10-05-2015, 01:40 PM
Having been a vacant land owner myself, and also knowing several current vacant land owners, I would agree that there is no safe storage of your tools or anything else. Anything of value on your land is going to get ripped off eventually no matter what you try (unless it's well hidden... any lock or structure can be broken into but they can't steal what they can't find). Self-storage units are also robbed and when they do it they put a similar looking lock back on the door so nobody knows what happens until you come back to visit and realize you were paying to store stuff in a unit that you don't have a combination or key to, and all your good stuff is missing anyway. So not only are you missing your stuff, you were paying a storage fee to store whatever worthless junk the thieves didn't take. Especially considering the storage fees, it might be cheaper to transport your stuff back and forth with you, or as somebody suggested, renting or borrowing. Worse than getting ripped off is having a bunch of stuff donated to you. Most vacant lots might just have the occasional derelict freezer or whatnot getting dumped in it, but God forbid somebody squats there for awhile and their feces will be the least of problems of the junk they leave behind.
Honestly if I were to do it all over again, I would have never been a vacant lot owner. I bought because I thought the market had bottomed out and we found a lot that we absolutely loved and "had" to have it. Then I found out that this market hasn't had a bubble since (when? Somebody else can answer this but its been a long time) so market values could be as high now as they are going to be for awhile. The lava flow messed with the markets a bit driving down values in LZ 1 and 2 and up in 3, but whats done is done until the next flow. In the end if we loved that lot so much, why did we wind up selling it? Because once you live here for awhile you find out that your mind can change. I wanted a cold wet lot because it reminded me of Southeast Alaska so I bought near Volcano. After I spent some time here I changed my mind. Fortunately we sold that lot at a small profit, but if you factor in the real estate taxes, road fees (but mostly just the hassle)... not that big of a gain.
In our newbie minds we thought that during our visits we could start carving out our slice of paradise and over the years of visits, grow it into our dream. Fortunately we wound up moving here in about a year rather than the 15 we were originally planning on, in that year we found out that 1) Nothing you store is safe 2) Nature will reclaim any changes you try to make to the land 3) Pigs will destroy anything that you plant 4) Somebody can buy, bulldoze, and trash the lot next to you. Maybe they were looking to buy in a vacant area so that nobody complains about their rooster farm. So the only point of owning a piece of the rock from afar is really just to say that you own a piece of the rock. And depending on when you buy it, that piece of rock may be worth more or less than when you bought it, or maybe impossible to unload because of the charm the new neighbor has brought.
One bit of advice I've never read before about buying in Puna... I'm going to share it with the world right now. Very first time. This has never before been printed. You saw it HERE on Punaweb first. If you want to know what the neighbors are like in a specific subdivision, go to that community/road association's regularly scheduled meeting. I recommend a seat towards the exit.
Honestly if I were to do it all over again, I would have never been a vacant lot owner. I bought because I thought the market had bottomed out and we found a lot that we absolutely loved and "had" to have it. Then I found out that this market hasn't had a bubble since (when? Somebody else can answer this but its been a long time) so market values could be as high now as they are going to be for awhile. The lava flow messed with the markets a bit driving down values in LZ 1 and 2 and up in 3, but whats done is done until the next flow. In the end if we loved that lot so much, why did we wind up selling it? Because once you live here for awhile you find out that your mind can change. I wanted a cold wet lot because it reminded me of Southeast Alaska so I bought near Volcano. After I spent some time here I changed my mind. Fortunately we sold that lot at a small profit, but if you factor in the real estate taxes, road fees (but mostly just the hassle)... not that big of a gain.
In our newbie minds we thought that during our visits we could start carving out our slice of paradise and over the years of visits, grow it into our dream. Fortunately we wound up moving here in about a year rather than the 15 we were originally planning on, in that year we found out that 1) Nothing you store is safe 2) Nature will reclaim any changes you try to make to the land 3) Pigs will destroy anything that you plant 4) Somebody can buy, bulldoze, and trash the lot next to you. Maybe they were looking to buy in a vacant area so that nobody complains about their rooster farm. So the only point of owning a piece of the rock from afar is really just to say that you own a piece of the rock. And depending on when you buy it, that piece of rock may be worth more or less than when you bought it, or maybe impossible to unload because of the charm the new neighbor has brought.
One bit of advice I've never read before about buying in Puna... I'm going to share it with the world right now. Very first time. This has never before been printed. You saw it HERE on Punaweb first. If you want to know what the neighbors are like in a specific subdivision, go to that community/road association's regularly scheduled meeting. I recommend a seat towards the exit.