Our Condo in Hawaii

We went to a dental meeting in Hawaii. We went to Maui and stayed. We really liked it a lot so I started looking at real estate. Real estate was going so well in Maui that places in the planning stage were sold before they were built. We went over to the Big Island of Hawaii and we saw the Kona Bali Kai condos that were right on the beach in Kailua, Kona. I decided to buy a condo there. The real estate agents were Lil and Wally Lenty. I gave them a $25,000 check as a deposit. I din't have $25,000 in the bank. The first thing I did when I got home was to call my banker and she covered the check. The total price was $96,000 for unit 404. Real estate was just starting to take off on the Big Island. I went on a trip up to Canada and I started to think that I should buy another unit #409 for $96,000. I called up my friend and lawyer, Bob Ludlow, that he should buy one and he did.

One year later I sold unit #409 for some realtors for $210,000. They put it up for sale for $249,000. The market dried up and 5 years later they asked me to take it back. They had given me a $50,000 down paid me $1,700 a month for 5 years. I took it back. It took me two years longer to resell #409 for $155,000. I took a lot at Ponderosa Pines in northern California as part of the down. Years later I gave the lot to Cindie and Rob to use as a down payment for their house in Pleasanton.

We kept unit 409 for about 20 years. Since no one was using it after we moved to Oregon we sold it.

We decorated both condos and we had to use local furniture stores and even Woolworths in Hilo for lamps. They both looked great. Our units both had balconies looking straight out to the ocean. There was also a swimming pool and shops in the building. Our kids and our friends used the condos for free for many years.

While we were there we would drive all around the island looking at black sand beaches, Queens bath, the Volcano National Park, Hilo, lava tubes. After the Volcano would be erupting while we were there. We looked at the Perkin ranch in the middle of the island and all the sights in Hilo and all around the island. It was a large island and many things to see.

When we would fly over we would stay in Honolulu at the Rainbow Gardens Hotel for a few days and look all around Waikiki. We would go over to the other side of the island and go tot he Polynesian Cultural Center and all the sights on the North Shore. Once when we were on our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center we stopped to help a Hawaiian lady and her family who were having car problems. I helped them out and they were so grateful. They were surprised that a "Haile" Would stop and help them. She gave me the name of her cousin and told me to see her at the Cultural Center. We did and he gave us free tickets to get in. Every year after that for many years we exchanged Christmas cards with that nice family. We sold our condos in 1997-1998.