Address question

[sweetwater]

When your address has a hyphen in it, is that what needs to be put on your mail? Ours is 16-2048. The current tenants will be staying in the house until we get there but we'll be wanting to getting our address changed for magazines, etc.. Does anyone know if there is mail service there in Keaau or will I need a PO Box?
Mike and Linda Bowman

[Carey]

Mike & Linda, Not sure exactly where your house is, but it seems that it is in Hawaiian Acres (by the 16-2000 address) between road F & G(Possibly on road 3???) If so, your mail delivery is at the post office either in Kurtistown (closer to the entry of the subdivision) or in Keaau.... it is your choice.... if there are any post boxes available.
HOWEVER, right now all of the post offices in Puna seem to have waiting lists & you probably need to be here in person to get one (check with your local postmaster, some have been able to do it...)

If you cannot get a post office, just have your mail forwarded to:
"(Your Name)
General Delivery
Town, ST ZIP"
Keaau is 96749
Kurtistown is 96760
Mountain View is 96771
Pahoa is 96778
Hilo airport (best chance of getting a post box) is 96720

There is some home mail delivery in Keaau... but not a lot (just around the town). If you are on an agriculturally zoned lot, esp. if it is an acre or more, most likely there is no home mail delivery (esp if it is out on the rough roads of many of the subdivisions...)

Congrats on the move.... just a quick question, have you seen the house in person?

[sweetwater]

We have not seen the house personslly but did hire our own home inspector. It's pretty scary getting a mortgage for this amount sight unseen but we couldn't make an extra trip with my work and college schedules. We're flying by faith! Linda Bowman

[Hotzcatz]

You BOUGHT a house sight unseen in a place you've never been before? In a falling real estate market to boot. Yee gawds and little fishes! Faith alone will have you step in front of a truck! God and all other deities gave you a brain for a reason don't shame Them by not using it!

(Yes, this is harsh! I am appalled and reacting honestly at this time. I suppose I should be politically correct and not have an honest reaction? Or get awake and have coffee before typing?)

If that actually is Hawaiian Acres between F & G on 3, you won't have mail service. You probably won't have pavement, you may not have power service although it is likely you will have phone service. Don't know about cable. There will be no trash service unless you hire an independent person to haul rubbish for you. No water service, but you probably already knew that. No CCR's in Hawaiian Acres, you could have nice neighbors or you could have a pig or rooster farm next door.

16-2048 HOPUE ROAD - Hawaiian Acres on Road 3 between F & G, no building permits, no structures
16-2048 LEIALOHA DRIV - Ainaloa, building permit in '89
16-2048 TIKI ROAD - Eden Roc, building permits in '91 & 2000
16-2048 UILANI DRIVE - Ainaloa, building permit in '91
16-2048 VISTA DRIVE - Ainaloa, building permit in '78
16-2048 'OPE'APE'A ROAD - Hawaiian Acres on Road 7 between F & G, no building permits, no structures
16-2048 37TH AVENUE - Orchidland near Ainaloa, building permit in '74
16-2048 ALOHA COURT - Eden Roc, building permit in '81
16-2048 EMERALD DRIVE - Ainaloa, building permit in '05. Owned by the bank, might be in foreclosure.
16-2048 GINGER LANE - Ainaloa, no building permits
16-2048 HANALE DRIVE - Ainaloa, permit in '07
16-2048 HILONANI DRIVE - Ainaloa, permit in '92
16-2048 KEAAU PAHOA ROAD - Ainaloa on the highway, permit in '07
16-2048 KOLOA MAOLI ROAD - Hawaiian Acres, Road 9 between F & G, permit in '05
16-2048 LEHUA DRIVE - Ainaloa, permit in '06
16-2048 MAUNA KEA DRIVE - Ainaloa, permit in '93
16-2048 MOHO ROAD - Hawaiian Acres, Road 8 between F & G, no permits, no structures.
16-2048 ORCHID DRIVE - Ainaloa, no permits - no structures
16-2048 PARADISE COURT - Eden Roc, permit in '06
16-2048 PUHALA DRIVE - Ainaloa, near the front, permit in '74
16-2048 SILVERSWORD DRIVE - Ainaloa, no permit, no structures

Well, there's only one lot in Hawaiian Acres which has 16-2048 and a structure on it so unless you are on Koloa Maoli Road, you may want to get a post box in Keaau (most Hawaiian Acres folks use Kurtistown) or in Pahoa since it looks like you are more than likely in Ainaloa or Eden Roc. Ainaloa doesn't have mail service, they do have power and phone and probably cable as well but I've never lived in there so I can't say for sure. They did just build a little shopping area at the front of Ainaloa perhaps someone in there has started a POBox service.

[John S. Rabi]

quote:

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Originally posted by sweetwater

We have not seen the house personslly but did hire our own home inspector. It's pretty scary getting a mortgage for this amount sight unseen but we couldn't make an extra trip with my work and college schedules. We're flying by faith! Linda Bowman

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Holy macaroni! You spent who knows how much to buy a HOUSE but you were not willing to drop everything and buy as TICKET to fly here for say a grand?![:0]

Aloha,
John S. Rabi ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[Likalizard]

Mike and Linda, have alot of faith! Be prepared and be positive. OMG.
keep in mind, Wizard of OZ: "your not in Kansas anymore". Use the PW search for all your questions, tons of info, good and bad. Better print out and take notes too. Start a booklet to keep with you. It tooks us at least four trips to the island to fall in love with PUNA side and then another trip to firm up deal with our future home, after the house inspection and the neighborhood and the dogs and the coqui and...and....and...sign de papers! We also were thankful we have friends living there to guide us also. POSITIVE...you will all be fine.

Lika


"To err is human, to forgive divine"

[Lin W]

I am SO tired of “hearing” this. I just saw similar in another thread. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with buying sight-unseen if you do a little research and use a home inspector. I did it in 2004. I had never been to Hawai’i before I came here to live. I had spent all my life in the high, dry, Northern Nevada desert with a brief stopover in SoCal. There have been a lot of surprises here, but no major negatives. I love my little house and my yard, the neighborhood, the climate, and I’ve made some really good friends -- I’m happy. A few months after I arrived, the house next door sold and when the new neighbors arrived, turns out they bought sight-unseen off the internet, same as I had, only difference being they had visited Hawai’i in years past. They came from Wyoming and they’re still here and apparently quite content also. So, please, leave the shock and scorn out of your posts and quit tarring us all with the same brush -- we’re not all crazy or idiots or stupid and sight-unseen has worked very well for some of us. Aloha.



use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without

[Guest]

People have often traveled to places unknown to them.

Some even think there going to some place and they end up being somewhere else.... Can you say Christopher Columbus.[]

Think about all the pioneers that went across the US and immigrated the West.

Best of luck...

I remember telling my friends back on the mainland that I was moving to Highlow.

Only to have local people tell me it's called He-Low (hilo)

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It is the way, the way it is

[John S. Rabi]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lin W

...There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with buying sight-unseen if you do a little research and use a home inspector...

---

You are correct Lin, ther is nothing wrong with buying sight unseen. I have several clients who bought properties sight unseen with my help, but I always advice everybody not do it unless they have a special and trusting relationship with their agents.

Aloha,
John S. Rabi ABR,CM,CRB,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[Hotzcatz]

Actually, there is a lot wrong with buying sight unseen, especially since it is the biggest purchase most folks will make and it costs a lot to change their mind. True, sometimes it does work out. However, a lot of times it doesn't and it is an expensive mistake to make. It is also absolutely unnecessary to go that route.

A home inspector just checks the structure and condition of the home, do they include the neighbors and neighborhood? Also by buying sight unseen, you miss the perfect house you would much rather have had if you would have been able to see it in person but didn't like the looks of from the internet photo. It also locks you into a specific neighborhood which may not be the one you would have chosen if you would have been able to actually see them. Sure, they get a house maybe they can live with, but is it the best house for them? It is a falling real estate market right now, too. Buying now as opposed to buying six months from now doesn't save them any money.

So maybe it worked for you, Lin, but that doesn't mean it will work for everyone.