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Lenny and family left either last night or this morning. That house may be a little small for what they want, but I agree, its a good price. After we hunted around for a while, it seems that they are leaning more toward Leilani, but I'm sure she'll see this message and check it out.
John Dirgo, RA, ABR, e-PRO
Island Trust Properties, LLC
808-987-9243 cell
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Thank you for the update John Dirgo!
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Aloha Everyone,
My Hawaii trip, ummm I guess I¡¦ll start at the end since I am incredibly jet lagged.
It¡¦s Sunday about 8:30 east coast time and I am just about to settle into bed. I am determined to catch up on all the sleep I lost while on my visit to the BI. We left the island last night via Kona airport and I could have sworn I was still in Hilo. It had been raining heavy and nonstop since about 4pm. I lost a sandal trying to run to get to the plain and had to run back for it. LOL
We left Hilo early morning and took saddle road to Kona because my hubby wanted so bad to stop at the observatory. I told him I thought it was too high for the kids to go up and he insisted. Fortunately right when the road becomes unpaved we noticed a bag of cheese doodles about to burst and decided to turn around. When we asked the ranger about my safety concerns for the children (and the cheese doodle bag..lol) he told us that I was right and that they do not recommend any children under 16 y/o to go up the mountain. He also said that the cheese doodle bag would of burst in just a couple of more minutes of driving! Thank goodness for that bag we turned around on time! LOL
Since our flight didn¡¦t leave until 10:50 we needed a place to wait for the rest of the day and booked a room at the Kona Islander Inn to spend the day. It was last minute and I was surprised that they even had availability since everything else around there seemed to be sold out! It was impeccably clean to our surprise and I would definitely recommend it.
Well, I have to say that you have all been extremely accurate in your description of Hilo and Kona. It is really like night and day! We drove around most of what was close to us and we might as well have been in CA or NY with a beach and palm trees. And the heat! Lets not even go there. Lol, it must have been almost 98 or more yesterday (or today, or a couple of hours ago¡K.well you know what I mean. It is definitely a vacation spot in my opinion. So so glad we had time to wonder around Kona before we left.
As to my research, well John Rabi and everyone else who recommended John Dirgo I thank you very much. It is a good to be working with John. He drove us around showed us the subdivisions and gave us a good idea of what each was like. He provided us with a load of great advice and tips on the subdivisions and homes.
We spent every wakin hour driving around and checking out the subdivisions. The first one was Sea View Estates. Gorgeous place but too far from everything for us. (we took a small detour and checked out Kehena beach. Well I left almost all of the skin on my left leg there and probably have a permanent scar from my visit. But, I absolutely loved the beach and can see myself there meditating on a quite lonely morning. (far back from the waves and rocks though!)
We fell in love with Leilani Estates and narrowed it down to Leilani, Nawale, Hpp,shores,recreational and so on coming in third for now. We also drove through Pahoa, Keauu, and all the way to Volcano. Volcano was immediately eliminated but certain parts of Pahoa, and many part of Keauu appeal to us very much. We saw two homes we both loved in Leilani and are contemplating a bid. The one home we would of probably wanted to place a bid on immediately went under contract right before we arrived. We saw one home for sale by owner that we loved but we didn¡¦t take the number down. Probably out of our price range anyway. ƒ¼ We loved the serenity of Leilani and neatness of the entire area. We also like the mail delivery very much (assuming we buy in a section that receives it.) We like the paved roads, cleanliness and neighborly feeling we got. Although they don¡¦t bother us (we like those sounds) the frogs are a lot louder than we thought! We also drove around most of Hilo if not all of it. Up in the hills of Hilo there are a couple of areas we would not mind purchasing in simply because it would most likely be closer to work and school not to mention one of our biggest desires¡K.county water although we know that it is out of the question. We did however enjoy the drive.
First let me mention we did not stay at Uncle Billy¡¦s. Very sweet and polite staff but not a place I could of stayed at even if the kids were not there. We checked in and checked right back out. We would of preferred to stay at the Hilo Hwaiian but they were booked. We ended up at the Naniloa which was a lot better than Uncle Billy¡¦s but not much different. Sorry but just can not honestly recommend anyone to stay at Uncle Billy¡¦s.
As far as experiencing local life we spent lots of time walking and driving around to get the most out of what daily life is on the east side is like. I didn¡¦t have time to drive to Tex¡¦s for the malasadas but I visited the Hilo market almost every morning and bought some from a lady named Pauline that sells them there. I even made friends with her she gave me great advice as to a move and wished me luck and also asked me to look her up if and when I moved to the island. I kept her card and gave her my information as well. We bought some coconuts from another lady who went out of her way to open them for us. We also took John¡¦s advice and visited the Makuu market on the first Sunday and had a great time. We also made friends with a lady at Uncle Billy¡¦s Store which we visited every day 2 or 3 times a day. I had to have my daily fix of Haipu ice cream! She was great and even asked for me when my husband went down to get something alone. I think I met Scott. Well not literally, but John pointed him out to me in the market as he was walking away. I looked for Tony but didn¡¦t get a chance to see him. We ate at Uncle Billy¡¦s once for dinner and once for breakfast and chit chatted with the one waitress both times. My kids performed the Hula on stage and the Mai-Tai was definitely strong. Have to remember that when I have a crazy night out w/o the kiddies. LOL
In conclusion I feel there is lots of Aloha on the east side. I feel my research went extremely well and I came home with much more information both practical and emotional than I expected. It had been five years since my last visit but I can honestly say that not once did I feel like a tourist.
Punamom, that home seems great! It is however smaller than what we are looking for as far as space but definitely within our price range. Thank you for the heads up it helps out!
Lenny
Lenny
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Glad to here all is well.It reminds me of us,It took a month of all that running around until we realized we would have to build it ourselves to get what we wanted at a price we could afford and since its been 5 years now and we are still not finished I wish we had just bought something and added on to it or whatever.
Best of luck to you all don't be afraid to low ball em (offers I mean)
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Hi Lenny,
If I remember correctly you have twin boys about 4 or 5 years old, We have a 7 yr old daughter when we lived in Orchidland she had no other kids to play with in the neighborhood because like Leilani most of the houses are set back from the street and very private. A few months ago we moved to Ainaloa and now she has lots of other kids to play with on our street and many of them go to her school (Keonepoko Elem) I think Hawaiian Shores/Beaches has lots of young families and the school is very close with Bus service too.
Lee
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Punamom Thank you for the tip. I was kind of concerned about doing that and wondering how it would be perceived. We've been told by agents here that its considered an insult in most cases and they don't recommend it.
Hi Lee, you are right I have a set of 4 year old twins. A boy and a girl (needless to say I am DONE with having kids.) LOL
I was concerned about that as well. I want the kids to have lots of friends to socialize with. Here life is too fast paced and other than school they don't have anyone else to play with. There are no other kids in our small family. But they absolutely love making friends.
Lenny
