Big Island Living- Puna District

In my eternal quest for the ultimate place to live I came across some ridiculously cheap real estate prices in the Puna District, near Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii. I made the mistake of showing Mrs. Seamus, and she's all but got us packed.
Has anyone had any experience living in this area? I know it rains alot. I know basic goods and services are "expensive". I know jobs are scarce. But what else, good and bad?
We were there a few years back but stayed mostly on the Kona side. What we saw of Hilo and the surrounding area we loved, but at the time weren't considering actually living there. Anyone got any living in Hawaii pros or cons ?

TikisbySeamus.com

[ Edited by: seamus on 2003-10-08 11:55 ]

I saw this at Hilo Hatties once. It might be helpful. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0966625307/103-7274711-3092619?v=glance

how cheap is it?

Thanks Dawn, I just might have to get that book.
One acre parcels start at around $2,500. I've seen 3 acre parcels for $7,500.
Small homes start around $30k. Here's a link to a great example:
http://www.hilobrokers.com/cgi-bin/hb?!00but0AeTja1m400niatvA34r5ATabaQ1e0odSafv6d1T9n0NdfOn0C10ge1KG1cf2nanrammt0MrEvkvbCaT2f0oCezO2CMrSoL8AbbtlEnnrapmt0Mrnvkv43cr7nhTffp1t0N0fjA8dCuteguTCaa10OsnS7f8C38tlAaTjfXIonarfvrObb8T0

My input should be counted for nearly nil, as my experience with living in Hawaii comes from 25 years ago, on Oahu, from the point-of-view of a five-year-old. But I'll give it anyway.

When I was about your daughter's age, my parents did basically what you're considering -- they got the nutty idea that living in Hawaii would be Super Cool. And it was. It was the best place in the universe to be five years old.

However, a year later we were back in Seattle. They weren't fully prepared for the difference in the cost of living, and I still remember my parents scrounging for every last coin in the house to be able to afford to move back home -- they even went into my own piggy bank. It being the late 70s, my parents had a rather nice coke habit to support, which didn't help things.

Also, the schools were a little... weird. My parents pulled me out of the public school right away, they gave that about a week. They put me in a private school, where I was supposed to be in the first grade, but that wasn't a good fit either, until they bumped me up to the second grade. When I came back to the mainland a year later, I basically took second grade over again. I don't remember ever learning anything in school in Hawaii -- I do, however, have lots & lots of memories of hanging out at the beach collecting sea glass & bottlecaps and weaving palm fronds; our school took two field trips a week, almost always just to go hang out at the beach. I'm not sayin' it's bad, just perhaps not as stimulating as I could have used. But hey, this is one anecdote from 25 years ago, so who knows if it's any reflection at all on the current state of education in Hawaii. But you may want to look closely before you haul the little rugrat out there.

There you go! Almost useless input, that's what I'm good for.

Seamus,

Humu has a good point about Oahu, but the Big Island is completely different. I cannot see how something couldn't be 'up' with the low price. Keep in mind that there might not be utilities such as water, sewer, electricity to the property, there mind not be an access road to the property etc.

Economics still work in Hawaii. There is no free (or really cheap) lunch as the saying goes...

(but it sure is fun to think about eh?)

Lava Risk???

Aloha Sista Humu,
Education of the islands is definitely not as superior as it is on the mainland.
That is something that my colleagues in Hawaii struggle with on a daily basis.

In fact, many Hawaiian students (Jr. High & High) are encouraged to study
on the mainland for better educational opportunities.
One of the biggest issues that the Hawaiian educational system is faced with is the
use of pigeon as the main dialect for communication.

Even though students are taught English
in school, they only speak pigeon at home & with their peers.
This has been a major concern for years.
On the other hand, the students in Hawaii are well educated about Hawaiian culture & have a very strong family unit
(Family meaning external family as well as community).

Seamus: A few things to consider when moving
to the islands.

Mentality: "We do it tomorrow" This makes
business transactions and progress extremely slow.
It happens, but may take a while.

Cost of living: It's an island; many things
must be imported or shipped in.
However, fruit, fish, and coffee are cheap.

Raising Children: "Your kids will love it",
sand, sun, & surf.

Social Issues: Some poverty, Alcoholism, & the locals.
You may get some slack from the locals for being Haole (from the mainland).

Job opportunities (Big island): I have friends that work from home (doing ebay or internet stuff).
My colleagues that work in the educational system make a third of the salary
that someone would get on the mainland.

If your looking for a slow, "no worries",
lifestyle then the big island is great.

PM me if you have any other questions,
I would be more than happy to hook you up with a contact.

Aloha

Be careful... the tikies are watching

[ Edited by: MTKahuna on 2003-10-09 11:05 ]

Thanks MK, that was very helpful.

Some of these properties are off the grid and some aren't. Alot of the homes are in regular looking small town or rural neighborhoods, and some are funky cabins in a remote plot of land in the rainforest.Almost every place I've looked at uses rain catchment as the primary water source in this area. Most of these massive subdivisions have decent accessable roads and property owners pay annual dues for maintenance. Some have communtity facilities such as meeting halls, playground, and swimming pools. Others are more primitive and note 4 wheel drive access. And yes, this entire region runs a lava risk. Hilo has a lava risk. You guys are right, there are no free lunches. I know from trying. But lunch can be cheap, and still great if you cook from scratch. Cheap coffee, fish, and fruit?? Hmmmm...

My experiences go back quite a few years as well. I left the Islands when I was 16. That was in the mid 70s. So here are some other points to consider..

Hawaii has a culture all its own. Raising kids and putting them through school there is not like doing it in middle America because it's not middle America.

I went to public schools in Hawaii from 5th grade to 11th grade. How much haole's get hassled is partly based on their attitude toward island life. If you embrace the culture, humble yourself a little (remember you're not the racial majority anymore), have a good attitude and a sense of humor, you're pretty much okay. If you want to shelter your kids and pretend you're still living upscale in Boston or Atlanta, you and they are f*cked. If you have little girls put them in hula class. If you have boys, take them surfing. Or vice-a-versa.

How much your kids learn is partly based on how much you encourage them to learn and what they learn from you. I never thought going to the beach was a bad thing, by the way.

After spending so many years in public school there, I did go on to college on the mainland, graduated and have always been fortunate to be employed in a profession I enjoy.

One lesson I learned from living life in the islands is this. There are many beautiful places to live in this world and time is short, so don't spend your time living someplace drab and boring. There isn't enough money in the world to compensate me for living in a bland or ugly place with bad weather.

That's the main reason I moved to Florida even though pay is much less here than in Washington, D.C. where I used to live.

As far as income goes, you need to eat and drink rum and buy gas, so have a realistic plan to earn money. On the other hand, my mom and dad always used to complain about the high-cost of living. In the end, they couldn't wait to leave so we moved to D.C. and guess what? They complained about the high-cost of living there.

On Oahu they had a four bedroom house in kailua they paid about $50,000 for 1969. They sold it in 1975 for over $100,000 and thought they were rich. If they had not moved away they would be sitting on a couple of million dollars right now, and I would be planning to inherit the house.

Hope that's helpful in some small way.
Geoff

Thanks Geoff,
That was very helpful indeed. Life is short indeed and that's why we're looking at moving on to greener pastures. When you're done with a place you're done. We'll probably spend this winter here finishing the remodel on our house and plotting our escape as soon as we can sell. So we've got a little time. Florida sounds nice too!

We recently spoke to someone we know who lives north of Hilo, and when we mentioned that we were looking at some cheap property over there she said "please tell me it's not in PUNA" !!! Her take on that area was very disappointing, but did explain why things are so cheap. According to her, crime is rampant, the schools are the worst, the area gets hit hardest by all storms and disasters, and is also well known for it's abundant meth labs. Too bad. For those of you who don't know, the Puna area is located south of Hilo and east of Volcano on the east side (windward) of the Big Island of Hawaii. I'd still like to get others opinions and preferably see it for myself, but our friend did at least convince me to expand our search to other areas where she says there are still great deals to be had.

When we visited the Puna area traveling from Volcano to Hilo we saw a lot of what appeared to be young deadhead / "hippie" people hanging out and camping out along the beaches. I think the Puna area is well known for its strong pot which may partially explain why so many deadheads hang out there. I think some of them may be runaways but I'm just guessing because they looked real young to me. Not my idea of the ideal place for a home in Hawaii.