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A lot of houses there sell for cash, I bought and sold mine for cash. Some are owner financed.
That's what I was afraid of. I can see it being risky for an insurance company to insure a house with fire insurance in lava zone 1 and I don't think I would be comfortable living in lava zone 1 anyway. Also, no way do we have the finances to purchase a house in cash. Thanks for the info.
If there is a plot of land we really like, but there is no electric running to it, is it possible to live off grid with solar and a back up generator in case you need more power? Will solar produce enough electricity to power a whole home?
I've lived entirely off grid for decades. Now we're still solar PV although we also have a grid tie which makes for a no maintenance system. Much easier if you can do grid tie, but entirely off grid is still feasible.
It's pretty easy to be totally off grid. Build your house, wire it up like a normal house, add an inverter on the other side of the circuit breaker panel where normally you'd have the electric meter. The other side of the inverter is fed by a battery bank, there's a charge controller between the batteries and the PV panels.
We've got 5kW on the roof and that pretty much supplies the whole house. We don't bother to save much power since it's a grid tie system so we don't have to worry about how much is left in the battery bank but we don't have an electric stove or clothes dryer and all the lights and appliances were chosen with electrical use in mind.
Try to keep the energy use down. Anything that makes heat or cold uses power. Lights - what with the LED and such available nowadays - don't use so much power anymore. For the refrigerator, we've found a less than 24 cubic foot, freezer on top, ice maker in the freezer to run easily enough on a small solar system. The clothes dryer is best if it's 'solar operated' i.e. a clothesline, although a gas (propane, no natural gas in Hawaii) dryer can be used. If you want to use an electric dryer or electric stove, you'll need a pile more solar panels and a much bigger battery bank.
For the inverter, get pure sinewave if you can, that will keep your electronics happy. For the generator, Honda is the quietest and we had the least amount of trouble with them.
For water heating, rooftop solar is good with a gas water heater for backup or an 'on demand' gas water heater although those only start up if you demand hot water so they're not all that good for a small trickle of hot water.
Made it to the Big Island and man is it tough to get a car rental. I guess we happened to visit one of the worst weeks to get an available car. Now knowing this, we will ensure we reserve a rental way ahead of time on our next visit. All the research I have done, I missed this important fact. Fortunately we got very lucky and were able to secure a car for the week. Now we can explore!
You can get financing and insurance in all lava zones. This was not the case in 2014-2015 when the lava flow was threatening Pahoa but that has changed. We got financing (with a great interest rate) and insurance in Lava Zone 2 and closed on our house late last year. You will not have as many options to choose from so I would recommend using a mortgage broker familiar with the area - they will know better who is lending in which areas and can facilitate the process. This was our first time using a mortgage broker and it was so much easier than trying to contact several different lenders on our own (especially since we were 4000 miles away).
Leilani Estates is lava zone 1, it's actually in the rift zone meaning not only is it at risk from lava coming from uphill to hit it, that area is at risk from being ground zero in it's own eruption. It's a beautiful area, but a good 45 minute drive to town if you miss the traffic.
We are in LZ 3 and our insurance is about $35/month and that includes hurricane insurance which the lender required.
I suggest going through a mortgage broker (we used Karen Kline) because they can give you options from several different lenders. They also got us quotes from many different insurance companies. We were able to qualify for USAA insurance, but we weren't able to afford it. Even their auto insurance is higher in the state than many others.
Just got back home from visiting the BI and I already miss it. We were able to drive around the entire island and get a small feel for each area the best we were able to. First and foremost what a beautiful place on so many levels, the culture, the kindness, the landscape, the smells, the ocean, the beach, sunsets, the clouds between Hawi and Waimea, the gardens, the weather, the laid backness, the pride to name a few.
My wife loved not having to get all dressed up and having to put makeup on. She was just able to be her natural self and catch all the suns rays. We were just able to wake up, brush our teeth, eat breakfast and go. Right away we were able to notice it's not about how much one can outdo another. I also noticed not once were we honked at or heard anyone honking their horn. When you get there you get there and there is no need to rush; the island isn't going anywhere.
I was also surprised to not have the sticker shock that I thought I would have had. I mean, yeah some things I was "we won't be eating that." Walmart and Costco is where the best prices are and Safeway we will never go into. The price for pasta is insane, but I didn't check the price for pasta in Costco. A box of spaghetti was close to $3 where back home its 88 cents. Milk was not too bad and the meat in Costco is about the same as Costco on the mainland. The price of half and half and cream cheese is insane. Butter was more expensive, but tolerable. The seafood at Costco was a little more, but not too shocking. Forgot to check out the cost of bread, but I need to cut back on that anyway. The price of gas sucks, but not as bad as I thought. At Costco I think it was $2.70 or something like that. In Virginia it's now $2.05 and at Costco $1.95. But overall for the most part prices are not anymore than they are in New York metro area. For outside D.C., the Hawaii prices on the BI are more, but will be able to manage.
My wife and I can really see living a life in Hawaii, but I don't think it will be in Puna. For one it's too far from the beaches and it is a bit dreary. Though we didn't drive and visit throughout the entire Puna district, but I don't think that area would be for us. The South Point was really nice including DH, but again too far away from the beaches we would like and very far out of the way. Miles wide, doesn't seem too far, but Hawaii miles, very far away from everything, especially when the speed limit cuts down to 35 mph through that very windy section of 11. The Hamakua coast was beautiful and we decided to take the scenic route down to Hilo. We were pleasantly surprised to come across the botanical garden and had to stop to do that hike down to the ocean. Where our sweet spot seems to be is the Hawi area; we both fell in love with it. The only issue is Hawi is far from Kona where we would do most of our shopping. Also, not sure what the odds would be of my wife getting a teaching job there. Waimea was also beautiful, but seems to be way out of our price range for anything decent and not much to choose from. Also Waimea seemed to be very windy and kinda cold. I also don't think we would fit in well in that area as well. Hawi seems like a place we would very much fit in well. We also checked out waikola village and we did both like it there. It is very dry and still windy, but we do prefer more sun than not. Also, if we were to purchase a home with solar, there we could get the most of it with all the sun they get. Still Hawi is what seems to fit us better, but being Waikola Village it's slightly more central, my wife can have better odds in finding a teaching position all the way up to Hawi, Waimea, possibly the middle school in Waikola, and down to Kona. Kona would be a bit of a drive for her, but she would be willing to make that sacrifice. Also what's nice about Waikola village is you are only 12 miles from Hapuna Beach. We did want to check out Mahai'ula beach, but after taking the Mazda 3 about quarter mile, we realized we needed a 4X4 to get the rest of the mile and a half down.
Being we are still determined to make Hawaii our reality, we realized we will have to put Hawaii on hold for about another year and half than originally planned. So that would put us at about two and a half to three years to make it a possibility. It would also give my wife more time to complete her masters in administration. Not sure what the job opportunities there are for administrative positions in Hawaii, but it could make her more marketable. Never know down the road if a school will need a dean of students, principal, or assistant principal. Being property is more expensive up north $450K and up for something we would be comfortable in, we will need to save more money to make this happen. If all goes well, we are hoping to be able to put 20% down or close to it.
Next year we are going to plan a visit to Kauai. Figure why limit our option to only one island. If we both love Kauai as well, that is an island my wife can open herself up to to teach in along with the areas we like on the BI.
I can't believe how amazing the smells were. It was like a sweet smell of the flowers that are all over the place mixed in with the smell of the ocean. If only one could bottle that up and sell it. Along our drives we turned off a lot to visit shore lines and state parks. We also made a trip up to volcanoes national park. All was amazing. Already missing Hawaii and can't wait to go back.
We were also able to speak to a lot of locals and people who live there and get much good info. Everyone we spoke with were very open and seemed to enjoy sharing conversation.
Last edited by Nyfinestbxtf; 07-09-2017 at 07:13 AM..
Great trip report! It's always good to hear back from someone and find out their impressions of the BI. And it is refreshing to see someone on this forum who is being realistic about planning their potential move.
I look forward to hearing more from you as your plans unfold.
Great trip report! It's always good to hear back from someone and find out their impressions of the BI. And it is refreshing to see someone on this forum who is being realistic about planning their potential move.
I look forward to hearing more from you as your plans unfold.
Mahalo Dreaming,
I truly appreciate that. As much as we wanted to be moved into Hawaii yesterday, there are a lot of moving parts to make it a successful move. I think the worst thing for someone to do is move there without a plan and do it on a whim. Can moving there on a whim without a plan be successful, of course, but I wouldn't put a huge wager on it. Though we were only there for a week and a week is very hard to determine if this is right for someone, we tried to look at things with the most open mined perspective that we can. We kinda tried to look a little past all the dazzle of the perfect climate, the beaches, the Pacific Ocean, and on and on and tried to picture if we could live here beyond those things. We tried to look at things are different in Hawaii and the things you are comfortable with and use to on the mainland won't be the same in Hawaii. There are things you will have to give up moving to Hawaii and be honest with yourself if you can deal with that. Regardless, it will take time getting accustomed to even if you are willing to give up those things. This may sound stupid, but my wife loves getting things from QVC, QVC doesn't deliver to Hawaii. If there is something she wants from QVC, she will have to have it shipped to her moms and her mom then ship it to us. She also has a love affair with Chipolte, there are no Chipolte's in Hawaii. Point is, there will be things you love on the mainland that you will not have in Hawaii, but there are trade offs. Are you willing to give this up in order to have that. Are you willing to give up a larger home for a smaller home to have access to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world whenever you want. Are you willing to live more frugal to enjoy one of the best climates in the world. There are many things that you enjoy on the mainland that you will still be able to enjoy in Hawaii, but there are many things you may enjoy on the mainland that you will not have in Hawaii and visa versa. In our opinion while being as honest with ourselves as we can, Hawaii offers more than what we would lose. I think it's important to think these things through, but not to over think it. It's important to prepare whether financially, realistically, spiritually, or psychologically, but don't over prepare. We live this life once, we only get one go around in this life. I think over preparing and over thinking will psyche yourself out. I think a part of this move also requires a leap of faith.
So for now, we are going to put money aside for a down payment on a house, wait until I'm retired, visit at least one more time, my wife puts her application in (wish her luck), and take the leap.
I also think waiting till I'm retired rather than her moving there with our girls before I'm retired will help her and our daughters get better adjusted. Without me there from the beginning, it will be very difficult. We do this all together as a family.
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