House in Hawaii

[tikicarver]

The only place in Hawaii that you will find a house for less than $500,000 is in the Hilo area.
and mainly in the Puna area.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by tikicarver

The only place in Hawaii that you will find a house for less than $500,000 is in the Hilo area.
and mainly in the Puna area.

That's not true. Maybe the only place to find a nice house with paved streets and county water, but there are plenty of houses in Ka'u for sale for less than $500,000.

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by tikicarver

The only place in Hawaii that you will find a house for less than $500,000 is in the Hilo area.
and mainly in the Puna area.

This gem is selling for less than $500k (Fee Simple) on Oahu:

https://www.redfin.com/HI/Waianae/85.../home/63855088

[terracore]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

This gem is selling for less than $500k (Fee Simple) on Oahu:

https://www.redfin.com/HI/Waianae/85.../home/63855088

Yikes. If you've been to Waianae you'll understand.

A friend of mine lives there and pays a lot for the protection and separation his gated community provides.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by napaunui

Avoid the high hazard volcanic zones; insurance is available, but very expensive.

Linked below is a quick description of the lava zones and the only (that I know of) search engine that allows you to enter an address or place and it will tell you what lava zone it's in.

https://dayna.justlistedinhawaii.com/blog/lava-zones/

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Here's one for under $500,000 near Na'alehu in Ka'u: https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...7_M89612-77944

And another one: https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...7_M89612-77944

A little bit better than Oahu

[kauailover]

This guy Bill has a great youtube channel and talks a lot about the different areas for growing on the BI, and good info on buying land. @GreenGardenGuy1

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by terracore

Yikes. If you've been to Waianae you'll understand.

A friend of mine lives there and pays a lot for the protection and separation his gated community provides.

If it was a car, it would be marketed as "ran when parked, mechanic's special".....

[Lapaki]

My wife was born and raised on the Big Island. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1998 — as did I, from Atlanta, Georgia — which was where we met. She’d long wanted to move back someday. In 2021, she was retired, and I had a job that allowed me to work from anywhere. She made two long scouting trips and reluctantly concluded that it wouldn’t be a wise move. The only affordable area for us was HPP, but the traffic into Hilo was awful, as was burglary and property crime. Too many people have moved there because it’s the cheapest place in Hawaii. Healthcare is bad, according to her relatives and old friends. Hilo was suffering from homelessness and decay compared to when she lived there, although that’s a common problem almost everywhere. Even in HPP, we couldn’t afford the kind of house she’d always dreamed of. We ended up moving to Louisville, Kentucky to be near her older son and his wife. We couldn’t be happier, and we can always visit Hawaii. We have easy access to so many other places on the Mainland that we probably wouldn’t be able to visit from Hawaii. This isn’t to say that the BI isn’t right for you — just that you really should visit and rent for a few months until the halo effect wears off, and make sure it’s right for you. Hawaii is a beautiful and special place, but it isn’t paradise, and there are many other places where you can have a better quality of life for less money. Whatever you choose, i hope it works out for you.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by Lapaki

My wife was born and raised on the Big Island. She moved to Portland, Oregon in 1998 — as did I, from Atlanta, Georgia — which was where we met. She’d long wanted to move back someday. In 2021, she was retired, and I had a job that allowed me to work from anywhere. She made two long scouting trips and reluctantly concluded that it wouldn’t be a wise move. The only affordable area for us was HPP, but the traffic into Hilo was awful, as was burglary and property crime. Too many people have moved there because it’s the cheapest place in Hawaii. Healthcare is bad, according to her relatives and old friends. Hilo was suffering from homelessness and decay compared to when she lived there, although that’s a common problem almost everywhere. Even in HPP, we couldn’t afford the kind of house she’d always dreamed of. We ended up moving to Louisville, Kentucky to be near her older son and his wife. We couldn’t be happier, and we can always visit Hawaii. We have easy access to so many other places on the Mainland that we probably wouldn’t be able to visit from Hawaii. This isn’t to say that the BI isn’t right for you — just that you really should visit and rent for a few months until the halo effect wears off, and make sure it’s right for you. Hawaii is a beautiful and special place, but it isn’t paradise, and there are many other places where you can have a better quality of life for less money. Whatever you choose, i hope it works out for you.

Couldn't agree more.

Puna has seen a lot of growing pains in the 30 years I've been there.

Real estate and/or building a home used to be cheap there. This is no longer the case.