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"I saw the same report jrw is talking about and must say yeah the folks did not do their "due diligence" but.. and here is the rub.. it sounds like the realtor they dealt with hid the facts. If I was them I would be looking into taking the realtor to task.. ie court on that account alone. In fact as this all shakes down if any realtor is found to have hid the facts from buyers I say they should have their license to practice thrown out immediately and not be allowed to practice ever again. Period"
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It is the property owner's legal obligation to disclose , not the Realtor's. Adding a Lava Zone disclosure form to all sales that required both Sellers and buyers signature would be a big step towards clearing this up.
Assuming they went through a conventional purchase, they were made aware of the zone issue and all it implies through the disclosure process. No not always.....it is the Seller's legal obligation to disclose......not the Realtor, not the financial institution. A buyer's due diligence could be made much more easy with a lava zone disclosure form.
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"As someone that lived through every moment of the inundation of Kalapana I can recount more than one instance of a land owner telling me they had no idea there are volcanoes in Hawaii."
"when making a lifetime commitment and investment there is no excuse for ignorance."
Perhaps these buyers, when investigating their Kapoho or Kalapana lots, were in a blissful, non-discerning state brought about by partaking in some Puna Butter ganja provided by their realtors.....
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At the PICF meeting yesterday an acquaintance struggled to contain her schadenfreude when she realized that her policy was one of the few that didn't have a lava exclusion.
Un Mojado Sin Licencia
Un Mojado Sin Licencia
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It is the property owner's legal obligation to disclose , not the Realtor's.
That may be the case, but if I was a realtor, god forbid, I would be handing out the lava zone booklet to every perspective buyer and making sure we read it together long before I would take them to see any properties. I suspect that would insure I was a bad realtor, and my sales over time would reflect as much. Still, I think that should be required by law.
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When we were looking around at real estate back in 2012 I did my research. We didn't even look at anything on the rift. We did look in Kapoho, but it was too rich for my likes at the time. Ended up in LZ3, here's hoping *that* wasn't a mistake too.
Really, you are taking your chances anywhere in Puna and South Hilo.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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"That may be the case, but if I was a realtor, god forbid, I would be handing out the lava zone booklet to every perspective buyer and making sure we read it together long before I would take them to see any properties. I suspect that would insure I was a bad realtor, and my sales over time would reflect as much. Still, I think that should be required by law."
What should be required, by law is an informative Lava disclosure form, signed by both the buyer and seller...and made part of the binding contract.
Realtors want to make the deal, sellers want to sell, financial institutions want the loan. I think it's difficult sometimes for potential buyers, not familiar with the history of our Island to wrap their minds around the risk they are taking.
At this point in time, a lava zone disclosure form jointly signed by both parties should be a requirement of all real estate transactions.
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The realtor we use when we move here has a web site in which listed all the maps of the lava zone and what the number meant, His name i s Kevin Lewis.
jrw
jrw
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a lava zone disclosure form jointly signed by both parties should be a requirement of all real estate transactions
Not just lava, but full disclosure of all the "hazards" of ag zoning, private roads, helicopter tours, fire ants, coqui, etc -- and on every real estate transaction, not just the ones considered "residential" because there's an existing home.
I've been saying this for years. They just don't teach "due diligence" anymore.
