Auto mechanics (Hawaiian Acres, Fern Forest: house, subdivisions, live)

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by lavaishot

I would imagine that Hawaii is one of the cheaper places in the world with such weather?

No - not at all. You don't even have to go as far for cheaper tropics from Minnesota - Cancun is only 1,680 miles away - or Panama City, Panama clocks in at 2,600 from Minneapolis. Anyway, many Central American, African, Asian - and even islands are much less expensive than Hawaii.

[lavaishot]

Cancun?!
A quick search showed me that 1/4 acre lots go for $100,000 more than a 3 acre lot in Puna. It's certainly closer, but I don't know about cheaper?

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by lavaishot

Cancun?!
A quick search showed me that 1/4 acre lots go for $100,000 more than a 3 acre lot in Puna. It's certainly closer, but I don't know about cheaper?

Are you sure that's in US dollars. You can get cheap land in the Cancun/Quintana Roo area (not oceanfront of course)

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by lavaishot

You are all absolutely correct. I do have a lot of research to do

Let's just leave it at that. You don't even know enough to ask the right questions yet.

Maybe I'm thinking too big too fast? Maybe I could take a visit for a few months and decide if the big island really feels like home or not. If it does, then find a job, relocate and rent while I build a home & shop?

That's a good second step. But before you do that, plan to come over for at least couple of weeks so you can start getting grounded in reality vs your mental pictures, which are mostly fantasy at this point. I'd suggest January, which is the cold and rainy season in windward Hawai'i County.

The problem for me is if I leave my shop, my work, my customers, my livelihood for 2-3 months, then I may not have any of that to come back to. Sure, the shop would still be there, but without the customers it may as well be gone. I am the only worker here. It's a one man show. If I leave, the shop closes.I know I could get the customers and work back, as I did it from scratch once already, all from word of mouth advertisement, and it really wasn't all that hard. I still to this day do not have a sign or even business cards.

The thing is, that seems to me like a lot of wasted energy, time and money. I don't like wasting any of those things.

Then you must keep in mind that if you move to Hawai'i and it doesn't work out for you it could blow through everything you've got, and leave you completely strapped. I don't want to sound too pessimistic, but that is the reality. It happens to people all the time.

I guess I had the thought in my mind that I could buy a 3 acre lot, maybe even two adjoining 3 acre lots making a nice size 6 acre parcel. That way I shouldn't disturb any of the neighbors with noise from the air tools and shop equipment (not that it's that loud, but I am respectful of peace and quiet), or with the sight of multiple vehicles parked on the property all the time. With 6 acres, all you would see when driving by is the driveway.

But the regular aerial surveillance by the police airplane, which feeds into the County tax and permits enforcement efforts would show an unlicensed business in a residential zone, and that would bring you unwanted attention, sooner or later.

I figured that the shop would not need walls (excluding the posts to hold the house up), just chain link fence to keep the honest people honest and screen mesh to keep the huge centipedes and other critters at bay.

You underestimate how committed the crooks can be, especially when you are out of sight and ear-shot from any neighbors. One of the volcanic sensor and webcam stations in Puna went offline earlier this year because the miscreants just took the whole thing, along with its solar panels. From inside a heavy chainlink cage. On top of a county building.

I am a very handy type of person, I could easily build a rain water catchment system, a septic system and almost all of the house & shop. I would need to hire out for the concrete and some excavating work, like drilling post holes, but I can do most of the construction myself. Plumbing, framing and electrical are no problem for me.

Again, you don't even know the right questions to ask yet. Do your homework. It's not legal to do your own plumbing or electrical work in Hawai'i. You need to hire licensed pros for that work.

OK. Got the point? Time to do your homework.

And seriously, good luck with it.

[lavaishot]

OpenD, that is some very good advice. I have been trying to find some of that information but it is not easy for me to find. I don't have a lot of spare time to research it. I have looked at hawaiicounty.gov website, but can't seem to find the answers to those questions.I know that Minnesota regulations are different than Hawaii regulations, but here in MN anyone can apply for a building permit and do the work theirself, then have a licenced inspector check the work and pass it if it's up to code....or fail it if it doesn't pass code. If the work doesn't pass code, then you can fix the problem areas and have it re-inspected. And that's for building, plumbing, electrical and septic. Probably other things too, but those are the permits that I have applied for here and had no problems passing the inspection.Also, as for running a buisness in residential areas (again, in MN) it is legal for me to run a shop on my property as I live outide of city limits and the land is classified as "agricultural rural" which does allow for repair shops. I don't know about Hawaii regulations, but I've been trying to find out. The land I was looking at is in "agricultural" zoning I believe.

[lavaishot]

Sorry the spacing is messed up on my first and last post, I made these posts on a very old computer that is running on a very old OS and it doesn't seem to be very compatable with this site.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

OP, I haven't done any research on opening an auto repair shop, but I have looked rather extensively into what is allowed in an agricultural zone. It apears to me that nothing is allowed in an ag zone unless it is 100% totally related to the agriculture of that property.

You could have a shop to repair your own farm tractors, but not have a shop to repair tractors from all over the island. You could probably get away with repairing your own personal car, but not repair for the public.

If you have a question about zoning, because it is not answering on their website that tells you what is allowed in a zone, you can write to the zoning people and you will get back a useless prevarication that tells you to refer to the website to find your answer.

Besides zoning, most of the cheap ag land in Puna (where the cheap land is located) is in subdivisions where there are also CCR's in addition to the county zoning laws. None of those CCR's are likely to allow an auto repair shop.

However, there is commercial zoned land in the area. I have seen auto repair shops for sale (the shop and parking, not the business.) for a price that I thought was very reasonable for commercial property. So I suggest that you start investing some time on the realty sites and even on Craigslist real estate section, just to see what is offered and how much it costs.

[davephan]

Before going much further, you should visit Hawaii for a least a couple of weeks. You'll learn a lot about Hawaii. It is very expensive to live there since almost everything costs a lot more. You're spoiled living in Minnesota. You can go to grocery stores here with much more selection and drastically cheaper prices, even if the food is shipped from Mexico, South America, or even Europe. If you want to remodel or build a house, you can get a permit and do everything yourself. The building materials are much cheaper here, even if they are shipped from across the country.

You might check central or southern Florida. The cost of living the is about 80% of the Twin Cities. The weather in Hawaii is absolutely better than southern Florida, but living in paradise has a price. Living in Hawaii is much easier to do if you're retired and saved up enough money and have a serious flow of retirement income, not just SSI. You also need to be able to accept the limitations the isolation gives you, not just friends and family, but also supplies you need.

I've lived here in Minnesota over 20 years longer than you have, so I feel you're pain, especially as I look out the window now, it's snowing now and the temperature is in the low 30s!

[Fredesch]

Davephan, I would be careful about recommending Florida, FEMA flood maps are being redrawn and large numbers of coastal area homes may have $9000 annual flood insurance bills. If I remember correctly one member often recommends Quartzite, AZ instead of Hawaii.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

Davephan, I would be careful about recommending Florida, FEMA flood maps are being redrawn and large numbers of coastal area homes may have $9000 annual flood insurance bills. If I remember correctly one member often recommends Quartzite, AZ instead of Hawaii.

I heard about the large increases for flood insurance in Florida. People are getting priced out of living there if they don't have enough cash flow to live there, if they are living too close to the edge. That's a reason to live inland away from the coast line. However, there's a high sinkhole concentration from Tampa to Orlando.

I briefly checked Quartzite, AZ. It looks like a baron desert, only 4 inches of rain a year. The average high is 100 degrees all summer. But it's a dry heat. Like sticking your head in a oven! You'd be stuck inside with the AC all summer, just like we are stuck inside all winter with the heat.

I don't know how much competition there is for auto repair in Florida. There's a huge population of old people there that are still driving, but just too old to fix their own cars. I don't fix my cars either.

Another option for the OP is to work for a dealership or auto repair company instead of working for himself. That may be a way to start off in another area and maybe go independent several years later after being established in a new area.