Hawaii...Which subdivision is best? (Hilo, Naalehu: 2010, rent, buying a home)

[Annyz]

I just joined this forum and will have to read past threads to catch up. I have been researching info on the big island of Hawaii and am rather confused about some areas. I don't want rain every day nor do I want to live in an extremely windy area. Since I have never visited any of the islands yet, I can only go by the info I find on the internet.
One place I liked was in Discovery Harbor on the south end of the island. What are your opinions on this subdivision? I have heard that someone purchased the golf course and is going to attempt to revitalize it in the near future. Any info on that? Our price range would have to be $250,000 or less since I want a very, very small mortgage. Also is it difficult to commute from this area to the larger towns on the island as far as road conditions? Any other input would really be appreciated, including stores (lumber?) and work available.
A little bit of background info on me and my spouse. We are in our early 50's and basically very middle class and easy to get along with type of people. No high expectations when it comes to lifestyle or income. Grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, were dying to get out of there, moved to Wisconsin, have lived in the country for over 15 years now, hang our laundry outside to dry, drive older model vehicles, are not afraid of hard work, do our shopping at Wal-Mart, love garage sales/auctions/thrift stores (nice to be able to throw your old $15 couch on the burn pile when you want a "newer" $15 one!) and love animals. We are not social butterflies, but rather prefer to stay home and enjoy our little piece of the world.
Thanks!

[hotzcatz]

Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY A HOUSE OR LOT IN HAWAII WITHOUT AT LEAST VISITING FIRST! There, sorry for shouting, but you can not imagine the amount of folks who think this is like the mainland and buy a house or property and then "move to paradise" just to get a major wake up to reality call. Most everything you have heard or seen about this state has been promoted by the Hawaii Visitors Bureau and they have a skewed view of things. For buying a house, rent and live in the area for AT LEAST six months before buying.

Try using Google earth or some other satellite viewing program and look around the Discovery Harbor and southpoint area. All that black stuff is lava rock. Fresh lava rock at that. See how far away Kona and Hilo are? You will have to go to either one to register cars, get parts that aren't available at the local Ace hardware and various other reasons. The fastest posted speed limit on this island is 55 and most times you are going a lot slower than that. So it will be over an hour's drive to get to town. No cities on this island, either, so town is all you've got.

Research the word "vog" - as in volcanic smog, sulphuric fumes and hard to breathe. Research the word "lava zone". Forget the golf course, check the rainfall maps and see if the lots have County water. Most of the rural areas are on catchment water which means the water falling on the roof is caught and stored in an above ground swimming pool until it is used for household use. Do the lots have paved roads? Is there telephone service, cell phone service, cable service? Most of the mail in rural areas is picked up at the post office, very few have home mail delivery. No rubbish service, you have to take your own trash to the transfer station. Many places have newspapers now and most places can get more than one or two radio stations now so things are improving. The nearest Wal-Mart is over seventy miles away. This island is best defined by what we don't have so come and see if it is a lifestyle you like. Some people are thrilled by living here and others curl up and wither with all sorts of middle ground in between. It is best to find out before buying a house especially in a declining economy.

So, sell your place in Wisconsin or rent it out and move to Hawaii to test out living here. If you live here for six months happily, then start looking for a place to buy and figure it will take about six months to find a perfect fit. It can be done quicker but you won't hardly know which neighborhood to choose in that amount of time. Each neighborhood is drastically different from the other, we don't have huge homogenized areas around here. A little of this right next to a little of that. You may adore half the neighborhood and not really want to live in the other half. It is hard to say. The topography is steep hills and one lot will have great views and the next kinda hidden in the trees.

Try reading West Hawaii Today along with the Hilo Tribune Herald (there are free online versions) and have a map of the island handy while reading where all the articles are from. Check the classifieds for job listings and check the job locations.

[Annyz]

Hotzcatz...thanks for the info. I was interested in Discovery Harbor subdivision because it is in lava zone 6 (although zone 1 runs pretty close to the edge and it is also bordering zone 3) and I read up on the vog situation but can't tell if it reaches this area as heavily as others. It has paved roads and most services (phone, cable, etc) available. I did the google map search and saw the arial view and topography...pretty interesting! The area seems to be very green, but I read somewhere that the southern area can be very windy. Any input on that aspect?
Driving an hour or so to town is not a problem since we are used to that in the area we live now. Small town life and cities about an hour away. I am keeping up on the local news as much as possible by reading the newpapers online but haven't really gathered too much info from those sources. I did get some heads-up on the catchment water systems from a few sites also. That wouldn't be so bad depending on how costly the upkeep in the event something goes wrong and needs repair. My hubby can fix just about anything IF the parts are available. Speaking of repairs, thanks for the comment about vehicle parts. Didn't think about that one! If you have to order parts for anything at all from the mainland I imagine it would take quite awhile to arrive. Might be a good idea to bring along some of those little "necessities".
As for the various neighborhoods, I did get the impression from my research that there are neighborhoods exactly as you stated..very diverse with respect to homes and people. What about crime? Is that a big problem on the island? In our neck of the woods we don't have to lock our doors and can leave the key in the car ignition. Never have to put anything away outside because no one steals anything.
Before making any decisions about moving, we definitely plan to visit. We intend to stay on the island for a month and just travel everywhere possible. Talk to people and drive thru the various communities. If we move, we already decided to retain half of our property (we have 40 acres) in the event we would have to move back here for any reason. I want to do everything possible in advance to prevent that from happening so you will probably see me post a lot of questions in the future!
Again, thanks for the info and I'll keep up the research!

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Annyz, we have a house in Discovery Harbour, so we are very familiar with the area. However, we only get to visit a couple of times a year because we are still working at our jobs in Colorado. When we do move in one year and seven months, we will be retired and won't have to worry about commuting to jobs.

Discovery Harbour is on county water, and there is actually a very good car repair shop in town as well as a couple of small markets and an Ace Hardware. Obviously most of the shopping is done either in Kona or Hilo.

Please email me through the forum, and I would be happy to share lots of other information with you about Naalehu and the whole South Point area. We have friends who do live there full-time (some work and some are retired), so we have lots of good first-hand knowledge.

[HappyMontrose]

Are you still in Colorado.

HM

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Dang it, we are still in Denver. Had 2 inches of snow last weekend -- how's the weather on the Western Slope?

Our retirement date is June 10, 2010. That's my husband's last day of teaching. I keep saying that we'll have a one way ticket on June 11.

[hotzcatz]

June 11th is Kamehameha Day. Are you coming over to celebrate Kamehameha Day?

[Helen Chin]

I have been through the Naalehu area a couple of years and just loved Discovery Harbor the most. I have read a few conflicting things on the net and am not sure which is the best, objective place to look.

It sounds like the DHGC has been purchased and it sounds like a good plan to most of the residents.

I am considering buying a home in Discovery Harbor and really wanted to get a feel for what is going on over there. Some home owners seem excited and some seem to not want change.

Please advise me with any advice or what is really happening over there.

Thank you,

Helen

[Helen Chin]

Stupid question - how do I read replies to posts? I can figure this site out and would like to see the answers to the above posts. Thank you...

[KoaKine]

lol when the posts are made you will see them sometimes were slow at posting.