03-09-2011, 02:39 PM
Grousehawker: as you are only a little while away from retirement, might I suggest an alternative? My husband and I also plan on retiring to the Big Island, though we are on the 5 to 10 year plan. We started by spending a week looking at all the areas we thought we were interested in living in. Since this would ultimately be our home, we wanted to base it on OUR desires, not what renters would find attractive. We settled on Fern Acres. We then took 3 trips over a couple of months looking at available properties, and settled on 2 undeveloped acres that we got for a good price. When we come to the BI, we stay in a VRBO a half mile away, and entertain ourselves by hand clearing the land, planting trees, and deciding where the house would go. After we retire, we plan to travel so wanted to stay flexible in case we find someplace on the mainland we prefer. If we build here, great! We will have mature landscaping and know our site intimately. If not, we enjoy the hell out of our visits, so either way we win.