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Where would you tell a friend to live?
#51
Alo-hi, Blake. Like many, I came with a list of internet listings in hand and with the indulgence of a very nice real estate agent (thanks, John), I did a couple of lightning tours of Puna. I was attracted to Puna because when I did a global search of the Hawaiian Islands, property always popped up cheaper plus you got more "land". But then when I saw Puna I felt a connection and thought to myself, "This is not only cheaper, but it has its own special character! More exotic, greener, great air, an unusual light, a looming and sometimes brooding presence and crazy guys doing naked handstands! I like it (except for the handstands). I tend to avoid gay people and gay ghettoes as I've found I don't automatically have anything in common with such people, anymore than a heterosexual has an instant happy connection with another person just because they are heterosexual, but then I realized that Puna tends to attract just such a gay person! A bunch of individualists. Pretty neat.

But if I had it to do all over again, I would choose Waimea. I had never been to Waimea when I bought my place. When I first saw Waimea, I said "Wow-Mea!". It's a happy place full of nice, clean professionals and quasi-professionals who all smell like Irish Spring anti-bacterial soap. You have to be very covert when you are sniffing them. Best place to do that is at Foodland, which is the BEST GROCERY STORE on the entire damn island (Foodland Shopping Center-- where the signs say something like "Howdy" and "Y'all Come back"....or maybe it's "Whoa" and "Giddyup"). Just pretend to be examining the fifteen varieties of $20-a-bag taro chips while you do it. The lots tends to be small there, but here's the deal -- you can have the East Side AND the West Side AT THE SAME TIME. I love that. Dry/wet. Wet/dry....then go to Foodland and get some more Mehana Beer or any exotic liquor you can think of (passionfruit/banana rum anyone?). They have it all! Best souvenirs, too. Waimea kind of resembles a small Northern California town that has been picked up by a mighty wind and set down on a volcanic island between several "mountains" (i.e., deadly volcanoes). You just know that every other person there is an astronomer and can talk red shift literally until the cows come home. And there they are! The cows! All over the place! And Merriman's is there - a serious restaurant with food so fresh it instantly regenerates brain cells you thought forever dead from passionfruit/banana rum poisoning.

You can get to Puna from Waimea very easily...and then come home! You can also hold your nose and slide down to Kona if you want to see a few stunned Californians walking around in circles asking where's the Kona Brew Company or where they can see, touch and harass turtles. SHOW ME THE DAMN TURTLES.

Please be aware that there is not a single gay person in Waimea...other than some hard-riding, incredibly fit,brown-skinned, doe-eyed and very lonesome cabelleros whose gauche idea of a good time is drinking a 24 pack of Mehana and rolling in the hay in a barn --a barn with a view of Mauna Kea, covered in a moist and thick mist. Geez! Can I get some culture around here??!! No, for that, you will have to go to Hawi and wander around aimlessly in a bookstore. Use hairspray before you go!

Anyway, I would look in Waimea and I would look hard. I really love it there and in a sense, it is the center of the island. It is gloriously sunny during the day, and deliciously cool at night. At times, you feel like you are in Big Sur...but a very short and spectacular drive and you remember that you are on an island.

Meanwhile back in Puna, I do like the area where my home is located: Kaloli Point, in Hawaiian Paradise Park (although we have had some unwanted excitement lately). The area below tenth in HPP tends to be drier. There are some AMAZING bargains down there right now. Here's one: http://hilobrokers.com/cgi-bin/hb?MLS226343 On an acre and fully fenced for your dogs. The decor can be changed out. Roof doesn't go completely over the lanai, but the lanai does go all the way around.

Here's a house on the point that was, I believe, originally listed at over $700,000: http://hilobrokers.com/cgi-bin/hb?MLS208531

Here's a really small, cute, and reasonable one on the point, on half an acre: http://hilobrokers.com/cgi-bin/hb?MLS225628

Another place I really like is Kapoho Beach Lots. When I was looking, I was still partnered, and the plan was for my partner to work as a nurse in Hilo while I stayed home, played ukulele and learned what pots and pans are for (they mystify me). Kapoho was just too far...and the fact that the land just adjacent to it was a flaming BBQ just a few decades ago deterred me. But the weather is great down there. They have their own warm pond that they can swim AND pee in and they have a gate that will hit your car about 3/4 of the way back when you slip in behind someone. You won't have a problem if you have a VW bug or a Miata. Bougainvillea grows beautifully in Kapoho and the blues are just a little bluer and the greens a little greener down there. And on those rare occasions when Pele rips a seam, the fountains are just a little more fuh-LAMING down there, too. Here's one in Kapoho: http://hilobrokers.com/cgi-bin/hb?MLS223427

I also kind of like Seaview. Seaview is too far from Hilo for me, but they have a tight community and their own circus for crissakes. They are also pretty close to one of my favorite places on the island: Kalani. Kalani is a "resort" for people looking for their third eyes....often finding that third eye in the creases of another. Kalani has --and I mean this-- the best food on the island. Very fresh. Anyway, my only concern about Seaview is that the lots are a little small, and it seems like noise would carry. I would spend a night there first. I tried VERY VERY HARD to spend a night there, but, uh, you know, uh, never got the invite! Here's a house in Seaview: http://hilobrokers.com/cgi-bin/hb?MLS224972

Puna Beach Palisades is further down the Red Road. The Red Road isn't red. Unless you are a fool enough to bicycle on it, in which case there just could be red everywhere. Anyway, Puna Beach Palisades has a lot of "heat" to it because there is so much black lava there and, it is a LEETLE close to the Pele action. Nonetheless, great weather, a good community and some ocean views. Here's one in Puna Beach Palisades: http://www.alohaliving.com/RealEstate/Pr...gID=224571+

Another place I really like on the island is South Kona. But they really have a wild rooster problem, and sleep is impossible. They also have a problem now with the the smoke from Kilauea. It's unrelenting these days.

So, that's my little tour. Y'all come back now. Giddyup.





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#52
I didn't read the whole thread closely, so sorry if I repeat others, but here's my 2 cents. I live in Seaview, and now that I've been here going on a couple years, I can't imagine living anywhere except lower Puna, say Waa Waa to Kaimu or off the Red Road a bit like Opihikao. There are many reasons. Being gay, I feel safer and have far more of a sense of community than I ever did in San Francisco, and there are all kinds of wonderful people that being gay is just not an issue. The sense of community is pretty broad. We have our own farmer's market which is as much a weekly social ritual as anything. You see the same people over and over around the area and it's lovely. We have our share of problems, but not like what I hear about in the more crowded neighborhoods up mauka. Weather-wise, I would not be happy elsewhere. I commute Hilo 5 days a week. I leave the Red Road and weather gets colder, cloudier, rainier, drearier, especially this year compared to last. We have about the least amount of vog on the island. For me, it is important to be near the water and see the ocean every day. Some people would rather be surrounded by jungle all the time, but that's not for me. The bugs where I'm at are minimal. The worst thing about the neighborhood is the lots are small and as it gets more developed, it will simply be too crowded. But if you can buy the lot next to you, that helps. Puna Palisades is much nicer, bigger lots, nicer homes. I'd live there if I could afford it, but they also have no DSL, so internet is very expensive and like being trapped in 1997. That actually applies to most of the area off the Red Road except Seaview. The distance from Hilo is part of the appeal, because it feels rural. Hilo has its charms, but I would be miserable there. Too developed and more concrete and asphalt than trees. As soon as I drive past Pahoa coming home, it's like Ahhh, not in the craziness anymore. Kapoho is also pretty nice, and I like it for many of the same reasons I like Seaview, including the great weather and proximity to ocean. But it feels different to me, and since it's not on a hill, you don't really get expansive ocean views. Hamakua is gorgeous, but has crappy weather, spotty internet, is expensive, and good luck if going to the beach is important to you. Without knowing more about what you're looking for, it's hard to give advise, but this is all why I live where I live, and why I love it!
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#53
Glen, you are wonderful. What a fun tour!

I have to say that in my experience Waimea is mostly cold and windy when the rest of the island is warm. Why not venture just a tiny bit East to Honokaa (15 minutes to Wiamea) instead? The weather in Honokaa is pretty much perfect and it is not exactly a "PC" community if you know what I mean. More gay friendly if that matters. Much more exotic than Wiamea and still 30 minutes to the good beaches if you want white sand and turquoise waters. Waimea has great grocery stores and a wonderful wine/cheese shop which I visit once a month at least. This month it has been once a week.

Anyway Blake has a lot of exploring to do! One thing is sure, he has enough to choose from and this is just an exploratory trip anyway. It will be fun to see where he chooses. No matter where it is it is HIS and Lynn's choice and they will find the right nook for their future life in Hawaii. We welcome them with a huge embrace and aloha.

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com
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#54
I agree with Devany. I love going to Waimea, buy booze at Kamuela Liquors, go to Foodland, go to the good restaurants there, etc. I have friends who live there and I visit them frequently. However, I'm always miserable during those visits. I have to sit by the fireplace otherwise I would freeze to death. Waimea is cold, rainy, misty, damp, etc., on most days. I will just stick to driving through town and stop for the previously mentioned "activities" while there, but I would never consider living in Waimea, not even on the so called dry side. [Smile]

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,PB,ABR,CRB,CM,FHS
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"
This is what I think of the Kona Board of Realtors: http://www.nsm88.org/aboutus.html

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#55
Another excellent contribution Glen. That's some great reading.
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#56
a while back there was a thread about "olives". anyway, i only NOW discovered the olive bar at the waimea foodland and the liquor store that john and devany refer to.

good luck with your search.

"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."

microsoft error message with haiku poetry
"a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."

w. james

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#57
Oh yea... that olive bar is great. Though they have not had Picholines for a while.

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com
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#58
OMG Glen your response was awesome! I don't always do this but I made Lynn sit down and read it all (and everyones following as well). Thank you for the links too! Honestly the right location and setting along with the land itself is more important than the structure because we can take a crap structure and make it amazing if it is on the right property. We'll be looking more at the properties you provided.

We spent some time in Waimea when we were there in March and thought it was lovely. We did feel just a tad uncomfortable there and out of place. It reminded me of some small "cow" towns on the mainland we have been creeped out by for some reason. I should say we did not have any bad experiences there and the people we encountered were great but for some reason we got an uncomfortable feeling as if it was telling us "thanks for coming by but keep on moving boys."

Robguz you also gave us a lot to think about. You all have. Looks like we're going to be busy boys when we get out there!

Devany tell me more of this Honokaa you speak of!



-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/
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#59
I have my moments. Thank you. Here's a "crap structure" in an unsurpassed location. This is RIGHT on the ocean. Insurance is pricey. The view is priceless. One night, I saw a silver path on the ocean that went right up to the full moon. Amazing. To die for. And you would die for it if you don't respond to the tsunami sirens. (As opposed to the beautiful Sirens in Seaview). The sellers started this house but did not finish it. There is no house yet. There is a place above the garage that is ALMOST habitable. A little work, and it is there. Plans for a bigger house. My house is to the left of the palm tree in the picture captioned "view from the dining table". http://www.alohaliving.com/RealEstate/Pr...gID=224887

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#60
here is a list of july sales... may help with comps

http://www.starbulletin.com/business/200...Sales.html
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