So many questions re: land and building! (Hilo, Kapaa: for sale, 2015)

[Loretta-n-Sarah]

Hi, first I'd like to explain my username. It's a combo of mine and my sister's pen names. We're actually saving up and looking around Big Island as a place to buy a lot and build a house to retire in with our husbands (though while we continue to write). We're currently looking around Pahoa/Hilo, and have a few questions. 1. We see a lot of land for sale. I really we'd like to build our home and have a smaller guest house behind it (without a 'kitchen' in it) that we could maybe rent out for extra income when family isn't visiting and staying in it. Are there areas we should avoid looking at a lot in as they prohibit this? Areas that allow it and are more likely to work? We'd like to narrow it down before flying out only to discover we'd been looking in areas that didn't permit what we were after. We need internet, pref. higher speed broadband, okay if we have to put in a business line as we need it for our writing business. Catchment water is okay, prefer sewer if possible, though not entirely opposed to septic (ballpark costs of that would be great). Would also like solar, we have it here in the UK and love it, how much is a PV system there? Would it be better to order a system someplace like Alibaba and have an electrician install it? 2. I see a lot of talk about the cost of food and that the solution to not paying a mint is to eat local. Prices quoted don't look that different to what I pay here in the UK and my sister does in Seattle. I grew up military and we always 'ate local' and we intend to do so after we move. Just what are we looking at if we bought local and grew some of our fruit?

And in case anyone is wondering "Why Hawaii? Why Big Island?" All I can say is, we feel called there. Thanks for reading and know I probably sound like a right idjit, but hey, if I don't ask, I don't find out and that could be costly, right?

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

You say you feel called to the Big Island, but have you actually been here? Just wondering about how much time you've really spent there. And, yes, feel free to ask whatever you like.

My first suggestion is to spend a bunch of time reading this forum and perhaps the Punaweb to get yourself educated about the Puna and Hilo Districts. A lot of your questions may have already been answered.

The best way to find out the cost of food is to look at on-line ads for locals stores such as KTA, Safeway, and Foodland. A lot of us buy from our local farmer's markets, but they can be expensive. I pay $6 a dozen for farm fresh eggs from one of my neighbors. Expensive but SO worth it.

[Loretta-n-Sarah]

Hi, I have looked at the online food ads, but it's the locally produced stuff I was asking after as the farmer's don't have ads up I can see :P And yes, I have checked Punaweb already. I've been reading that forum quietly for about 2 years now. I have seen some answers, but the information was old, as others have recently mentioned here. Not all of the questions have been though, so asking here hoping maybe someone has input. As for your eggs, large and farm fresh? Some things are just worth paying for.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Yes, large and farm fresh. I go to her farm to get eggs and honey and goat cheese. They keep their chickens in a large fenced in area outside. Very good eggs. Sometimes the prices can be expensive at the farmer’s markets. The secret is to get to know some of the vendors and then they will give you deals.

Regarding growing your own fruit and produce, lots of current information here. It really all depends on where your property is located. Obviously a lot more rain in Puna and Hilo where you are looking, but not always good soil.

Sorry, don’t know the answer about two separate living units, but some HOAs may not allow them. Hopefully Hotcatz will come on soon since she/he seems to know more about building codes and costs.

[Loretta-n-Sarah]

We def. do not want to run foul of any HOA! Also, we intend to get a permit to build, but are wondering if anyone has any experience of getting a house built using prefab modular units from China shipped in and if so, the permitting process theyw ent through. The homes bolt together in sections and the manufacturer draws up plans and all that according to your desired floor plans. I am esp. interested if they did so and placed it on a post and pier type foundation. I tried looking on the forums but all I saw was people mentioning them but no replies except about kit home builders. Puna and Hilo are the main areas we are looking, but we are open to suggestions to other areas if people have suggestions.

[Nyfinestbxtf]

Most important thing to do is visit and spend a little time in Puna. You can read all the threads and all the information that is available on the internet, but none of that will explain what it is like to be there. All this planing and figuring things out could be for nothing only to find out Puna is not for you or whether you can or can’t adapt to such a place. It may take a couple visits to make sure if that is where you want to be.

For us, Puna is not our first choice, but still not out of consideration. There are many pros for our family to live there as long as we are able to look past a few things. The big pros for us are you get more house and more property for your money. Property and privacy is a big deal to us. Now the lots are these narrow lots, so there is not a lot of space between homes if built at the same depth, but if the homes are staggered in depth, that affords a lot of privacy. Another pro is there is a Christian school right there. Have to do a little more research about the school, but should be fine. Some of the cons are there are a lot of dilapidated homes and abandoned cars in Puna, but we noticed the same thing throughout Kauai. I think it was worse in Kauai. At least in Puna you have more space. Kauai is where my wife would love to move to and figured we can buy a fixer upper there. That was until we visited there. She was able to see for herself we can’t have anything we want in Kauai in a home. We can’t justify mortgaging $500K for a home that is a dump on a 5,000 sq ft lot. Kauai will be a place we visit, but not live. Visiting Kauai also opened my eyes to Hawaii giving us a broader perspective, whether you live in Puna, Kona, Hawi, Kapaa, Lihue, or Kekaha, things are laid back. For instance, it is normal to shop at Walmart without any shoes and shirt. There is no such thing as no shirt, no shoes, no service. At least I didn’t notice any of those signs. It’s just little things like that we noticed that is the same between the BI and Kauai. Bathing is also optional for some too. Body odor on some can be pretty pungent. We are use to that from all the time we spend at Disney. Another con with Puna is you are far away from sandy beaches, but the plus is you are away from massive swaths of tourists. There is also a high rate of petty theft. Would kinda suck coming home from a Costco and beach day to find your stuff gone. I have recently been following Big Island Thieves and Big Island watch on FB. Lot of good stuff on there, but a lot of nonsensical drama between folks who know one another.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by Loretta-n-Sarah

Puna and Hilo are the main areas we are looking, but we are open to suggestions to other areas if people have suggestions.

Why are Puna and Hilo the main areas that you are looking?

Have you been to the Big Island?

[hotzcatz]

Aloha Loretta-n-Sarah! ( So, if we see 'Sarah-n-Loretta', that would be your sister? )

Most if not all residential lots allow for a 'guest' house to be built. (I'd have to check to definitely state it was allowed on ag zoned lots. It probably is, but I'm not certain that it is.) A guest house is less than 500 square feet and doesn't have a kitchen. A kitchen consists of a sink, heating device (stove, microwave, etc.) and refrigerator. It used to be that everyone put in a "rec room with wet bar" - frequently a rec room with a separate outside entrance and no interior connections to the rest of the house - but the Building Department is now getting a little more fussy about that sort of thing.

Don't rely on your Realtor to know what is and is not allowed on any particular property. Once you've found a property you like, get the Tax Map Key number and go to the Planning Department in Hilo (right next to where you register cars, it's on Aupuni street - across from Long's Drugs) and ask them if what you want to do is allowed on that specific lot. It saves ever so much problems to ask them directly and you get an absolute and definitive answer.

Of all the things you've listed, sewer is going to be the most limiting item. There aren't a lot of areas served by sewers outside of directly in town and even a lot of town areas aren't served by sewer systems. Rural properties are almost all exclusively septic systems since cesspools are now illegal. No more cesspools which means you're pretty much limited to septic systems. I think it's up to five bedrooms on the smaller sized ones and not sure how many on the larger sized ones. If you go over that number of bedrooms, then you need to get multiple septic systems. Even if you put in a composting toilet, you still get to put in a septic system to handle the rest of the gray water.

Costs of septic change depending on which part of the island you're on. Puna & Ka'u can have higher septic installation costs because they have to dig through lava to install them. Figure $15K and you'll probably have a bit left over. I think they quoted us $8K to $10K last year, but we're on the Hamakua coast and have really deep soil.

The next defining item will be broad band internet. Ask Spectrum if they have a map of where they serve, they're pretty much the cable company on this island. There are a few others, though, you could ask them as well. For a lot of the rural properties, folks use satellite internet systems. Usually from what those folks say, they'd go for cable instead if they could get it.

We've had installed two big grid tied PV systems, the first one cost $24K and is a 4kW system, the second was $20K for a 5.2 kW system. Depending on where you will be on the island, grid tie may or may not be available. We did have a much smaller stand alone system before these two big systems and that one was significantly less, but it was also almost two decades ago. The 4kW system was put in in 2011 and the 5.2kW system was installed in late 2015, I think it was. Solar panel prices had dropped between one system and the next.

Once you get acclimatized to the island and figure out where things are and where to get things, prices will be less. Any time you move to a new area, doesn't really matter which area, it will take awhile before you find where buying what works best for you. If you get any soil at all (a lot of properties on this island have no soil even though they have a lot of vegetation growing on them) anyway, if you get soil, you can grow a lot of your food. Or stack rocks, build a raised bed planter and you can still grow veggies.

Since you'd probably be renting someplace to live while building, perhaps you could move over first and then find the lot to build on? There's so much difference in topography as well as demography that it's hard to find the sweet spot without being here for awhile.

[Loretta-n-Sarah]

Thanks for take big the time to answer! Re: septic, what about an above ground septic system? These are are frequently used on the mainland where digging is difficult or where the land has poor drainage. They also tend to be cheaper due to far less digging ( if any)

[Loretta-n-Sarah]

Also, yeah, no kitchen intended for the guest house. Mini fridge and coffee machine only, maybe an electric kettle. As for Puna, lol, my sister grew up in Griffin and Barnesville, GA. I’ve also lived in some... interesting... areas. As long as immediate neighbours are okay, we’re good. We will be checking out the neighboroods well, though. Treating this the same as our various overseas moves. We literally feel the call and go, after doing our advance prep. We’re kinda eccentric that way �� and have learned a lot about doing recon before choosing an area. There’ve been boots in the ground already,, not planning somewhat ahead blindly. And renting? Of course. And lol, my sis and I share this log in.