Looking for a good Big Island realtor (Honolulu, Hilo: sales, real estate)

[Lisa In Colorado]

Hi Everyone,
I've read a lot of posts but this is the first time I've registered and actually posted myself. I'm so thankful to all you Hawaii people who take the time to help us mainlanders with our endless questions! The time you volunteer to do this really is so valuable to me and others.

I read on one post of a realtor named Cynthia who was highly recommended. If anyone has her contact info please pass it on to me. Or if you feel you know a honest, down to earth realtor who isn't snobbish...a lot of realtors seem to be mostly interested in selling the high priced Hawaii properties.

I'm still not sure how to use the search correctly to find the info I need from the previous threads. I tried putting in Mountain View and what it returned was not anything about Mountain View on the Big Island. Any suggestions on searching?

Do any of you watch for good airfares to the mainland? What are the best prices you've found? Best airlines with most direct routes? I'll be coming from Denver with my family. I have been to BI before, not looking for real estate, just to enjoy it. Now I'm contemplating moving there possibly part time. I would be a good neighbor, always trying to improve any real estate I own, and even if on a part time basis I believe in taking an active role in supporting the community I live in. I say this because I'm sure you've seen an influx of people who don't care so much, as we have here in northern Colorado.

And what the heck is Vog? never heard of that before......

[McFrostyJ]

Here you go!


Vog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Lisa In Colorado

I'm still not sure how to use the search correctly to find the info I need from the previous threads. I tried putting in Mountain View and what it returned was not anything about Mountain View on the Big Island. Any suggestions on searching?

In this forum, using the Search This Forum function on the right side of the control bars, I typed in Mountain View as the search term, clicked the button to show me Posts, and got 173 hits, including yours.

Or I could have used the Advanced Search function (at the side or at the top), and chosen the forums to search.

I generally choose to look at Posts rather than Threads, because I get right to posts using the term, and can broaden to the entire thread if desired, as opposed to going to the thread and having to wade through posts to find the right one.

Hope this helps.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Lisa, I moved to the BI from Denver three years ago, so welcome to the forum and I hope I can be of some help.

Regarding realtors, if you are looking in Mountain View, then you definitely want a realtor from the Hilo area. Cynthia's city-data name is cynmkolohe. I did a search for "Cynthia Realtor Hawaii" and it came right up.

Just curious as to why you are looking in Mountain View. It's at a higher elevation and can be very rainy there. I assume that you will be retired, as you say that you will be moving part-time. Do you have the opportunity to check out different areas while you are here -- I mean to stay in a vacation home for at least three or four days in each place.

Regarding vog, it is basically toxic smog being emitted from the eruption in the Halemau'mau Crater. Been going on for five years, with no end in sight. Usually the trade winds blow the vog away from Hilo, across the southern end of the island (with some pooling in Pahala), and around to Kona, where it eddys. When the Kona winds blow, then the vog goes towards Puna and Hilo. Where I live on South Point the steady winds blow it right by us, but people and crops do feel the impacts. Nine times out of ten when we go to Kona it is socked in and looks like heavy smog over LA.

Regarding flights from Denver, the only non-stop that I know is United's one flight on Saturday. Hawaiian, Alaska, Delta, United all fly to Kona either going through Phoenix, LA, San Fran, or Honolulu. The best airfares I've found from Denver are around $800 pp. I usually look at as many of the different fare compare sites as I can, as well as watching the sales from the individual airlines.

[Lisa In Colorado]

Thanks to all the posters for your quick replies. I learned a lot about Vog, searching city data forum, and it looks like Cynthia is not available as a realtor anymore so I am still looking for a realtor.

To answer Dreaming of Hawaii, I saw some interesting low priced properties in Mountain View and was trying to find out about the area. I haven't made any favorites yet, I just know that I brought back a very good impression from the Big Island (as opposed to Wikiki and Oahu). We drove completely around the island, I didn't see anything I didn't like. I am not concerned about getting a job, schools, commuting or the price of gas or groceries. Not wealthy, just looking to spend some nice time in a beautiful place. As time goes on, we will probably spend a few months every year in Hawaii. I like snorkeling and walking along beaches and my husband loves to fish. I've always lived in a dry climate so a tropical rainforest with real rain, humidity and tropical flowers sounds heavenly. I would like to invest in some type of property in the near future because I have a strong feeling the value of land on the Big Island is going to increase significantly in the next few years (great for all of you there now!) I heard that a pretty part of the island is called Wa’a Wa’a. Its along the road connecting Kapoho to the oceanfront part of Hawaiian Beaches and Shores. Its road rough and primitive. Anybody know this place and have an opinion?
I would love to hear all your opinions on the prettiest, yet still affordable, areas of the Big Island. Thank You!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Lisa In Colorado

it looks like Cynthia is not available as a realtor anymore so I am still looking for a realtor.

I don't think there's any one Realtor who can effectively help you with the whole island. There's just too much ground to cover for any one persona to know it all well.

For Puna you might try Clark Realty in Volcano. For Hilo area try Orchid Isle Realty.

[terracore]

"I'm so thankful to all you Hawaii people"

Who are you calling "you people"?

LOL.

Anyways, find a realtor who specializes in the region that you want to live in. Alfred Seabury lives in Fern Forest and John Erickson lives in Orchidland. If I had to choose between the two I would use Erickson at ReMax.

I think I had 7 realtors altogther, and the two names above were the ones I didn't fire.

[Fredesch]

Ouch, why did you need 7 realtors?

[terracore]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

Ouch, why did you need 7 realtors?

We only had one realtor at at time. 5 of them were fired due to an inability to provide a reasonable level of customer service.

[hotzcatz]

We've been arranging air fare for this summer's vacation lately and somewhere in all that mess, I think I did see a flight direct to the Big Island from Denver. It was only once a week, I think it was on a weekend, and we didn't look at the price and I forget the airline, but I think there is one.

It is sooo much nicer to fly without layovers. My DH got online and did all the vacation reservations this year. He managed to keep the costs extremely low - $800 for two to go from Kona to Oakland to Kansas City to Connecticut to Atlanta and back, but there are multiple long time (8 to 10 hour) layovers and almost a minimum several hour layover at every stop. It might be inexpensive, but it's gonna be brutal.