Looking for forest lot (Hilo, Hawaiian Paradise Park: transplants, house, neighborhood)

[hotzcatz]

Solar is pretty much the alternate electrical system around here.



Windpower and forested lots don't really mesh well since the trees disturb the airflow. There's more wind systems up in the Kohala area. Some big windmills up on the other side of Waimea and Upolu Point and there used to be a lot of them down near Southpoint, although I don't know if they're still operational.



I don't know of any year round streams for hydro in the Puna area, there are some along the Hamakua Coast but not much hydro at all.


There was someone doing gasification or whatever they call it that runs a generator off of wood chips, but it seemed a pretty convoluted way to get power. That was up in the Glenwood area several years ago. He's moved off island since then.


Usually folks will limit the amount of power they need to generate with solar and switch over a lot of the utilities to propane. There is no natural gas in Hawaii, so folks opt for propane. Most folks use the small tanks and take them in to be filled up. Having the gas company set and fill a big tank is more expensive.

[terracore]

Solar is really your only option. In Mountain View one can expect several days of dark skies in a row so a battery system will most likely need to be occasionally supplemented by a gas generator.


One thing you may not have considered is the types of things you want to grow. Mountain View begins an area of higher elevation where some "tropical" plants don't do as well, but other "mainland" style crops do. Also a general rule of thumb is the higher in elevation you get, the more rain you can expect.

[Grassyknoll]

Windpower and forested lots don't really mesh well since the trees disturb the airflow. There's more wind systems up in the Kohala area. Some big windmills up on the other side of Waimea and Upolu Point and there used to be a lot of them down near Southpoint, although I don't know if they're still operational.

Southpoint windmills were replaced with new units a few years back and are still in operation. There are a number of homes using wind generation in the Oceanview area (one benefit of being exposed and lacking tree cover).

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

And the temperatures are cooler. We have friends who live in Volcano Village and they can't even grow bananas because it is too cold (and too rainy) there.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

And the temperatures are cooler. We have friends who live in Volcano Village and they can't even grow bananas because it is too cold (and too rainy) there.

It's not too rainy in Volcano village, because bananas do just fine in Keaau and Pahoa, where rainfall is higher by about 45 inches a year. (145 vs. 100) Bananas need a lot of rain to thrive, 80+ inches a year and up unless irrigated.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

But they also need sun. 8 times out of 10 it is not sunny when we are in Volcano Village.

Just relating one person's experience.

[eirikaleialoha]

Mm I know I can trade what I grow so it’s not too much of a problem. Looked at Hawaiian Acres subdivion today. There was a densely wooded lot with young trees, I don’t think they were ohia but their trunks were red. Someone small like me could probably tramp through the property but I wonder how a proper survey would be done. Are most lots like these done by drones? Also is there any way to tell ifthere’s soil or mostly lava rocks on the property? Further down Hawaiian Acres I could see was mostly lava rocks but when I walked a bit into the wooded property it seemed like there was more soil and drainage.

Also noticed a lot of haoles in the area... �� not complaining but it felt like I was in the Pacific Northwest haha.

Another thing that caught my attention was some realtors advertising in Eden Rocs and Hawaiian Acres that you could possibly see the ocean from a 2nd floor. Isthat true or just a sales pitch?

[hotzcatz]

Stay out of Eden Roc, especially towards the back.


A tree is symmetrical from it's roots to the crown. If you see tall skinny trees without any spreading branches, most likely they're growing in cracks in the lava and there's no real soil there. Lots of things grow in leaf litter over lava, but there may be no real soil there unless you see wide branched trees that put their roots in the soil. Some species of trees have above ground roots, they'd be able to spread out on leaf litter over lava. Also, some areas of Hawaiian Acres have a flood path thru them. Check drainage patterns.


I think HA lots are 125' wide by 875' long so they are really long and skinny. The pins are usually either 1/2" galvanized pipe or an old railroad pin pounded into the ground. Finding the front two is usually possible, the two in the back are usually a bit more difficult.


Seeing the ocean is mostly a sales pitch. Puna isn't known for views since the land is one long slope and not much of it is steep enough to see over the trees. Especially since you want a forested lot.

[Arktikos]

Pretty sure HA lots are 150 feet wide. Orchidland has the 125'. The trees with red trunks are the "vivee" I mentioned earlier- invasive cattley guava from South America. They can form extremely dense clumps and are very difficult to remove. Cut them and they come back very quickly.

To ascertain soil depth take a pick or pry bar and shove into soil. It typically ranges from about zero inches to 10 inches in that area. Lots are usually surveyed by professionals for a nominal fee. Or is it phenomenal? Who knows these days.

2nd floor ocean view-yes, perhaps but not universally true. Lot must have a favorable slope and a lack of trees obscuring sight.
Haoles-Yes, probably outnumber locals in many parts of Puna.

Bananas-True, they need sun. Probably don't grow in Volcano due to unfavorable temps though. It's also true that Volcano seems to be cloudier than lower elevation places that actually receive more rainfall. I think of Volcano's winter climate as akin to our warmest summer weather in SE Alaska.

[Amadrid]

When we were here last August we looked in Hawaiian Paradise Park, Hawaiian Beaches, and Nanawale. One of the problems we realized quickly is that in order to get privacy you put yourself in some risk. We found by looking at some of their trashed houses and empty lots that there was a lot of vandalism in certain areas. And I suspect it’s the haoles they have got nothing better to do. And to get an ocean view, you really have got to get way down close to the water which makes it really expensive. Or you’ve got to be fairly remote, we looked at a couple of properties on Government Beach Road in the Wawa area but again you are pretty isolated. In Nanawale Estates, near the front of the subdivision was nice, but towards the back again, some of the houses were trashed pretty badly. We thought that if we had purchased a home over there and decided to go to Kona for the day, we might come back and have nothing left.

In Hawaiian Paradise Park, we looked at a lot of nice homes and properties or you could tell that the owners had pride of ownership but on the fringe edges of the community, lots of bamboo, A scattering of homes intermixed with a bunch of overgrown empty lots, again we saw problems. We ended up attempting to make a purchase on a home in Hawaiian Beaches, it did not have an ocean view in the lot was smaller but very cute and the home was in really good shape unfortunately we were not able to pull together a deal with the seller and we walked away from it. We ended up purchasing a home in Ocean view, we don’t get nearly the rain, we are at an elevation that it will be difficult for us to grab some tropical plants and like everyplace else we have either ever lived, or looked at here on the big Island, this subdivision also has its share of issues in terms of some rundown homes and empty lots. But I suspect you would find that in Hilo and Kona as well. You just take the good with the bad. One thing about Ocean view is that it’s very easy to purchase a home with a really great “ocean view “ and your buying power for property goes along way but that’s true I have a number of locations on the big Island. Over here solar and wind power are pretty common. You can live off the grid pretty easily. You can be at an elevation that you don’t need air-conditioning, but too far up and you’re going to need heating. The one thing I can say about being on the east side of the island or when we drive over to that side of the island is that you are much closer to services and restaurants etc. and we noticed that gas and propane are quite a bit less on the east side but you do need really good windshield wipers. Definitely more rain