Owning on the BI, living on the Mainland

[oink]

There should also be some substantial tax benefits.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.

[hpp4me]

I once posted about this idea and was told that it is very difficult to get renters these days and that most vacation homes stand empty. How often have you been able to rent your home?

Also I was told that unless you are on the ocean or have sweeping ocean views, it is difficult to rent a place. Are you on the coast or inland?

Thanks for your detailed post. I really appreciate it.

[John S. Rabi]

Whoa! That 30% to the agent is pretty steep, most vacation rental companies charge 20%. Regardless of the number of vacation rental properties available, if your property is unique than you will not have a problem keeping it rented at least 60% of the time.

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!"

[Liz]

We also did the vacation rental route, with our own time blocked off, for many years before being able to move over full-time. At first we used a rental agency but, as you've found, the rates can be steep - and we were ripped off by renters but not told about it nor reimbursed by the agents. We mutually agreed to drop each other (good riddance!) and happily managed it ourselves, long-distance, hiring local friends to do the cleaning and set-up between guests.

Now that we have moved to the island and have our own studio built, we can do it all ourselves. We do not have an ocean view; just in a quiet neighborhood, but on clear days we can see Mauna Kea.

Lately, it seems like many bookings are only a few weeks out, rather than months ahead as they used to be in better economic times, which is interesting. We list our rental on several websites as well as having our own pages, and are actually doing quite well with almost constant bookings January through March. It can be done!

aloha, Liz

"The best things in life aren't things."

[missydog1]

hpp4me
I remember you asked about building and renting and were told that. The key difference is in buying an existing successful vacation rental.

If you plan to travel that much, an exisitng vacation rental could be a great choice. If you no longer have another living space, then you kind of have to liquidate all your personal stuff and be willing to live in the rental as furnished. With some luck you would find a rental that has a lockable room or other area where you could leave your personal stuff.

Be careful though about leaving your papers. That was how this one guy lost his identity and his house, by leaving papers in filing cabinets.

[hpp4me]

Okay, I have been convinced that caretakers cannot be trusted and the vacation rental idea is not good.

Here's a different strategy: Has anyone heard of a property management company that will take on the service of just checking in on a property now and then and taking care of occasional pruning; also, respond to any alarms and do any emergency repairs?

[Seeb]

hey, what about one of them robots you can control by internet. you could at least see whats going on in and around your house

[Dot]

Aloha, don't give up on your dream! It was my 30 year dream, it can all be do-able, it happened for me after 48 years in Alaska! We stumbled our way through the owner-builder process, met some wonderful people while on the way, and we're on our way to a final permit on our beautiful plantion house in Pahoa. Our electrical, plumbing and concrete contractors were awesome, couldn't have asked for better! We have an awesome neighbor that watches our house like a hawk (we're on 1/4 acre lots which helps). It has worked out good for her, and good for us. She airs it out a few times each month, runs the water to make sure everything is working, etc.

With that being said, yes-there was times it was stressful, and yes-we are still married, we passed the test! In the big picture, if you rent it out as a short-term vacation rental, in order to keep it affordable, the actual profit you make isn't a whole lot (electricity is a big chunk). There is a lot to be said for the pride of ownership, being able to watch your plants grow each trip back over. I tell our friends we don't have grandchildren yet, but we have a Hawaii house instead! Be organized, keep good track of your receipts, a lot of the items are deductible on your taxes.

We made 2 trips over last year to build, we used the www.vrbo.com website for lodging,it worked out great both times, stayed in Pahoa. We're not ready to make the "renting to strangers" step yet, we are keeping it simple, just renting to friends and family through word of mouth.

If you get serious about it, I would be happy to give you all the names and numbers of the contractors that helped up - don't give up!

Take care - Dot

[Blakeyboy1]

I have a question (or several) that I think are related to this subject.

1) I read everywhere that vacant homes in Hawaii are a bad thing and the elements begin taking them over. We will be looking at several homes that have been built and never occupied and have sat vacant. Are there things we should be aware of or looking for in these homes?
2) Regarding condos, I do not know where to find HOA fees on the listings. Are these required to be listed in Hawaii? From what I have seen the HOA fees are very large. Is this the norm?

Thank you!

-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/

[Kelena]

Blake,

If you check hawaiiinformation.com, that site lists the HOA fees for listing.

Scratch that --the site is hilo-brokers.com Here's a sample: http://hilobrokers.com/cgi-bin/hb?MLS214092