When, not If lava crosses 130...

[missydog1]

quote:

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Originally posted by Chunkster

they approved the subdivisions without any intention that they would ever have any responsibilities in relation to the tax money derived from them.

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But the tax money derived was proportional to the value of the land, and the value reflected the lack of infrastructure.

Compare to the real property tax paid for land that had all utilities and low volcanic risk. It seems fair enough.

According to "Land and Power In HawaiÔi," most original buyers of the land in the lava subdivisions made a profit on their investment, so they werenÔt actually bilked by developers. In fact many or most people have made a profit off land speculation in Puna (up until the crash that affected all real estate).

No doubt there was some fraud committed in advertising made to out of state buyers, but the statute of limitations for that is rather short.

I am not defending the actions of the developers or the corrupt planning that allowed this debacle to be set in motion, but the complaining also amazes me.

Land sellers typically donÔt warranty the land for any specific use.

When we sold some vacant land a few years back, there was not even a law requiring Seller Disclosure for vacant land (and I doubt that has changed). Our agent had us fill one out, but sellers are not required to know much about land on which they do not live.

Caveat emptor, due diligence on the buyerÔs part, donÔt cry afterwards when you paid very little for the land and now you expect tons of money to be put into it to make it more valuable for you.

A decent unimproved lot (not acreage) in Hilo costs over 100K, and might cost up to 200K. Buyers pay a lot to have those utilities and roads and so forth, and they pay higher property taxes, so it irks me when people pay 5-20% the price and far lower taxes but want the same thing. That is not how it works.

When you looked at property here, you had a choice to pay more and get all of these things and not to live on the slope of Kilauea, but you chose the cheap route, which was a gamble. (And itÔs all a gamble, even the expensive land.)