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hpp4me,
my wife and I are currently housesitting for lifelong friends on ohau for the next month as they get surgery in Texas.
we were considering doing the same on the big island when we come over in 2013. we have great references and would be willing to meet with you when the time comes if you are still in such a need!
I first need to get this retirement thing going. I will be 55, honey 53. take down my e-mail and keep in touch.
rustyham@live.com
peace
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I operate a vacation rental. In between guests, I have a housesitter. She is incredible. Very responsible,appreciates being at the home, stocks it for me, cleans before new guests come, leaves scarcely a trace and, when she is there for long periods reduces my electric bill through serious conservation.
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Thanks, all. All of these stories have me thinking that it might be best to give up on the B.I. because even after we move there we intend to travel the world half the time. Perhaps a "lock it and leave" condo in Honolulu might be better.
I appreciate all of the comments.
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the price is surely right.
peace
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True, condos are a lot easier when traveling. We have a hard time finding sitters when we want to vacation but we've got dogs and critters that need feeding so it makes it more difficult.
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson
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quote:
Originally posted by hpp4me
Perhaps a "lock it and leave" condo in Honolulu might be better.
Hey, we have condos on the Big Island, and they're generally less expensive than those in Honolulu.
Cheers,
Jerry
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Jerry is right, there are lots of very well priced REO (foreclosed) condos on the Big Island now.
Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
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That's worth considering. Thanks.
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hpp4me, don't give up on the Big Island! You know it's the best part of Hawaii.
We have a house which we leave empty half the year. We have an alarm system on it and if goes off a neighbor gets called (if she doesn't hear it first).
Our first day back is taken up with cleaning, but then it's all back to normal.
We didn't have our house built while we were off island, but I do know people that have. You just need to find a reliable builder.
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We originally thought of purchasing land and building a house while off island but realized it was difficult to build when you are around (anywhere) and going to be even harder thousands of miles away. we ended up purchasing a house that had been used as a vacation rental (it was fully furnished too). We keep it as a vacation rental using hawaiian paradise vacation rentals as our agents and visit three months a year. we make sure that our agents "block out" our time there and generally give them wide dates 6 to 12 months out and narrow them down as we get our air tix.
While it may not seem like the greatest idea, vacation renting helps to keep the house cleaned regularly (at the guests' expense) looked at regularly and aired out regularly. we aren't happy when things are moved, palmed or broken, but we accept it. I recently did the numbers for 2008 ball-park as follows:
$21,000 gross income (not including the transient accom and general excise taxes that the guests pay and we pass through)
Minus:
$7000 for our agents (steep, I know)
$2000 electric
$1300 dish tv
$900 telephone and DSL
$2500 gardening
$1000 maintanence and repairs
$3000 prop taxes
$300 hoa dues
$3000 liability, hurricane, etc. insurance
$1000 water
there are probably a few other expenses I'm forgetting (like the $20,000 cost to upgrade our cesspool to an aerobic system!) but you can see that the costs are more than the income (but at least they are close) While I wouldn't need some of the items (electric, water, insurance, gardening etc. would be less but still cost something), it allows me to keep the difficult to initiate DSL for instance and the property taxes, hoa dues would all still be the same.
Even if you win the retrace, you're still a rat
