TY Realty: Home Away From Home

Rooted in a quiet patriotism, this family-owned business serves the military community - and beyond.

Founded in 1995, TY Realty began like many small rental-focused real estate companies, according to founder Steven Yamamoto. But the company truly found its purpose when it began working with clients connected with the military and government contractors.

“We started TY Realty to quietly serve those who serve and protect our country – and giving back has been part of who we are,” says Yamamoto. His wife Nancy died in 2021, and today Yamamoto’s son serves as the company’s president.

“Matt took over about three years ago,” says Dane Ing, TY Realty’s director of new business. “He grew up in the company, working summers. He’s done everything from taking reservations to cleaning condo units and delivering new refrigerators. He was the ideal fit to take over the company. He understands the scheduling, the clientele, and the core culture of aloha – making sure that people who come from the mainland feel really taken care of.”

“Being raised in a fast-paced hospitality environment taught me to develop thick skin, communicate directly, and stay focused under pressure,” says Matt Yamamoto. “Those experiences played a big role in shaping who I am professionally.”

TY Realty has a team of eight and serves a clientele of government and business professionals, as well as displaced locals during times of need. It specializes in providing them furnished condos, with services such as premium cable and weekly cleaning included. Over the past 30 years, the company has booked more than 35,000 reservations, Ing reports.

“We’re not catering to vacationers; we’re catering to people who are coming to work and to integrate into the community,” says Ing. “Some of our contractors are bringing their families for months at a time. They are signing up for AYSO soccer. They are going to farmers markets. That is the core of what we do.”

TY Realty earned a series of awards in 2025, including one for Matt Yamamoto, who was an honoree at the Kilohana Hospitality Awards, and another for the company, which was named a finalist for the 2025 Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics for the State of Hawaiʻi. It is also involved in charitable donations to the Hawaiʻi Foodbank, Palolo Chinese Home and the Hawaiʻi HomeOwnership Center, and is active in the Military Affairs Council of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi.

“One of the things TY Realty is most proud of is housing traveling nurses during the pandemic, and FEMA teams in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires,” says Ing. Providing those kinds of services, he adds, makes him feel like he and his company are “part of a larger cause.”

“We have seen a lot of activity here in the Pacific theater, so, with the clientele we work with, we feel we are not just supporting Hawaiʻi’s economy but also Hawaiʻi and the nation’s defensive readiness.”