Introduce yourself

[Wegian]

Aloha Aaron. We are also working on building in Hawaiian Acres on Moho. "Excited and nervous" - How true! Where is your lot?

-Fred

[kani-lehua]

welcome to all of you. happy posting.

"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."

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[John S. Rabi]

This is a happy growing big family, welcome newbies! Care for a cold brewsky?

Aloha,
John S. Rabi, GM,ARB,BFT,CM,CBR,FHS,PB,RB
808.989.1314
http://www.JohnRabi.com
Typically Tropical Properties
"The Next Level of Service!"

[swys]

Aloha e Punawebbers;

This post is directed primarily toward Aaron and Fred, but also to any reader who wishes to comment or offer their opinion.

I too am looking at Haw'n Acres as a potential future residence, currently reviewing many MLS listings there, as well as Orchid Land and Fern Forsest Vacation Estates. Our notional plan is to come soon after the first of the year to look at available listings at that time and hopefully find a lot to purchase on which to build our future retirement home.

I've had several discussions with a local realtor and a friend in Hilo about the characteristics, pros and cons about the various subdivisions. There is a wide range of prices among the many lots for sale, and many other variables, and I would very much like to know what influenced your decisions to live in Haw'n Acres, given the choices in other subdivisions. I am reading posts from many bloggers, and other sources to understand peoples' experiences in lot selection and their experiences with their construction process in an effort to take away some lessons that will help us when the time comes for us to build our house in Puna.

I hope that your projects execute smoothly and that you have the best possible success to completion.

Malama pono,

Sam

[Wegian]

Aloha Sam,

If you want a quick answer, please go to the last paragraph in my post. If not, I hope you enjoy my ramblings:

A couple of years back my wife and I decided to buy some land in the Puna area with the idea that we would build on the lot a few years later. This would allow us to spread the expense over several years, and by owning an empty lot, we wouldn’t have to worry about our furniture walking out of our house when we were off island. (We currently have a lot in Hawaiian Acres and so far nobody has run off with any of our ohia trees or uluhe ferns!)

We found a real estate agent and told him that we were interested in looking within HPP. He listened and then suggested that we take a look at some of the other subdivisions also. We agreed. We went through many of the subdivisions in the Puna area. When he finished showing us around, my wife and I went back through the areas that we preferred and we eventually shifted our focus to HA. It seems to us that everything is greener there (HA experiences a bit more rain than HPP) and the temps are a little bit cooler (we’re from Pittsburgh and really not accustomed to very warm weather yet). We initially found a really nice lot located close to the highway. It had a few royal palms, a young monkey pod tree and it had been partially cleared. We made an attempt to talk to the neighbors, but let’s just say that we didn’t feel welcomed. So off we went to look at other lots with our focus on finding something on a paved road (some of the unpaved roads required pack animals and sherpas to navigate!) After a while, all of the lots looked the same. We really couldn’t get a feel for the contour of the land since it was so overgrown and after a while we were becoming a bit befuddled when trying to determine which lot was better than the other. Then we met our current neighbors. They were out working in their yard when I approached them about the lot next to their place. The next thing we knew we were given walking sticks (used to make sure that we didn’t step in a puka) and we were following these people on a tour of our property. They spent the entire afternoon answering our questions, offering suggestions, and filling us in about life on the island. The lot is rather level and has a gentle slope to it, and there are just enough weird lava features on it to make it interesting. We put in our bid before we returned home.

The area has electricity and phone service. We have to come up with our own source of water and a sewage system. Cable TV has been run down 8 Road, but I believe only as far as C Road. Most of the lots are three acres in size, and the lot dimensions are mostly about 150’ by 870’. There are some lots in HA that do not fit this pattern.

In summary, we chose HA because of climate, price, and most importantly, our cool neighbors. Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope everything works out for you.

-Fred

[swys]

Aloha Fred;

Mahalo for your most informative response which, by the way sounds very familiar to the path we have been down so far in the infant stage of our effort that will hopefully lead to finding a place ourselves. I only hope that we may be as fortunate as you in finding nice neighbors willing to help us with their knowledge of any lot that appeals to us.

We very much like the notion of living on a place with some space around us (our current house is on 1/4 acre in a small S FL subdivision with many HOA covenants), but moreso in the environment where until recently we have only dreamed of living. I was stationed on Oahu during the late '80s-early '90s during which I explored several other islands, and often regret moving back to the mainland. We visit various islands during vacations each year; in fact we were married just last Aug in a small, traditional ceremony at Anini Beach on Kauai. We have a few years to go before we will be ready to move out to HI but like you, we feel that it makes good sense to find a parcel now to hold onto for when we retire in a few more years and are ready to build.

I am intensely interested in the posts wherein people chronicle their land purchases, building projects and the difficulties and successes they experience along the way. I can't seem to read enough on the subject. Water catchment and other utilities limitations were the first thing that we thought about but we believe that like anything else in this life, compromises permit us all to realize our dreams, in this case living out our days in quiet, peaceful surroundings. Grade/flood susceptibility is a critical consideration and not necessarily easy to determine without close inspection, and like you, we feel that waiting until we come to build our house is more sensible than leaving a dwelling unoccupied.

Many thanks for your response. I will look for any posts you make to update your progress, I hope to be in a position soon to contribute OUR experiences, and I look forward to one day greeting you and all the other friendly folks out there in the event that we wind up neighbors.

/s/

Sam

[Guest]

Welcome Sam,

And thank you for the very kind email that I awoke to this morning!
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[swys]

Aloha Damon (and all other Punafanatics). Mahalo for your warm e komo mai, and I hope you have a super weekend in paradise. We try to do the the best we can here in FL but not the same. Have streaming audio from KINE 105 FM, plumeria trying to grow in the yard, 2 scoops rice with most meals, but not the same.

The Punaweb inhabitants have a very good thing here and all seem to use it effectively (and with a great deal of Aloha, I should add).

[kani-lehua]

welcome to hawaiiboundnelli, glad you made it here. you'll find lots of information and you already know some of us here. happy posting.

"chaos reigns within.
reflect, repent and reboot.
order shall return."

microsoft error message with haiku poetry

[GreenWormSoup]

Hello from Southcentral Alaska where it's currently 10 degrees outside. Even though it will be a few years before we can move full time to Puna we're looking at property/houses in Leilani Estates. We're looking for any input/opinions about the subdivision, etc.

Thanks ahead of time.