08-04-2012, 03:23 AM
During my short time here so far, it is becoming apparent there is a high turnover in the occupants around here.
My rough estimate is 50%.
There are the people that come here and decide it isn't for them, sometimes in days, sometimes in months and for some, a few years.
Then there are the people that have no plan, try to wing it without any source of income and are unable to find a job, eventually having to go back to the mainland.
The next group are the ones that have a mortgage on a mainland place, then have a mortgage here, often having to deal with the downturn in the economy in their mainland area, plus going underwater on their place here. I have seen about 4 or 5 of these within a few block area in Shores, the houses going into foreclosure, just in the past couple of months.
The next most common are those that decide to move over to Kona side and others that decide to move to another island, some deciding to move to Thailand and Indonesia.
My estimate is about 40% of the houses in Shores are unoccupied, some being snowbird second homes, some being Japanese vacation homes, some abandoned. Now, there is a slight uptick in people buying vacant lots off the internet sight unseen and clearing going on. There are squatters roaming around looking for empty and abandoned houses. There are groups of burglars, driving around, casing the neighborhoods.
Anyway, it seems like a lot of population turnover. In my estimate, I have met more people leaving or planning to leave than people that are long time residents or have no plans to leave. This is on the basis of casual conversations in coffee shops, neighborhood events, downtown events, etc.
What do others think? Is there a lot of turnover or is it about the same or conversely, think there are more people moving in than ever? I see a lot of people moving in but it seems to me there are more people moving out.
My rough estimate is 50%.
There are the people that come here and decide it isn't for them, sometimes in days, sometimes in months and for some, a few years.
Then there are the people that have no plan, try to wing it without any source of income and are unable to find a job, eventually having to go back to the mainland.
The next group are the ones that have a mortgage on a mainland place, then have a mortgage here, often having to deal with the downturn in the economy in their mainland area, plus going underwater on their place here. I have seen about 4 or 5 of these within a few block area in Shores, the houses going into foreclosure, just in the past couple of months.
The next most common are those that decide to move over to Kona side and others that decide to move to another island, some deciding to move to Thailand and Indonesia.
My estimate is about 40% of the houses in Shores are unoccupied, some being snowbird second homes, some being Japanese vacation homes, some abandoned. Now, there is a slight uptick in people buying vacant lots off the internet sight unseen and clearing going on. There are squatters roaming around looking for empty and abandoned houses. There are groups of burglars, driving around, casing the neighborhoods.
Anyway, it seems like a lot of population turnover. In my estimate, I have met more people leaving or planning to leave than people that are long time residents or have no plans to leave. This is on the basis of casual conversations in coffee shops, neighborhood events, downtown events, etc.
What do others think? Is there a lot of turnover or is it about the same or conversely, think there are more people moving in than ever? I see a lot of people moving in but it seems to me there are more people moving out.
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*