We are here!

[jennysart]

Took the advice of many on this forum and decided to make a visit to the islands.We have been in Kauaui the last week but we are here on the Kona side now and will be heading to Puna tomorrow. We are looking at homes. Please advise on best areas to live. We are looking at properties in Pahoa, Volcano and Keauu. We require some land for gardening, and room for our two boys. If you know of any great deals let us know! We are here until Friday.Mahalo!

[macuu222]

Make sure you bring a raincoat!

[PaulW]

Lots of great deals in HPP (Hawaiian Paradise Park). Good place to live too.

[DanielP]

RENT FIRST!

[pslamont]

Agree with DanielP... Rent for at least six months. It will take that long to explore and find your niche. It is different if you need to commute to town to work than if not. You need to learn about mosquitoes, humidity, rain, rain, rain, lava vs. soil, population demographics, etc... No one can tell you where you fit. I bought blind and got lucky but many do not. I also bought something totally unlike anything 99% of punawebbers bought (Dave and Sophie got a place we looked at but I can't think of anyone else on big acreage). We never in a million years would have originaly started looking up the mountain instead of the beach but six weeks of vacation and total exploration of the island wised us up as to our own goals and dreams. Many, many people make it around 18 months and head back to the mainland. I personally think many just aren;t prepared for the extreme differences of living here but for some it was just a poor choice or poor fit on a home/land purchase and nothing but headaches after. You will never be sorry you took your time exploring.

(I would say this is my "humble opinion" but you all know I don't know humble from a rock!!! LOL

I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says

"Oh Crap, She's up!"

[LeeE]

Rent first. My recommendation for a subdivision is Leilani Estates. Strict CC&R's, paved roads, great community center. Check it out with a search of Punatalk.

Welcome!

Lee Eisenstein
http://members.cruzio.com/~lionel/event

[missydog1]

quote:

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Please advise on best areas to live.

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Hate to say it, but if you haven't already done the homework needed to answer that question, then you are far from ready to buy!

It is really easy to make a bad mistake, and then good luck trying to sell your lemon, not to mention you lose a good 7% just for turning it around.

Just use this trip to do some first hand learning of how houses look different from what you see on the MLS. Drive the roads, check out the commute hour traffic, see what it looks like in the rain, vog, and so forth. Ask your realtor about all the things like utilities, fees ...
Take a look at how bad the next door neighbor can be, not something ever shown in the MLS pics ...

Never buy a property because it has empty lots next to it without thinking about whether you want to be there when it gets built on. Don't buy for a view that people can block. etc..

Read the topics in the gardening forum at Punaweb as part of your homework.
Enjoy your visit!

"And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody, outside of a small circle of friends ~ Phil Ochs

[Carey]

Esp. drive the roads in a rental car....better to break-in their car than yours (although many areas have good roads...some areas of some subdivisions can do a number on you shocks)

Also get a GOOD map (most indepth are the east & west Hawaii mapbooks, available in many retail outlets (most grocery, discount & drug stores)

We rented first & completely changed our must have list... have always lived on acreage & was sure we were going to...until we experienced first hand what 12 months of hyper plant growth is about....CONTROLLING all plants with whip & machete ;~)

Also, think about family & jobs, the 2 main reasons why people move away.

[missydog1]

I agree with Carey about the amount of land. I have more than an acre and it is too much to take care of. When I had 15k feet to 30K, I was totally on top of my yard, but not now, The weeds here are incredibly tough. I've never had weeds like this that are so bent on causing pain if I grab them and with roots that just don't pull out. Every weed seed germinates.'

If I ever get another house here, i'm dreaming of a cottage with a small yard. I no longer want an orchard; I have had orchards. Fruit is cheap; orchards are a lot of work. I have had fruit trees that were 50-75 feet high, and you can't trim trees like that without real equipment. It can get to be an expensive proposition to have large trees here.

But when you are new, you look at all and are amazed that these big trees can be all yours. I felt that way too.

"And I'm sure it wouldn't interest anybody, outside of a small circle of friends ~ Phil Ochs

[David M]

Lots of great advice from different perspectives. We drove over 1500 miles in nine days, and that was just to get an overview of different areas. That lead to hundreds of hours of research and 3 RE professionals - drove off the first 2, the last one became a friend. No, we didn't rent, but then Sophie and I have more of a "move to the unknown" background than most being career military, plus had already lived in Hawaii before for 4 years. When we finally came to buy (2003) we had a well researched list of 30 places in defined areas to see. Fell in love with the place we got as the realtor and I walked it and it wasn't even on my list, but was familiar with it from my research and a picture a friend had sent me 6 weeks before. My BIL lived here about 9 months before finding his place in Orchidland, he loves it, very doubtful Sophie and I would be as comfortable there as here.
I guess what many of us are saying is the choices are many and varied. YOU have to know or at feel you know what you want. Finding that match can be a challenge, but mostly likely it takes a fair amount of investigation and time. For many, that means here on island, renting. Best of luck.

David

Ninole Resident
Please visit vacation.ninolehawaii.com