Mayor Kim trying to ban vacation rentals.

[PaulW]

I just searched hilobrokers.com for houses in Puna under $175k. There are over a hundred. Where exactly is this lack of affordable housing I keep hearing so much about?

[punaticbychoice]

To get a tenant out of my property a while back, after they did $50,000+ worth of damage, refused to pay their agreed upon rent, it cost me $20,000 additional in legal fees and court costs and several months to evict them.
That is why I will never do long term residential rentals in Hawaii. NEVER, NEVER, EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[leilanidude]

I just searched hilobrokers.com for houses in Puna under $175k. There are over a hundred. Where exactly is this lack of affordable housing I keep hearing so much about?
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How would the typical local couple with a pair of $10 to $12 an hour jobs afford that? Now realize how many people have two or three "19 hour a week" jobs due to the Hawaii healthcare laws.

[kalakoa]

making sure that property owners and renters have a fair playing field

That field is crooked, and tilted in many different directions, and the problem isn't just "affordable housing": County zoning and land-use regulations are a joke perpetrated on us all.

[Seeb]

It’s got nothing to do with low income rentals, houses nice enough to be vacation rentals are not going to be low income housing. It’s about rich people not wanting tourists in their neighborhood. Look at who is sponsoring it, it’s a Kona thing, there’s no low income nothing over there

[kalakoa]

Look at who is sponsoring it, it’s a Kona thing

Yay, another "one size fits all" solution that really should be "per-district".

[punaticbychoice]

kalakoa @ 07:05:24, 07:59 :11-
Agreed.
But our politicians are so corrupt and/or ignorant or both.
Rat lung- no funding for research, just for useless State employee drones.
HART- don't get me started.
Louis Kealoha and wife-?!!!!!!!!.
Please, STOP THIS B.S.

[Kapoho Joe]

quote:

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Originally posted by PaulW

I just searched hilobrokers.com for houses in Puna under $175k. There are over a hundred. Where exactly is this lack of affordable housing I keep hearing so much about?

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Exactly. If you cannot figure out how to swing that mortgage, then prepare to be left behind economically. It should be every young person's goal to purchase their first home in their 20s.

[KeaauRich]

I agree with Seeb that houses that are nice enough to be vacation rentals are not going to be low income housing. And at least in my beloved substandard subdivision, even people who are not in low income housing are balking at paying the road maintenance fees, so I don't see how much of Puna's housing would be seen as candidates for low income housing. We have a vacation rental that breaks even, I'm not sure a full time rental would cover our costs (But if the County would like to purchase my rental cottage and operate it as low income housing, please give me a call...) I know the hassle of a full-time rental would not be attractive to me, so that's not an option. Say what you want about the minority of tourists who are obnoxious vacation rental guests-- at least owners and neighbors know they'll most likely be gone in a matter of days or weeks, unlike long term renters who may be disruptive until the day you die.

In any event, procedures are already in place to "minimize the impact on neighborhoods" and ensure that taxes are being paid. If guests are disruptive, call the cops. If disruptive guests are a documented continual problem, go after the owner. And as for illegal rentals, all rentals are required to post their tax IDs in their advertising. Hire an intern to scan all VRBO and Air BNB websites, and go after owners are not in compliance. But we all know this isn't about compliance or neighborhood impacts. It's about keeping hotel owners happy -- even though vacation rental guests have proactively considered the local hotels and decided they would like a different option.

It seems to me that low income housing should be located near commercial centers so that residents would have easy access to stores and mass transit -- certainly not the locations that would be attractive as vacation rentals. And rather than looking at detached houses (which most vacation rentals are around here), I would suggest that the county incentivize development of apartment and town-house complexes near city centers. In some other jurisdictions, all new developments must include a certain percentage of low and mid income housing in their mix.

[leilanidude]

How many hotels are there, in Puna and how many total rooms is that? Vacation rentals are a necessity.