What's with all the crazy housing ad on craigslist for Hilo? (Pahoa: rentals, credit check)

[smarino]

Ok, I know it's craigslist, but still. I was thinking of renting out my place in Florida and staying a spell in Hilo, but the ads on craigslist are really crazy. Not just the ads themselves (no visitors, no smoking, no pets, no partying, no nuthin), nor the prices ($700-$800+ for Val Hala Apts and $900+ for Waiakea Villas studios, neither of which I would want to live in), but there are a ton of SCAM warnings. I've rented through craigslist before and if you're careful it can work fine, but the B.I. looks dangerous for this.

Other than the bulletin board at the downtown health food store and the newspaper, how does one find housing in Hilo other than craigslist? Maybe just call property management places?

[hotzcatz]

Well, there's a lot of folks who will rent a place sight unseen and that gives scammers a place to be. If you are on island, it's easy enough to use Craig's list to find a place, but it doesn't work well from off island.

[smarino]

I'm not sure why being on island or off island would make any difference. I'm familiar w/ Hilo and lived there for decades, so I know what areas are good and which aren't. At some point you have to show up of course, I'm just talking about the listings on there.

Here in St Pete. Fl, we have a huge amount of people coming here as it's a popular destination, especially now that the weather is going to be great for about 7 months. The ads in craigslist here, while sometimes a little sketchy, are nothing like I am seeing on the Big Island. People here can actually not only rent places online, but buy as well w/o any problems. Of course you can't just send some stranger money. I bought a place in New Mexico once from seeing it on an online ad in craigslist. We exchanged emails, then talked on the phone, I flew over there, it was what it was, and it was very simple.

It's not the scammers, it's just the amount of them on the B.I. craigslist. There's also all the restrictions, which are, let's say, unusual. Normally a rental ad should mention the rental amount, talk about security deposits,etc. A share rental would list what the other tenants were looking for in a new roomie. But the B.I. ads are bizarre. Not being allowed to have guests is crazy. Or no fish tank???, no one who has a lot of social activity, no medical marijuana, yard is reserved for just the dogs, etc. It does give one an idea of who they would be living with though :] I've rented out property in Hawaii and elsewhere, and Hawaii is really no different than anyplace else. The background check and credit checks will weed out the people you might not want to rent to.

I think it's probably best to just contact property management companies directly. I looked at some of those last night online, and they have rentals at better prices than the Tribune and craigslist ads. Not all property management companies are created equal either. In the past I have had huge problems w/ Jan Mahuna and Coldwell Banker, but now it appears that Day-Lum has merged w/ Coldwell Banker, and Day-Lum was always a good place to go. If Coldwell Banker bought Day-Lum, then it would be better to look elsewhere. There's always airbnb too. I'm batting 50% w/ them, and on the one that didn't work out airbnb refunded most of my money, so that was nice.

[mikereilly]

It's funny. I've heard bad things about Day-Lum and good things. It's really hard to judge because the rumours are so incredibly different. I'd use Craigslist no problems, but I'd certainly do my homework and check the tax records of the property as well as see some ID from the owner to ensure I was renting from someone who actually owned the property. I've heard nothing but good things about Jordan Property Management, and although I heard a rumour she'd left the business I see that the web site seems to be up and running fine, so hopefully she's still in business. There was another guy in Kea'au who had a good reputation as well, but he's definitely retired. I'm not a fan of property managers who have an 'application fee'. Either they want your business or they don't, and if they don't they'll do the background check as part of their service to the owners of the property they are renting out.

[terracore]

My first attempted rental on BI was through Craigslist: they tried to scam me, but weren't clever enough.

My first real rental on BI was through Craigslist: Had no problems.

My next rental on BI was through Craigslist: Had no problems.

In my experience, scammers don't have common sense. If you have it, you'll be fine.

Prior to those experiences, we also did a VRBO.com rental without incident.

[smarino]

My experiences w/ Day Lum were 13 years ago Mike. Things may have changed since I had dealings w/ them. For sure though, renting in Hilo, and Hawaii in general, is a different animal than anyplace I've lived, and it is not because of the demand. My share rentals in Hilo have been so disastrous that I would not go that route again. And I agree, you can see the scammers a mile away on craigslist.

As I mentioned, that health food store downtown was always a good place to look for rentals on their bulletin board out front, but you have to already be there to do that.

My feelings on the background and credit checks is if you pass, I want that going toward my rent. If it doesn't pass, then yes, I would expect them to keep the money.

[b_a]

Originally Posted by mikereilly

I've heard nothing but good things about Jordan Property Management, and although I heard a rumour she'd left the business I see that the web site seems to be up and running fine, so hopefully she's still in business.

Just looked at Jordan's website and the links from the main page seem to be dead - meaning I tried to use the search dropdowns, clicked on a rental property, and clicked on the "Properties For Rent" hotlink and got a lot of "404 not found" errors. So maybe those rumors are true...

[leilaniguy]

I used Craigslist a few times over the years when I had a little 1 & 1/2 room ohana cabin. I got calls from a whole spectrum of people, some great, some weird, some nasty. One lady kept screwing up the water pump, I couldn't understand why it kept breaking down, then she told me she always flushed three times "cause I like a nice, clean bowl". I told her to leave. One guy showed up at about 8:30 in the morning, drunk, carrying a half rack of beer, a black eye and swollen nose saying "I'll take it" without even seeing it, then fell down in the driveway. I had to half carry him back out to the gate. The last ones were a local couple who asked if they could have a cousin overnight. I said OK. Three weeks later I had to kick all six adults, a baby and six chihuahuas and two pitbulls out. They stole the fire extinguisher and some of the furniture. The most far fetched inquiries came from the mainland. One guy from NJ said he and his wife really wanted it, IF it was ADA friendly and close to the busline and could I drive them around in my car? I had always advertised the place as being out in the jungle, on a dirt road, miles from Pahoa and had included pictures of the cabin, 5 steps up. I was asking all of $400. So glad to be rid of it.
.

[Plantastic]

For the past 2 1/2 months, my wife and I have been scouring the listings for rentals on Maui. I honestly could not tell if some of them were looking for tenants, or recruiting for a cult.

[leilaniguy]

Well, I know some of them are a bit edgy, there are some here too, but maybe they are looking for a good fit. (reference my previous post), If they are like me, they would probably almost rather get a gallon of gas and a match and be done with it.