| Songdoc |
May 6th, 2017 01:58 PM |
I Will NEVER Vacation on Kauai Again!!!
… because (OMG) now I LIVE there!!!! Yes, Songdoc has made the move to paradise, and it’s quite a story.
Our house in Nashville was built in 1949 and is needing extremely expensive repairs. It’s in a very exclusive area where every house that goes on the market is bulldozed and replaced by a mega-mansion. We were probably facing $100,000 in repairs that would not be recouped when we’d sell. So that was the push we needed to say “Aloha!”
I had my heart set on Kauai’s North Shore--and a beautiful view was mandatory. A “beautiful” view could be mountains, but to be honest, I yearned to see and hear the ocean.
For eight months we checked every listing and nothing came on the market anywhere near our price range that had the view--and was big enough. (i.e., Sealodge has the views, but at 766 sf for a 2-bedroom, we would have felt like we were living in a hotel room; Pale ke Kua had gorgeous views, but we hated the second bedrooms because they’re tiny lofts with no windows or ventilation.)
As more time went by we realized that we had three options: a single home in Wainiha (with beautiful mountain views, but awfully remote, and subject to the one-lane bridges washing out several times a year); Villas of Kamalii or Villas on the Prince, which are beautiful, newer, gated, spacious townhouses. Some of the Villas have great mountain views, but to see those views you have to look over rooftops, which sort of tainted the views for me.
The only chance of an oceanfront view seemed to be a condo at Ali’i Kai I. It’s an older, tired complex, but some of the units have great views and they felt big enough for the two of us. Hmmm…maybe we could renovate a unit if the view was right. But…in 8 months, not one unit came up for sale. Our realtor explained that most of them are investment properties used as vacation rentals--and the rentals were doing so well, nobody was selling.
We were about to give up hope of ever getting the oceanfront setting we really wanted, and were about to make an offer on one of the Villas when our realtor made a last-ditch effort. He sent a letter to the owner of every oceanfront unit at Ali’i Kai. He received one response -- from the owner of a unit with one of the best views, but the price was high, and if we bought it we were going to have to gut the interior to make it acceptable. We’re not pretentious, but it was pretty bad. But then… he received one more call from an owner and it was everything we could have hoped for--and more.
So last week we moved into probably the best location in Ali’i Kai. The ocean views are SPECTACULAR. It’s a corner unit with double the views, a wrap-around lanai (that faces two directions), and cross-ventilation. The previous owners had done a complete renovation: bamboo hardwood floors; granite countertops; new bathroom and kitchen cabinets; beautifully tiled master bathroom, and … they sold it completely furnished and decorated. Their taste is much better than ours and we never would have spent so much on furniture!
So, if I’m gushing it’s because I am sitting on my lanai with stunning ocean views and albatrosses swooping by, and it is better than anything we had even hoped for! Sometimes, dreams really do come true!
Next: what we’ve been doing since we arrived…
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