08-03-2009, 01:41 PM
Everyone, thank you so much for your comments and advice!
Having been around a bit I have picked up a lot of good information about the area yet every time I talk to people here I pick up a bit more!
I'd like to clarify that we are not planning on buying anything on this trip and it is just another exploratory trip (we were there in March and after this upcoming trip we will be back in December). We are still quite open to ideas and suggestions at this point and really are not sure what we want. Earlier in our searches were kind of steered away from Hilo and north and steered towards Puna where we spent most of our time on our last trip. We had zeroed in on HPP and have rented a house there for our upcoming trip but are increasingly refocusing on Hilo for being near things. We are not condo adverse (we currently live in a downtown high-rise condo) however there do not seem to be a ton of choices and HOA fees tend to be quite high for condos in Hawaii.
As far as renting first I know it is the smartest thing to do and we have been told that before. It is not entirely out of the question however our plans as they currently stand call for using savings and proceeds from selling properties we currently own to pay cash for a property and supporting us for a period of time (the essentially free housing helping to enable this). If we rent first we will have greater expenses and will be reducing the money we have to eventually buy a place with. Anyway we still have a while to figure all this out as we are not moving until this time next summer.
I keep going back to specific areas pointed out by Dakine and Carey. I am going to do some more research on these and also mention them to our realtor as potential places of interest. Thanks again everyone and keep the suggestions coming!
-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/
Having been around a bit I have picked up a lot of good information about the area yet every time I talk to people here I pick up a bit more!
I'd like to clarify that we are not planning on buying anything on this trip and it is just another exploratory trip (we were there in March and after this upcoming trip we will be back in December). We are still quite open to ideas and suggestions at this point and really are not sure what we want. Earlier in our searches were kind of steered away from Hilo and north and steered towards Puna where we spent most of our time on our last trip. We had zeroed in on HPP and have rented a house there for our upcoming trip but are increasingly refocusing on Hilo for being near things. We are not condo adverse (we currently live in a downtown high-rise condo) however there do not seem to be a ton of choices and HOA fees tend to be quite high for condos in Hawaii.
As far as renting first I know it is the smartest thing to do and we have been told that before. It is not entirely out of the question however our plans as they currently stand call for using savings and proceeds from selling properties we currently own to pay cash for a property and supporting us for a period of time (the essentially free housing helping to enable this). If we rent first we will have greater expenses and will be reducing the money we have to eventually buy a place with. Anyway we still have a while to figure all this out as we are not moving until this time next summer.
I keep going back to specific areas pointed out by Dakine and Carey. I am going to do some more research on these and also mention them to our realtor as potential places of interest. Thanks again everyone and keep the suggestions coming!
-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/