Kona advice (Hilo, Kailua, Waimea: sales, real estate, foreclosure)

[NZI95001]

Hi all, I've been reading this forum and everyone is so helpful and honest. Was considering moving to Hawaii from CT for the weather and mostly the time difference advantages (I work overnights from home in healthcare industry). I've been looking at the big island obviously it is the most affordable. I will rent at first to check everything out, but can I find a decent 4br house in the 300-350k range near Kona? Are the house prices a bargain now? I've compared costs and its actually cheaper to live in Hi than CT, I know electric is expensive there but CT is #2 in the nation @ 28cents/kwh and going up, I'm sure i can reduce my consumption as I'm fine with doing with less. I'd also like to bring my retired inlaws and they would be looking for a condo in the 180k range with lower fees. Would you guys recommend Kona? I'd like a fairly sunny area not too remote but not right on the ocean (Insurance, Tsunamis you know), Hilo seems too wet for me. The only thing I'm really restricted by is I need a reliable internet connection, so cable or dsl (Satellite has too much latency for ip phone) also need an area with reliable 3g coverage as a backup.

Thanks in advance

[carmel123]

I think you will find what you want in the Kona area.

I recommend that you look at alohaliving.com and also sign up for Harry Pritikin's updates at: Kona Real Estate Agent - Kailua Kona Hawaii Real Estate Specialist in Land, Homes and Condos on the Big Island of Hawaii. Free Daily Real Estate Newsletter.

Harry has a vast amount of real estate knowledge in the Kona area. He will be able to recommend condos that have a lessor HOA fee. By the way, I am not affiliated with Harry in any way except that I also receive his real estate updates. He has answered my questions for the area and is very knowledgeable about many of the big island areas.

[hotzcatz]

House prices are down to about what they were in 2000/2001 which is right after the sugar companies closed on the island and we were having our own localized depression and the bottom fell out of everything. Since you don't need to be directly in town you may be able to find less expensive housing just outside of Kailua.

Kona is the district, Kailua is the biggest town in it so but there is another Kailua on Oahu so the one here is usually referred to as Kailua-Kona. But we also use Kona when we say we are going to that side of the island. There's Hilo side and Kona side which is much easier to figure out than that East and West stuff.

I think the fastest internet on the island is Time Warner's Roadrunner, but I haven't researched it. I think their speed is slower here than on the mainland, too, you may want to check their website for particulars. The phone company, Hawaiian Tel, has a DSL line which they say is fast and something about you get your own line and don't have to share like you do with Roadrunner.

Tsunami are pretty localized to the shore areas, most of Kailua goes uphill pretty quickly so most houses are out of the tsunami range. Elevation on the island is also important to the micro-climate of each area and determines a lot of what will grow in your yard. You may want to look into the Waikoloa area, there are a lot of condos as well as houses there. It's pretty dry and has less vog. Vog is volcanic haze and occasionally it can be a problem but there's less of it on the Waimea side of Kailua. Palisades is also a nice area, although there aren't many condos there. Kailua itself has quite a few housing areas so you will have lots of places to choose from.

I've been noticing that over the past four or five months, the new real estate listings each day on the Kona side have been about as many as the daily sales with occasionally there being more sales than listings. If they change the price, it's generally to lower it and when things do sell, it is generally for less than the asking price. That's a different trend than over the past several years when there have been many more new listings than sales. The Hilo side of the island is beginning to have the occasional day when there are as many or more sales than listings. But prices are still low and there is still a lot of inventory to select from. Depending on what the foreclosure market does, the prices may be near bottom, although that's about impossible to predict.

All this is just my unprofessional observations, I'm not a real estate person although we were looking to buy a house for the past several years and we just bought one, so personally, I'm going to think it's a good time. But you definitely want to rent for six months or a year while you look, you'll get a much better house that way. All the different areas are different from each other and it's difficult to find the one which fits just right. It also takes awhile to get past the differences between Hawaii and the mainland so when you see a lot covered in vegetation you don't automatically think it's growing in soil and actually notice all that green stuff is basically growing in rocks, at least in the Kona and Puna districts, other areas actually have deep soil. It's nicer to live at a slightly cooler elevation and having breezes flow through your house does wonders for keeping the electric bill down. Just loads of little stuff which after you've been here awhile, you will begin to notice and it's the day to day details which make one house much superior to live in than another.

Hilo's wetness is more of the occasional drench than an all day sort of rain. It will even rain with the sun shining which makes for a lot of rainbows. So even though it has incredibly high rainfall, it also has a lot of sunshine. The Kona side has much better beaches, though, if you go to the beach much, then the Kona side wins hands down. The best beaches are up between Kailua and Kawaihae where the big resorts are.

[mdand3boys]

All other things aside, you need to check with your employer first to see if they will be OK with Hawaii, taxes and insurance regulations.

[NZI95001]

Thanks so much, everyone is really helpful here. I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get closer to making the jump.

[KonaKat]

Have you ever visited the Big Island? I suggest that you plan a trip of 2 or 3 weeks, if possible to stay that long. Rent a "vacation rental" condo which has full kitchen and washer/dryer and pretend you live here. Go to the grocery store, Costco, rent a car and buy gas, investigage many areas and neighborhoods to see what appeals to you. If you do decide to move, plan to rent for at least 6 months to enable you to "acclimate" a little more before you plunk down that much money. yes prices are down and even inventory seems down in some aspects and interest rates are still good. Condo maintenance fees can be $500 to $1200 a month so be sure your inlaws are aware of that - they might opt for a small house instead.

When you look at houses or condos get a copy of the CC&Rs and/or "house rules" because you want to be able to know all the " rules " you're signing on to accept.

Consult a good CPA who can research the tax implications for a job like yours as it would be affected by Hawaii laws.

Best wishes and happy hunting!

[apy444]

Howdy planning the move myself for later this year woundering if your taking belongings and will be in need of container space? let me know, thanks and good luck