A $400 monthly mortgage is pretty much unheard of for a home that can be bought today in Hawaii with no down payment. But a handful will hit the market soon.

The catch, however, is that the homes are on Lanai, where jobs are sparse. And the first opportunity will go to existing tenants in the homes followed by Lanai residents.

Units at Lanai City Apartments, a workforce housing townhouse complex built in 1990 with 24 homes, are going to be offered for sale.

The offering is a unique opportunity to buy a fee-simple condo that’s not part of a resort on the former Pineapple Island, 98 percent of which is owned by Castle & Cooke.

Castle & Cooke sold the apartments to Honolulu real estate broker and developer Adam Lee last July for $1.2 million, according to property records. Lee began work to upgrade some units and convert them to condominiums, but recently arranged to sell the complex to another local developer, Peter Savio of Hawaiian Island Homes Ltd.

Savio is taking over the rental-to-condo conversion plan, and expects to offer units at $80,000 for studios and $95,000 to $99,000 for one-bedroom units. Savio also is arranging mortgage financing with no down payments that would cost $379 a month for studios and $472 to $490 for one-bedroom units.

Rents at Lanai City Apartments presently range from $475 to $650 a month. With property taxes and maintenance fees, owning will be more expensive — about $675 to $807 with the mortgage. But Savio said tax breaks should make buying attractive.

"We’re hoping a lot of the tenants will buy," he said.

Savio plans to meet Wednesday with tenants to explain the offer. Other residents on Lanai will be considered for buying units if tenants turn them down. All but four units are occupied presently. If some units are still available after being offered to tenants and other Lanai residents, then they will be put on the open market.

"Our goal is really to sell it on the island," Savio said.

Lanai has a considerable inventory of million-dollar resort homes at Castle & Cook’s Manele Bay and Lodge at Koele resorts. Single-family homes in Lanai City for working residents typically fall well below statewide median home prices of about $600,000 for single-family homes and $300,000 for condos.

Many homes in Lanai City are from the plantation era, and aren’t in great shape. Last month, a 1,056-square-foot home built in 1935 sold for $195,000. Another home built in the same year sold for $135,000, property records show.

Savio said there are only four apartment complexes on the island. If the Lanai City Apartments conversion is successful, three would remain.