Puna’s Got A Billionaire

[MyManao]

And previously sold for $350,000 in 2017.  $13,000 in 2014.  Must be a very special place.

I don't know special, I mean yeah having a tube is cool, but is it worth $860,000, or is it a tale of someone that has a different idea of the value of things than other folks?

The value of something is not what we commonly agree it is, but rather what one can get for it. So, we all, ie the comps, would say lots, properties with xyz sell for so much and we'd all agree, well that's about right, all things considered that sounds fair. And then somebody comes by from a different world, with a different sense of things, of money, and how much they'll pay for whatever and bingo they put down 2, 3 ,10 times what the property would otherwise sell for.

A case in point..

There's a property in Waipio Valley, way in the back, we all know it as the Quonset Hut. It's a thin strip, well it's a bit wider, but most of it is pali, wholly unusable cliffs, and the rest of it is in the rock fall zone, and bordered by the main river. All totaled it's just under 3 acres. And, it's at the point the valley is as short a distance side by side as anywhere. You can practically throw a rock from one side to the other. In other words, it's a riverbed with 2,000 foot high cliffs on either side. And what little usable ground there is has a metal quonset hut on it. And a few years back someone pulled out their checkbook and paid $800,000.00 for the place. The time before that it sold (in 2008) for 125k.

The place is a challenge. It gets 3 - 5 hours of direct sunlight a day, it is the cloudiest most rained on place in the valley, and there's very little useable land. But hey if you want a metal shed in the very back of the valley...

For some perspective, land in the valley, useable productive land is worth 50k-75k an acre. But hey, when it sold everyone was wondering if all of a sudden all our properties were worth so much, and a Kona side realtor started thinking so too. And she was hot to list, talking up a storm, but I suspect that all turned into so much dreaming.. and the 800k property recently sold again for a loss at (a still whopping) 600k.

So, what is the real value of that lava tube?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

So, what is the real value of that lava tube?

Depends on the lava tube.  This one has a tall ceiling, and one comment about said it goes on for miles.  Does that compare to any other personally accessible tube, or close?  The buyer wanted to own it, and was willing to pay the price.

You can buy a car for $30,000.  Or a new Ferrari EV for $650,000.  I would be afraid to park that Ferrari in any lot in Puna, so I’d never drive it anywhere.  (Probably at least 620,000 other reasons I wouldn’t buy it.)

But there are people who will purchase that car.  Maybe even drive it.

This thread is about billionaires after all.

[My 2 cents]

The one that raised my eyebrows is the Waialua property.  $5 million seems like a pittance for that 92 acres in the center of town with already established residential lots and commercial zoning.  I don’t think this one fits the description of “what one can get for it”.  They could have easily gotten 10 times that amount, imo.

[Punatang]

There is an okole for every lauhala mat.

[MyManao]

This one has a tall ceiling, and one comment about said it goes on for miles.

Most have the same.. at least most I've been in. 

I've been through the Kazumura tube from Volcano to 21st in HPP.. seen all kinds big and tall and multi this and that. Back then, in the last century, folks weren't all that uppity about all the stuff they are today, and still the guy that owned the land above the vagina formation thought he owned the rights below the ground and put up fencing.. welded rebar.. with locks and all that. Other folks think because they got an opening they own the rights all the way down wherever they can go. I'll bet anyone making money on, or using what is offset from their surface owned lot(s) is opening themselves to all sorts of pilikia these days.

[Durian Fiend]

That's the D9 Cave. Tyler Davis used to own it. The operator of the D9 that fell into it died.