meandering new member inro (Kihei, Lahaina: real estate, rentals, insurance)

[birdmove]

I live in Puyallup, Wa, and am 56 years old.Born and raised in the Seattle/Tacoma area. My wife and I made our first trip together to Hawaii in about 1980 (she had been there once). We went to Maui. We rented a motorcycle and put 500 miles on it in five days.First night we spent at the old Lahaina Inn. We rode to Hana and spent a couple nights at a beautiful ranch there. The owners had a whole herd of Shelty dogs, and we have always been dog lovers.

Anyway, I fell in love with Maui and Hawaii the second I got off the plan and took my fist look, and breath, on the islands.The beauty, the weather, the wonderful smell!

We made another 6-7 trips to Maui over the next 30 years. We were staying in Kihei during the terrible December storm a few years ago that knocked out power, caused floods, and bridge and road damage all over.We were staying on the beach in Kehei, and a road that ran to the beach turned into a river.We actually saw a porta potti from who knows where floating down this "street".There were at least 3-4 feet of red clay muck and water on the roads, and I saw people trying to walk through this mess, the mud sucking off there shoes. Cars that tried to cross this road/river would stall in the middle and people would have to abandon their cars and try to walk out.The homeowners on each side of the street would throw ropes to these people, as they were worried they would literally get washed out to sea! My wife and I will never forget that trip.

The year before, we finally talked my 89 year old Mother to come with us on a trip to Maui for a week. We stayed at a small condo in Kihei right on the beach.We took her to the Aquarium, and the Plantation, where we also took her on the little tour they have. We found plenty of things to do, my Mom being somewhat frail at the time, and walking much wasn't an option.We had a fine time, playing Pinochle, and siting on the daek with a gorgeous view.

In October of 2008 we took her to stay for five days in Yachats, Or, as she grew up on the beautiful Oregon coast.Anyone that's been there, just imagine what is was like 85 years ago!

My Mom finally passed away on Jan 23rd, 2008, so I was very glad we took her on these trips.

Our daughter has been living on the Big Island for about a year and a half, and my wife went and visited her and her boy friend a few weeks ago ( I had to work!). She had a real estate guy show her some houses in the Puna area, and near Pahoa. Well, the end result is that we put a bid in on a house in HPP, and are doing the back and forth bid and counter bid thing. The idea is, if we but it, to rent it out short term to vacationers for a few years, and come over and stay there ourselves for vacations when we can.Then we want to retire there, or even move over a bit before we retire if that's possible. We'd sell our current house to help pay for the move.

My daughters boy friend grew up on the islands, and kind of steered us to this area.

We understand that the tourism trade is certainly down. But this is a good time to buy, as house prices are also down. We've always dreamed about moving to Hawaii, but the house prices we always saw on Maui made it seem it would never be possible.The house we bid on in HPP is about the same price as we paid for a house in Puyallup that was built in 1911 with a very good sized yard, but the house in HPP was built in 2003 on an acre.

Also, I'm a life long motorcyclist, and it seems the Big Island has a lot going on in that area.There seems to be lots of area where a person can legally ride off road. Island fever will not be a problem with us. And since my Mother passed away, there really isn't much tieing me to where we live now.


Well, that's about it for now. I've been studying up on the rainfall in that area, rain water "catchment" systems, how to make the move, shipping a car or motorcycle, etc.

I've got a lot of reading to do here on this very helpful forum.

Thanks, Jon in Puyallup (that's "pew al up)

[Balad1]

Hopefully the house and all structures on the property you are buying are permitted, inspected, approved and permits closed out. Otherwise you can be in for unexpected problems.

Also make sure you get a home inspection by a fully licensed and bonded firm.

Lastly take off the rose colored glasses and read the inspection report carefully and address all short comings.

PS: I've been there, done that and don't want you to make the same mistakes.

[hotzcatz]

You may or may not be able to rent it out as a vacation rental. There are different requirements for a vacation rental than for a long term rental. I think vacation rentals have to get the same sort of special permit that bed and breakfasts do, but I'm not sure of that. You could, however, most likely rent it out for long term rentals although for that I think you have to have an on island manager for the rental.

[birdmove]

Thanks for the comments. If our bid is accepted, we will have an inspection done as soon as possible by a reputable inspector. One good thing is that the house is pretty new, being built in 2003.The real estate people that we are dealing with (not the "listing" agent) manage about thirty homes that they rent out for the owners, for a fee. They handled the house my wife rented for a week on her recent trip.

And now it's 30 degrees outside. I'm off to work on my motorcycle.

Thanks again, Jon

[Balad1]

Another thing to check into and evaluate is the cost of insurance on your new home purchase. Depending on the Lava Hazard Zone for your property the premium can be very expensive or have serious limitations. Also normal home insurance can be high for a dwelling that is not owner occupied or on a catchment system.

I'm not saying that any of these things are deal breakers but you just need to be aware of them, especially if you're going to finance your purchase.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Jon, you are where we were seven years ago. We bought vacant land on the BI near South Point and built a house in 2005. We have been using it as a vacation rental to help with some of the mortgage and utility costs. While you can't totally cover all of your costs, it does help.

You do not need any special license or approvals to do this, but you do need to collect and pay Hawaii County taxes. For one property, you do not need to hire a rental company. We use a website called vacation rentals by owner and handle all of the details ourselves. We have a couple in the neighborhood who do the cleaning and landscaping, and a local handyman who makes all of the necessary repairs for us.

I would suggest that you check out the vrbo website and look at the rental calendars of other vacation rentals in your area. Tourism has been way down, so the calendars probably don't look real good right now.

We are retiring and moving to our house in three months. Can't wait to be on "island time" full time!

[birdmove]

Thank you for the comments. I'll take a look at that website. I won't be retiring for a while, as I'm 56 years old. How great it is for you to be retiring soon, and then moving to the Big Island!! Are you shipping a car (or cars) over?

Take care, Jon in Puyallup, Wa.

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Jon, you are where we were seven years ago. We bought vacant land on the BI near South Point and built a house in 2005. We have been using it as a vacation rental to help with some of the mortgage and utility costs. While you can't totally cover all of your costs, it does help.

You do not need any special license or approvals to do this, but you do need to collect and pay Hawaii County taxes. For one property, you do not need to hire a rental company. We use a website called vacation rentals by owner and handle all of the details ourselves. We have a couple in the neighborhood who do the cleaning and landscaping, and a local handyman who makes all of the necessary repairs for us.

I would suggest that you check out the vrbo website and look at the rental calendars of other vacation rentals in your area. Tourism has been way down, so the calendars probably don't look real good right now.

We are retiring and moving to our house in three months. Can't wait to be on "island time" full time!

Curious to what subdivision you built in (HOVR,HOVE,ETC)?

I live on Kauai but own in HOVR and plan on building there within a year or so.

Congrats on your upcoming adventure.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Jon, we decided to ship our car over (costs about $1,000 from Seattle). It's a ten-year old high clearance 4-wheel drive that will fit right in. We've been on the BI enough to discover that there are lots of places that you can't get to without a 4-wheel drive, and we love to explore.

Balad, we built in Discovery Harbour. When you get ready to build, I highly recommend Scott Stabo, Stabo Construction. Looked around in HOVE, but it was too "stark" for me. HOVR was even worse in my opinion, although we have friends who love it there. I like the green-ness of DH and we really like the community.

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Jon, we decided to ship our car over (costs about $1,000 from Seattle). It's a ten-year old high clearance 4-wheel drive that will fit right in. We've been on the BI enough to discover that there are lots of places that you can't get to without a 4-wheel drive, and we love to explore.

Balad, we built in Discovery Harbour. When you get ready to build, I highly recommend Scott Stabo, Stabo Construction. Looked around in HOVE, but it was too "stark" for me. HOVR was even worse in my opinion, although we have friends who love it there. I like the green-ness of DH and we really like the community.

Thanks for the heads-up about Stabo Construction. Our building plans were finally completed last week and we'll be looking for a quality builder in the future.

I agree that HOVR is not for everyone and I never thought I would like it at first blush. We were able to buy a lot at the very bottom of Ranchos so our view is currently unobstructed all the way to the Antarctic.

Funny but after living on 2 acres in Kauai we are sick and tired of vegetation. It's a fulltime job to try and keep things in check and I don't even mow the lawn. I didn't retire to be a slave to my yard. At HOVR I will irrigate what I want to grow and the rest will be pahoehoe and a`a lava.