Unpermitted Housing in Puna?

[Gregory]

I am looking at a piece of land in the Puna coffee belt with an unpermitted cabin. I was wondering if it is wise to invest in a structure that may face a government crackdown in the future. I am a retired veteran with a few dollars saved for retirement and would like to know if this would be an unwise move?

[StillHope]

Gregory,I am not a specialist .But from what I learned on this forum it all depends on mostly 2 factors:

1)location (rules in a subdivision ) ;

2)your neighbors (one complaint-and ...)

Though people here live in unpermitted structures forever,you are taking chances.

I don't think that insurance covers unpermitted buildings .

[Gregory]

StillHope, Thank you for the advice. I decided before I sign on the dotted line to seek a legal opinion on the contract, and the questionable structure and what it would take to make things legal. One asset to this one piece of land is the power is in and so is the phone.

[csgray]

Contact Kapohocat about the process of permitting structures. She has much experience with the process and the building permit department. Getting people through that process is part of what she does professionally.

The unpermitted structures behind us were busted for zoning violations for too many residences on one lot, and then reported by zoning to the building department and are still unpermitted, still standing, and still inhabited, so even being reported doesn't mean anything will actually happen. I think a lot depends on who the land owner is and who they know. In this case, according to a neighbor, it is a Kona side based slum lord with similar properties all through Puna.

Carol

[Carey]

"The power is in" ... normally un-permitted structures only have TEMPORARY power.... at a higher rate, and as one friend of ours found out, the electric company can shut off power to an un-permitted structure that is over permit limits... which mean to get power back the structure must be permitted & brought up to CURRENT codes....
It is not common for this to happen, but it CAN happen & ends up being very expensive, and you may have very little notice (they gave her a 'generous' 24 hour notice.... for things like a stocked refrigerator, she was scrambling around to find cold storage on a days notice)

Just something to think about....

[Hotzcatz]

The building codes are set to do a huge change this May so what was build before, even if it was built to the then current codes, isn't likely to meet the new ones so when you had to bring the structure up to code it might be either a huge hassle or perhaps even impossible without major structural change.

---

"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson

[mella l]

It sounds to me like solar would be the next step if the current updated codes become the necessity. What about the grandfathering in of a property that is in progress?

mella l

NO really! I don't, want to read your blog!

[robguz]

From what I have heard in Seaview at least, lots of things have been red tagged by the County after being reported. We have an infamous house of cards that has been there for years. It's still there. I've heard that things get red tagged or reported to the County over and over again, and they basically don't do anything, and the eyesores remain. It's pretty upsetting knowing that someone could just start building some unpermitted eyesore on the lot next to me and the County won't do anything. Personally though I wouldn't buy something unpermitted unless it was so cheap you could put the money saved into bringing it up to code. If you're on a big lot where your building can't be seen from the road or by neighbors, then in practical terms there might not be much to worry about, except of course ever selling it in the future.

[KeaauRich]

It's my understanding that you would also not be able to get a mortgage on any unpermitted structures, so that might also be an issue for you...

[missydog1]

or your heirs, if you are putting your retirement cash in it. Those who come after you can only sell it to cash purchasers. You have the same problem if you decide to move. I wouldn't buy an unpermitted structure unless the land itself is worth the price, but others feel differently.

Cat and Hotzcatz would know better than I, but I thought grandfathering unpermitted structures applied only to buildings that were built before building permits were a requirement. Say it was built in 1900, it's grandfathered. 1975, it isn't. Correct me if wrong.