why visit before moving?

[missydog1]

Yikes, eigoya, that is quite a tale.

The worst stories I have heard were over sublets or short term rentals of an owner occupied house, which might seem an appealing way to do a three month rental. (I have rented a sublet here, and it was OK).

A friend of a friend sublet her house while she went to Europe, and came back to find the tenant had trashed the house completely AND sold all the absentee tenantÔs good stuff on Craigslist.

Another person I had met, he sublet his house and was on the mainland, and the tenants found his files and papers, and used them to commit identity theft. She messed up his bank accounts and changed the mailing address with his mortgage holder and didnÔt make payments, such that he returned to find his house foreclosed and he had not even known his payments were late.

She (one woman did all this) left him thousands of dollars in debt from her fraud, with no home, and ruined credit.

Then this just happened to friends of mine --
they got a housesitter while they went back east for a while, housesitter and petsitter. They came back and she had substantially trashed their house, and if you can believe this she had neglected their cat and the cat died (possibly of hunger). This was a beloved cat they had for ten years that was part of the family. Just a sad sad story.

No wonder landlords are not trusting.

There are some real scammers here.

[unknownjulie]

Wow, I did have a different experience off of craigslist, but it was for an immaculate house in a good neighborhood in Hilo- and I had to sign a year lease and pay and pay and pay... But anyhow, it got the family to hawaii and we didnt have too much stress. The advantage for me in using a private landlord, was that he allowed me to "buy" some furniture from his tenants that were leaving and going to the mainland. In other words, I bought some basic furniture and spent a few hundred dollars that probably saved my thousands in stress because I was arriving with kids... I suppose every experience is different, but don't be afraid to take a chance. It might work out in your favor. As far as the "atmosphere" of the big island. I equate it to a "small town in the midwest" with perfect year round weather.

[ri3ck]

I didn't intend for this to turn into a horror story thread,... and of course 'your mileage may vary' on how well one adapts to a new place.. but thank you all for the comments.
and Carey, I always enjoy encountering another perpetual student...