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+--- Thread: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation (/showthread.php?tid=5782)
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - sistersue - 08-12-2009
P.S:
Be very careful to check out the neighbors before you buy a lot. Maybe spend a day or two hanging out on the property because I have a friend who didn't do this and she ended up living next door to 8 barking Pit Bulls. Also, I built my house on the back half of my land. It's much more peaceful back here and if someone builds next door to you they will probably build in the front. Aloha.
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - Dave Smith - 08-12-2009
FYI, most of the lots in Orchidland are three acres. The two-acre ones are corner lots or located along the main access roads such as Orchidland Drive. I believe there's some smaller ones, as small as an acre and even down to a half-acre, in the front of the S/D near Highway 130.
We're in O-land and also built toward the back of our spaghetti lot (125 feet by 1,046 feet) for greater privacy. So far so good.
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - konadave - 08-12-2009
I have stayed in Hawaiian Acres and I now live in Fern Acres. There is a lot to be said for paved roads. The unpaved roads can get quite bad during the rainy season and just plain bad during the not so rainy season. If you decide to live off an unpaved road it will also determine the type of vehicle you will be driving as most regular sedans won't have quite the ground clearance you will want.
I chose to live in Fern Acres as it is right next to Hawaiian Acres and I think the elevation is just right. It is cooler during the day and at night than the lower elevations. It is beautiful and quiet and the main roads are paved and fairly well maintained. Another thing I like about Fern Acres is that you don't have to make the left turn onto 130 and you don't have to drive 130 at all which can get quite congested during the morning and afternoon rush. Of course I am jaded.... [
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RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - Susan - 08-12-2009
Thank you! Your comments are really helping. Keep it coming. I will go out to YouTube and check out the video. We have driven around Hawaiian Acres but it's been two years. The roads were pretty rough.
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - dcl - 08-12-2009
We are on a 2 acre lot in Orchidland subdivision, not on a corner, we are the next lot in from the corner on Aulii, most all of the lots on our street are two acre lots, as you go up Aulli you get into the three acre lots. On Aulii the ones facing Aulii closer to the highway are 1 acre lots. And yes these are spagetti style lots. We are fortunate that neighbors on both sides have either built further back or forward of where our house sits, and we have tons of plants and ohia trees so we don't even see the neighbors. Our back acre is in its natural state, which helps also. Depends on if you want to see your neighbors all the time or not.
Unfortunately, we were one of those new people who moved here not knowing anything about any of the areas. This was eight years ago. Everything looked great, did not notice anything bad until we moved in, then figured out there was a crack house next door, that was a nightmare, until that house burned down about eight months after we moved here, it has been peaceful since then.We have good neighbors now, and are happy to be where we are, but it certainly could have continued being a nightmare. So yes, really be careful, and think about visiting where you are looking at during the night and see what happens, preferably more than just one time.
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - csgray - 08-12-2009
Somewhere there is a thread where a bunch of people posted about how to pick your place here. I have a long post on it, but the short version is a 3 step process: put your stuff in storage or rent your house out furnished, come over with just luggage and your computers, rent furnished vacation rentals for 1 to 3 months at a time in several different neighborhoods you think you might like, then start shopping for a place. Prices will continue to go down for a while and we saved enough on the price of the house we eventually bought that we probably came out ahead, even with the long period we were renting. We ended up in a neighborhood very different from the ones we thought we would like from the mainland.
After living in Orchidland for 4 months I am soooo glad we didn't buy there. It may not get the most inches of rain, but it gets the most minutes of anywhere we rented! I would leave for work up in Kurtistown every morning and it was drizzling, it would be fine in HA when I drove through it, and then be misting agin when I got home. My husband always said it had pissed all day. We came from the Pacific Northwest so we can handle rain, but I could never again live in Orchidland.
Carol
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - missydog1 - 08-12-2009
That is excellent advice.
There really are no right or wrong places; it is so individual. The place we come from also affects what appeals to us here, whether because we like similar or are wowed by something different. I watched Blakeyboy's video and was thinking how much the ohia forest reminds me of "Pygmy forest" in Mendocino. My sons think so too. As we lived in the Pygmy forest and got tired of it, we are not mesmerized by ohia - whereas other people are and find it magical. Also I have been privileged to live in magnificent scenery much of the time since I left home forty years ago, and walked away from LA never to return. I've lived in the woods and by the ocean I have also lived in the desert. which has its own beauty. I'm spoiled. I've lived in places where I could have a home garden. It's not a big deal to me to have fruit trees or a garden, not like it would be if I were coming from a city. I spent a long time living in rural areas and was happy moving to the Bay Area where I had bookstores and cafes and stuff and could still have a beautiful garden.
So I feel pretty comfortable in Hilo, though wish it had more bookstores and cafes!
I know this topic is not about me. I'm explaining this to show all the preferences that inform my reaction to the question. I like a subdivision that's less wild than a lot of Puna, and like csgray I do not like Orchidland climate, and I was hunting in summer, not winter. I did see a most beautiful piece of land there, incredible, and I've seen dumps. It sure does vary. I like Leilani because it does have standards. I don't like being on the rift zone, another personal bias.
I ended up north of Hilo, a lot of that because my family is on the west side and it shortens the drive. I can't tell you how glad I am I don't have to drive a road like that in the video to go out. My road is a funky little paved road, and it's quite funky enough for me. But then I have done the "live on a rutted dirt road 20 miles from town" scene in the past, and don't need to do it again. At the same time I am glad for all the rural lifestyle I've had and wouldn't want to remove that from my history, so I say go for it if that's what your heart is looking for.
The main thing is to really know what it's going to be like on a day to day month to month basis rather than swinging through once or twice on a buying tour.
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - Kapohocat - 08-12-2009
The reasons I liked living in the Acres:
Really nice group of people up there! (yes the days of the Wild West existed in the past but that has in a large part settled down well mainly because a lot of the people up there are no longer 25 yr olds!) The Acres IMHO have a lot of people who go to work, farm a little, buy cars that fit the roads rather than their status, do not have a lot of time on their hands to be niele, and just generally genuine, nice people. There's a lot of people who have been up there a long time but they are really quite welcoming.
I loved being in the Acres in July, Aug, Sept even Oct. We were up there for dinner a few weeks ago and the temp was so pleasant - it just really made me miss HA.
Ted Stubbs is a Realtor who has been up there forever and knows it inside and out. He can tell you the good and bad areas, where it floods, or rains more often, what neighbors are where...
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - Blakeyboy1 - 08-12-2009
I saw this topic and went "OOOOH I have a video to contribute!". But everyone beat me to it. LOL. I have not run across anything about getting loans due to bad roads but I have to wonder if builders may prefer to avoid some of the rougher areas. To me the rough roads add to the remoteness because of how slow you have to go and how long it takes to cover relatively short distances. In the video it appears that we are cruising at a decent rate of speed but we were going quite slow and even in that very capable Jeep it was a crazy ride. Any faster and I could have easily lost control of the vehicle. Some of the bumps jarred by hands off of the steering wheel. Getting to the paved Road 8 was fab!
-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/
RE: Hawaiian Acres & the "roads" conversation - Susan - 08-13-2009
I fell down the ‘rabbit hole’ this morning having decided to check out Blake’s website before leaving for work. Seeing his Hawaii countdown was enough to mentally disinterest me in the rat race today. I was late today but not feeling guilty as I gave them 11 hours yesterday before going pau hana.
Great blog…..btw Blake I have been to Salt Lake numerous times for work related stuff. The company I work for is headquartered there.
I could swear I saw someone who lives in O land near Laniuma comment and now I can’t find it.
There seem to be a lot of bargain lots in Orchid Land (3 acres) near Pohaku. I think they are all between Laniuma and Pohaku. It this area where the water runs down form HA into Orchid Land and all the way down to HPP?
I am trying to take the TMK map and mark areas that are a definite no.
Another question…
You guys have an opinion good or bad regarding the news about the Big Island being chosen for the new telescope on Mauna Kea? I think it’s really cool. Do you think it might bring some high tech jobs?
If you get sick of me just tell me to go away.