a great job!”
“Growth in leadership is as important as being staffed correctly. I do believe PM will be ready when it’s time to find more leadership.”
Duke thinks that growth comes in numerous forms when coaching new leaders in the field. Leaders in business are assessed by numbers, and what lies behind the numbers is what really matters! People matter; their family’s matter, their aspirations matter; business is simple if one focuses on their people rather than the statistics, as Duke has always thought. “When the numbers are down, you have to ask about the people, and you will find your issues. If you assist the people, the numbers will return. Sometimes you have to replace the people (not always easy) to attain sustained growth,” says Duke.
Written by Steve Sanchez.
