Puna, Hawaii (Honolulu, Hilo, Hawaiian Paradise Park: car rental, rental, condo)

[hawaii5150]

I brought a lot at 7th street at hawaii paradise park for $90,000 last year. I am not sure if this is a good investment. I am thinking about building a vacation home or retirement home. But concerned about the crime rate and drug problem that I heared . wonder if the crime rate and drug problem will decrease as the house price go up in the future. How is the crime rate now at the hawaii paradise park? Any information is appreciated.

[geos]

Hi Panama Guy. If you're building I'd consider Domes International fiberglass buildings. Low cost, no mold or rotting to worry about, NO maintenance headaches and cost, super strong in case of earthquakes. There's also AI Domes and Monolithic Domes if you want to go more upscale.

[leilaniguy]

Originally Posted by hawaii5150

I brought a lot at 7th street at hawaii paradise park for $90,000 last year. I am not sure if this is a good investment. I am thinking about building a vacation home or retirement home. But concerned about the crime rate and drug problem that I heared . wonder if the crime rate and drug problem will decrease as the house price go up in the future. How is the crime rate now at the hawaii paradise park? Any information is appreciated.

Aloha. You must have bought in the recent real estate feeding frenzy here. Sorry to say prices have gone down somewhat from what you paid, were dropping all through 2006. There are 2 lots for sale on 7th in HPP right now for $59K, and one for $65K. Prices for 1 acre lots in HPP begin at $44k right now (Jan. 2007). No doubt prices will increase again, but I don't know just when. If your lot has an ocean view, it may be worth somewhat more. I moved here from southern Oregon, (Medford), and the crime/drug rate here doesn't seem much different than there, if anything it is lower, and HPP is considered one of the better neighborhoods in the Hilo/Puna area.

[big island]

Originally Posted by leilaniguy

Fastest growing part of Hawaii, the Puna district, long the state of Hawaii's poor ******* stepchild, is rapidly coming into it's own. Once only the land of erupting volcanoes, earthquakes and marijuana gardens, tropical and wet Puna, on the east side of Big Island of Hawaii has become a mecca for Baby boomers and dreamers from all over the earth. Here you will find hippies, rednecks, rastafari, buddhists, shaman, square pegs of all sorts, along with black sand beaches, lava flows, jungles, and some of the nicest people on the planet. Thousands of retirees are moving here, rather suddenly, from all over the mainland U.S. If you are interested in discussing living in Puna, or maybe Kau, or the Big Island in general, just post, maybe I can answer some of your queries. Aloha, Leilaniguy, from deepest, darkest Puna!

Perhaps you would care to enlighten me on the proximity of puna to hilo and the eden roc subdivision. Care to share any vacation tips with a new yorker?
There are always interesting things that locals know that the tourist never finds out about untill the holiday is over,Best surfing (Lessons) snorkeling partying, atv riding. If you have offer I will hear.BG

[leilaniguy]

Aloha BG. Puna starts about 6 miles from Hilo and comprises all the island south of there. Eden Roc is in Puna, about 16 miles from Hilo up towards the volcano. It is at a higher elevation, cool and rainy. The few people who come to Puna for vacation are looking to retreat or get away from it all. It is almost all rural with a few small towns, just villages, really, the countryside scattered with small farms, retirees and counter-culture types. There are just a handful of bars, just 2 with a dance floor. There is snorkeling at the east end, at Kapoho tidepools, but only 1 popular surf spot at Pohoiki, a rough, rocky break and not for beginners. Many folks living here go to Hilo or the other side of the island to Kona or Kohala resorts and beaches when they want to really party.

[jncsolis]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum. I was doing some research for our move to Hawaii. We'll be there this summer. We've decided to move to the Hilo side of the Big Island and I was just wondering if anyone could tell me a little bit about Kurtistown and Kea'au. We've already decided to rent first. We'll buy some land and then build but we want to check everything out first.

I've read all the posts so far and appreciate all the information on here. Both the pro's and the cons. It's been very helpful. We have a large family-5 daughters and one son. Our girls range in age from 16-8 and our son is just a baby. How are those areas for raising a family? I read some good things about Hawaiian Paradise Park as well. I am concerned about the schools but understand that there is good and bad everywhere and it all depends on perspective as well as personal experience.

We've lived in different regions of the mainland and have had great experiences along with challlenges there as well. Again, to me, it's a matter of perspective and what your willing to give to make it work and to make it what you want. We're pretty open-minded people and adapt pretty easily to new surroundings. We look forward to making Hawaii our new home and experiencing a whole new lifestyle. I know it will be completely different than anything we've known before but I also know it's where we're supposed be right now. So, we'll take to the good with the bad and make it the best for us.

Any input anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!

[Save La'au]

Puna Puna Puna!

This is the chant we've been doing while dancing around our kitchen at night since we got back and began investigating the possibility of living in MLE or somewhere close.

Gotta Say, This forum has been a huge help in the last week. Encouragement and caution=nice.

Do you know where we can obtain a good updated street map of the Big Island with topographical info and lava zones?

From the maps we've seen so far it looks like Mauna Loa Estates is in both zones 1&3 is this accurate?

Is the "meth problem" in Puna due to the manufacture or use of methamphetamines or both? Are the toxic byproducts of manufacture being dumped on vacant lots in places like MLE and Fern Forest Vacation Estates? Do you know of any soil testing service in HI that could tell if a lot had been dumped on?

My wife and I are intrested in building an "off the grid" cottage about the size of the guest cottage at Volcano Rainforest Retreat in MLE(small lofted bedroom above small living/dining/kitchen area), with composting toilets, greywater reuse, wind or solar pwr and growing beautiful fruit for breakfast. We'd like to be in Lush rainforest like MLE has. Looking at ads it seems we could get 15 acres in FFVE for much less than 1 acre in MLE. Based on our interests do you think one is a better option than the other?

Does any one know what a "low paying agricultural job" would pay annually?

Thank you for all of the information you've all supplied already about the unique life on the Big Island. We'll heed your words of wisdom and visit at least twice more and try to plan for every aspect of life there before buying.

Mahalo!

Nathan

P.S. A'ole La'au!!

[leilaniguy]

Aloha jncsolis, Kea'au is a small town, but has the amenities, shops, grocery, hardware, healthfood, restaurants, fire and police depts. Kurtistown on the other hand is just a wide spot in the road, a general store next to a gas station. Both towns, however, are the bases for some of the large rural subdivisions, Kea'au for HPP and Orchidland, and Kurtistown for Hawaiian Acres and the smaller subs. north of hwy 11. I don't have children,so I can't answer your questions about that. The Keaau school system has problems right now. Hopefully this will improve soon.

[leilaniguy]

Aloha to Nathan, You sound enthralled with MLE. It is a surreal place, beautiful, hobbit country. You know you will need heat to live there year-round? It gets very cool up there in winter. The "Ready Mapbook of East Hawaii Island" available on island will have all the public and private roads in Puna, "Terraserver" online has the elevations and most roads. MLE should be in lava zone 3, but it is very close to Kilauea crater. It is my understanding that most of the "ice" (meth) on the island is now smuggled in from Mexico, not produced locally. Your plan for off-the-grid is very doable, many people live that way here. FFVE will give you much more land, but the roads are bad there, mostly FWD only, and long narrow lots, maybe some questionable neighbors, still some pretty areas. AG jobs here start at minimum, you probably would do better at independent contracting: yard maintainance or hand landclearing, which pays at least $10-$15 hr. PS Save La'au and Punalu'u too!

[jncsolis]

leilaniguy, We really appreciate all your input and answering our questions. I'm sure many would agree that you've been a priceless resource of information for all of us looking to move to the islands...more particularly the big island.

Mahalo!
jncsolis