Building Ideas Near Pahoa (renters, mortgage, construction loan)

[arizz1]

Hi All,


We purchased land just north of Pahoa. We were there for 2 weeks in January. We are planning to build a cottage for retirement. we did purchase 3 side by side lots. We are planning to build on all 3 lots. The 1st for us, the 2nd maybe for my mother, and 3rd will be a rental.


We are hoping to build and rent out the 1st cottage prior to relocated from Texas. It will be about 5-6 years before my partner can retire, I have 20 years to go. We would like to be moving then if possible.


We are trying to decide what will be the easiest way to build. We are not planning to build anything fancy or huge. I have been looking at the HPM home kits online. The agent we use when we purchased the land was great. He does have an associate in his office that does rental management.


We have been trying to figure out a budget on about how much it will cost us to build the first cottage.
I'm thinking 550-700 SF, I want it build with permits, and as off grid as possible. I am going to start looking for a construction loan that can be converted to a mortgage. From what I can gather online and when we were there it looks like the rental will more than cover the mortgage and expenses.


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[hotzcatz]

There's not much difference between 'on grid' and 'off grid' for most areas of Puna. Other than whether you connect to the electrical grid or not is about the only difference.

If you're planning on it being a rental, you probably want to do a grid-tie solar electrical system if you still can in that area. Renters and battery banks don't always mesh well. Without proper use, you can toast a battery bank and they're not inexpensive to replace. Otherwise, if it's gonna be a rental until you move in, just tie it to the electrical grid for now and do the big off grid PV system when you move in.

Most likely, you're on your own with water catchment. Other than power and some areas of land lines, there's not a lot of utilities available in Puna. No sewer, you can probably get the newspaper delivered, everyone seems to be using cell phones instead of land lines anymore. Some areas get cable, some don't, so internet may be hard wired or satellite depending on your location. Probably no mail delivery. What's left? Probably not pizza delivery. So being 'off grid' in Puna doesn't really mean much difference than 'on grid'.

You'll have to put in a septic system now since all cesspools are now banned. You can have up to six bedrooms, I think it is, per septic system, but in a 550 - 700 square foot house, that shouldn't be a problem. I think you can go down as low as a 220 square foot houise and still meet code, but I'd have to look into that if it mattered. I know the small house folks are howling for some sort of 'tiny house' legislation, but the code already allows for pretty small houses. I think the code calls them 'efficiency dwelling units' instead of 'tiny houses'. Any house will still need some sort of septic system, I still don't see any of the small houses addressing that issue, but anyway, you're proposed house is bigger than 'small' or 'tiny' so that shouldn't be a problem.

HPM has kits and several of the other hardware stores have them, too. Contractors are used to building them, so you can probably get a set price for putting one together. You may be able to save some money to build two or three at once, you'd have to ask the contractor.

[terracore]

For Puna, especially Pahoa specific inquires, you are probably better off asking on the punaweb.org forum, they have a building in Puna sub-forum.

[arizz1]

Thank You for all the information.