Rationalizations for buying in lower Puna

[knieft]

I’m not sure how many folks affected by the current festivities are actually on this forum, but I thought it would be an interesting thread to consider, in retrospect, what went though one’s mind before buying in LavaLand.

I’ll start by saying that our property is just barely inside the zone 1 line in Opihikao. My reasoning was that the line was defined as 25% of the land was covered by lava in the last 200 years. So, I figured if we might live another 50 years, graciously, that would be a 25% divided by 50/200 or one fourth chance of being covered by lava. So a 6-7% chance of getting covered.

Considering our nearly 6 acre property with a simple 1000 sf house off grid was bought for $75K 20 years ago, it seemed like a fair risk. A dream property that we certainly couldn’t afford otherwise. And even to live there for twenty years seems like a pretty good deal at this point, mathwise.

After the 2014 flow when it seemed like we might get cut off, I realized that that the 6-7% chance of being covered by lava was dwarfed by the idea of being isolated.

Clearly, I don’t expect to be bailed out by FEMA or whatever when/if our property is covered (and that is very likely as we are directly under the 130/ala’ili cracks on a blue line) but since we do have “insurance”, being covered may well be the best thing.

So, anyway, I think it is an interesting shrinkology thing to consider the rationalizations, both before buying, and after, in retrospect so to speak.

Blaming the history of the subdivisions, or the dreaded County, or realtors seems a but disingenuous. Mostly I am curious about how it seems personally to folks affected as they look back on how they decided to buy property in the rift zone of an active volcano.

Anybody?

Cheers,
Kirt

[terracore]

I was willing to accept the risk of the land eventually being inundated by lava flowing from a higher elevation, pretty much anybody in the shadow of any of our active volcanoes (including everybody in Hilo, the Kona Airport, Kona, or the Kona resorts) has to accept that.

What I wasn't willing to accept was being in an area where lava was likely to erupt from underneath me within the lifespan of an average human, so I crossed LZ1 and LZ2 off my list of properties that I would consider. All that being said, I am near LZ2 and still playing in the lava casino. At least the insurance here in LZ3 is more or less the same as anywhere else in the country.

One thing I hadn't educated myself on before making the above decision, was the possibility of the lava not being a direct threat, but the noxious fumes or being physically cutoff from the rest of the island. This is a lesson new land shoppers can learn from. And lets not forget ashfall.

[djs]

Our first property we bought in 2003 was off what is now called Halekamahina Rd. We fully knew the risks but because of the cheap price we were willing to take it. We were right on the rift zone, talk about quakes rolling thru!! In 2012 we decided we weren't so willing to live with those risks, sold it and now live in Kapoho Farmlots. We feel pretty safe from any lava inundation, but isolation is another issue. We still absolutely love lower Puna and will stay here as long as we can. It's a risk we are willing to accept, we live a low profile lifestyle and if we were to lose our home, so be it. Only time will tell. I am glad that we don't have our old property though, our cabin is still there but lava has entered about 200 ft and cut off all access. Currently we don't have running water but do have a small catchment system set up and if need be we will get a pump to pressurize the house. We have lived without water before, so nothing new. My heart goes out to all who have lost their homes.