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...coqui frogs, they are a very ting frog that are very very noisy. I have heard at night they get so loud it is hard to hold a conversation in side your own home. hilo I think is very pretty
True, although understated by a factor of 10
If you don't mind dealing with vog, then there are bargains to be had in Volcano Village.
But in terms of vrbo.com, take md's advice; call. Owners are hurting and there are lots of them who would gladly take much less than the "official" asking price for some guaranteed months.
Thank you. Perusing their site, based on the prices, it seems more tailored for one or two week rentals, making them more expensive. Other sites I have been to where you sign an actual lease for months at a time it seems more affordable.
I have heard that Honolulu is a very expensive city to live. From the outside I would guess that would apply also to the north shore of Kauai and the souther part of Maui. Are there any places that would be considered good "buys"? Ocean view is not all that terribly important. There is something to be said for being surrounded by greenery.
As I said before, IGNORE THE ASKING PRICES. Most of the owners are in denial and hope to snag a renter with more money than brains. This is why I said to PHONE them. Explain what you want and you will see the price drop immediately. I have done this more than once. Don't worry if they are quoting 1 week prices. It doesn't matter. The place I live in now was asking $2400 monthly as a "reduced" rent vs $800 per week. I have been here 6 months at $1200 month. I don't pay for electricity, water, sat tv, broadband, gardener, etc. I even have maid service. I write 1 check per month for everything! I was able to choose between 6 places who all were willing to do whatever it took to get income.
I agree. But either there is more of those kind of deals there, or I have not been in a situation recently where I was buying a product that could be haggled.
If you are able to work from home with a high speed internet, then you'll be able to pick and choose where you want to live. Try a different island each year until you find one you really like. While you are here the first winter, you'll be able to make arrangements for your next winter's home.
What other considerations are you looking for? Beaches? Shopping? City life? Rural?
Being near the beach is not terribly important. I love the water, but not for actually going in it. So an ocean view would be nice, of course, but not a deal breaker. My main considerations are furnished, two bedroom between 1 and 2 K per month and high speed internet.
I had not thought of the "different island every year" but I like it. In reading the boards one of the main issues that has come up to me is this. Doing without seems a common issue. Things we are used to here on the mainland may not be available there. Things such as choices in the supermarket, choices in restaurants, things like that.
One thing you learn quickly is that if you see something you might want, buy it - don't wait. It won't be there when you go back. Flooring or lights at Home Depot, a Christmas tree, whatever - snag it when you see it! Most things are available in SOME form or another (with a few exceptions, e.g., nice office client chairs, though if I'd waited long enough Craigslist would probably have come through with something), you just won't have the number of choices you are used to. At least on Kauai.
For example, when furnishing my office, I found ONE decent kind of arm-less swivel chair for a modest price, at Cost-U-Less. A few expensive 'executive chairs' at Costco (maybe 2-3 models). 2 or 3 models at the local office supply store (also expensive). Could have anything shipped from the Office Max catalog, but shipping was exorbitant. Basically crap at KMart and Walmart. And that's it. (And, as I mentioned, except for some woo-hoo teak jobbies at the fancy-goods store, for unholy prices, NOTHING that would really work as a client chair - had to get those from another lawyer who was closing his office, he'd gotten them from Honolulu.)
I got a nice conference table from Craigslist. Not much available on-island in that department.
Desk from Costco. Again, within my parameters, it was basically the only thing available. Not a lot of choice.
Got bamboo flooring from HD. They have about 6 choices for laminate flooring in stock, many fewer than the HD in upstate NY, and when they run out, you have to wait weeks - and be very persistent about checking back, they won't call you - for it to come in.
But milk really does only cost $3.49/gallon (though if you buy the wrong brand accidentally, or they are out of the right one and you can' t wait, it can be up to $9, honest-to-goodness).
Limited choices. Just another facet of island living. (Hey, I've been here a year and a half and I LOVE it!! I am SO not leaving! Even if I had the money to leave, I wouldn't. ;-) I'm just realistic. Maybe that's why there really hasn't been a 'rude awakening' for me; I knew many of these things about island life before moving here, and knew that such things would be minor annoyances at most to me. The occasional ant, as it were, in the picnic of life. Definitely not 6" centipedes (they're here too... hubby met one a couple of weeks ago), or a swarm of African Killer Bees (they're not, I don't think), just ants.)
dglade - if you don't mind me asking, what do you do that allows you to work from home?
I need to find a gig like that.
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