Discovery Harbour Subdivision, Kau, Big Island - what you should know before moving there (Hilo: lease, insurance)

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by freeandclear

Aloha!
This is for all the future retirees still on the mainland or simply anyone considering buying in this area:

The current sugar coating by realtors has to stop and it is very misleading.

The pros:
It is in Hawaii, it has nice green vegetation not just black lava fields, with some nice hills in the distance, it is in a safe lava zone, you get to see a nice sunrise, the climate is mild, not too hot, not too cold, sunny with a comfortable amount of rain, it has county water, it is on a golf course, many lots have distant ocean views, it is quiet and peaceful.
The cons:
It is truly in the middle of nowhere, I can’t stress that enough, it is literally surrounded by two huge black lava deserts in both directions going on for many, many miles. The closest “town” is Naalehu (5 miles) with a small hardware store, bakery, small grocery store and a post office.

Hilo is 70(!) miles away and Kailua Kona 60(!) miles. If a realtor tells you it takes an hour to get to these places they are flat out lying. The road to Kona is a narrow winding road, getting more and more congested. Your gas bill and car maintenance/repairs will go up considerably, do not underestimate this. The golf course, well, to be honest, it is quite a joke, it is poorly maintained, if at all. Every few years you hear these rumors that someone is going to buy and actually improve this so called “golf course“, but so far this has never happened and I have known this area for the past twenty years.

I know people who bought houses there in the early 90’s for more or less a $100k only to sell them 10 years later for only slightly more or even less than they paid a decade before. This is a dirty little secret, but you ought to know. Check the TMK records before you buy. Most homes, even just three, four years ago sold between a 100k and 200k. If you are paying more than 200k for a house in this area you are seriously overpaying.
The only thing that made this area somewhat tolerable in the past were the reasonable prices. Please keep this in mind. There are no decent beaches close by. Punaluu Black Sand Beach will disappoint almost anyone and "Green Sands Beach" at South Point is virtually inaccessibly, dangerous and not even pretty and oh, did I mention the wind? The entire South Point area is extremely windy: strong, strong wind most of the time!

This is the truth as I see it, I hope it helped. I have known several couples who regretted living out there bitterly, but they felt stuck because they could not sell their house for many, many years.
Please consider all this before you buy.
All the best and good luck! Aloha!

Good Advice, all true.

If you're retired and DO NOT need to work then I think Discovery Harbor and Ka'u in general have their appeal. I own in Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos and love it. The one negative being the cost of insurance in a lava zone 2 area and hurricane coverage in Hawaii in general. Oh yeah I almost forgot the increase in VOG this past year. I tolerate the VOG ok but do worry about the long term exposure.

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

There were some discussions about requiring folks who want to build on ag land to prove they have been farming and show income from farming. It was in the legislature on Oahu, I think, and they had an entirely unworkable theory going that each farm should make $10K profit a year minimum or some such. Which would work perhaps for the larger farms, but many of these "ag" lots are small - less than an acre residential lots and nobody could farm 10K a year from them. It was just talk and I think they finally shelved the idea, but that they had it in the first place seems a bit ominous if one wanted to buy vacant land and hold it for a long time before building.

Hawaii zoning is different than most places in the mainland. Most homes are built on land zoned AG not residential, other than around the larger towns or cities. There is no requirement to grow anything for the average home owner.

[tortoise31]

Originally Posted by Balad1

Good Advice, all true.

If you're retired and DO NOT need to work then I think Discovery Harbor and Ka'u in general have their appeal. I own in Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos and love it. The one negative being the cost of insurance in a lava zone 2 area and hurricane coverage in Hawaii in general. Oh yeah I almost forgot the increase in VOG this past year. I tolerate the VOG ok but do worry about the long term exposure.

I thought you lived on the south side of Kauai?

[Balad1]

Originally Posted by tortoise31

I thought you lived on the south side of Kauai?

I have a primary home here on Kauai and a second in Ka'u. Spend about 75% on Kauai and the remainder on the other. Evenually plan on moving to Ka'u fulltime.

[Energy Independent Hawaii]

Originally Posted by Balad1

Good Advice, all true.

If you're retired and DO NOT need to work then I think Discovery Harbor and Ka'u in general have their appeal. I own in Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos and love it. The one negative being the cost of insurance in a lava zone 2 area and hurricane coverage in Hawaii in general. Oh yeah I almost forgot the increase in VOG this past year. I tolerate the VOG ok but do worry about the long term exposure.

I own two lots in Discovery Harbour (zone 3) and plan on building next year. Freeandclear states that the trades make this a windy place to live. During the time I spent in DH I did not notice an unpleasant amount of wind or VOG. From what I understand the trades are enough to keep the air quality good on the windward side of South Point when the volcano is active. Whereas it pools in leeward areas such as Kona.

[Balad1]

I am not sure of the exact areas that are better or worse when it comes to the VOG. I only know that it doesn't bother me in Ranchos. I believe the only monitoring station in the area is Pahala and that is one of the worst areas to my knowledge. I believe it of course varies from day to day and also as to elevation.

As far as the wind goes all I know that it blows like hell in Ranchos 50% of the time. My plans are to put up a wind generator; I'm told the winds average 12mph for this purpose; which is great if you'v studied the subject.

[christinachris333]

Hi Balad,

I am hoping you might be willing to share any level of ballpark (b/c it is VERY hard to
find ANY numbers) of the cost of homeowners on a 100k home in Ocean
View in the 2 lava zone? Also, if hurricane insurance is mandatory even
though ironically, very few hurricanes have hit there, that would be helpful too. I live in Massachusetts so it may not be so shocking for me
since EVERYTHING here is expensive beyond logic. Thanks so much!

On another track, originally I wanted Oahu. But the prices in Ocean View are an enormous draw even after learning this is such an isolated area. Thank you thank you to the extremely helpful woman who took time to write up a straight note full of invaluable information! Itis critical to hear from Residents b/c she is so right, Realtors have vested interest and we hope others are straight with us but many do off things when money
is in the picture. I have worked as a realtor when my boyswere small and that is not uncommon to see and very sad.

Anyway, the information on OV online where I found this forum stated that it is cloudy about 70% of the time in Ocean View, is this true? Also, where do Ocean View residents go to enjoy the beach? Does anyone know how much it might cost to add an old fashioned wood burning fireplace to a OV home?

I am a very appreciative person and have worked extremely hard, toohard
and am smoothering under bills here. I have always been a beach, sailing,
animal, bicycling, free thinking person and at 53 want to do something
interesting and adventursome. So, after I sell our adored old english
cottage and most of it's contents, I will pay off all debt, move to Hawaii, buy a very inexpensive but nice ( to me) home, and live a simple and meaningful life. And I am excited to look for a simple but enjoyable job in
time b/c I love myjobs but want my life back!

You are ALL terrific and I look forward to meeting other adventurers
soon.

Thanks again, Tina

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

We live down the road from Ocean View in Discovery Harbour. Entirely different experience between the two, but at least we are in the same part of the island. First of all, our mortgage company requires hurricane insurance, even though there's never been a hurricane to actually hit the Big Island. Regarding homeowner's insurance, have you tried calling one of the insurance companies on the island for a quote? We have gotten good service from Jackie at State Farm in Kona.

It sounds like maybe you haven't been to Ocean View? We, too, were excited about the prices before we moved, but I decided that it's not for me after getting there and driving around. It's way too stark, and what natural vegetation there is consists mostly of straggly ohia trees (which suffered in the drought). There are some beautiful homes in OV, and also some very, very strange habitations -- lava tubes, school buses, etc. If you like living with very few amenities, and in some places totally off the grid, and you don't mind your neighbor having a yard filled with junk cars and barking dogs, then OV would be for you. And, yes, prices are very low right now so you could probably get a pretty nice place for not much money.

The further up country you go, the worse the vog is. I've heard that there is a wet side and a dry side to OV. We have been getting more rain the last couple of weeks, which I'm sure everyone in OV is glad to see because they rely on rainwater for their water. If no rain, they have to have water trucked in. The closest beach is the black sand beach at Punalu'u, which is about a 1/2 hour away. You have to take into consideration that OV is very very large, and some properties are a ten or fifteen minute drive just to get to the highway.

I suggest that you look at OV on google maps and street view. That will give you some idea of the diversity. Hope some of this helps, but you really need to be here to see if OV is really the place for you. I suggest that you stay at a vacation rental and live like a local -- go to the local stores and think about what it would be like to live this far from Kona on a permanent basis. We love it, but it does have it's challenges.

[Balad1]

If you are looking to the OV area I would stay with properties in the Ranchos, Kona Gardens and Kula Kai subdivisions (south of the main highway). They are all 3 acres or better and a step up in neighborhood from the properties in HOVE. Below are a few properties for sale I've noticed that are a good buy.

This area is very isolated and there is NO employment within reasonable commuting distance (hence the cheap real estate prices). You need to bring your money with you, there is no other way.

PS: Stay away from non-permitted homes; you can't get a mortgage or insure them.

MLS 240173 - 92-8651 Jasmine Dr, Ocean View, HI 96737 - Big Island Real Estate

MLS 240203 - 92-8556 Poha Dr, Ocean View, HI 96737 - Big Island Real Estate

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Actually, there is another way. There are a number of people in Discovery Harbour and Ocean View who commute to jobs in Kona every day. There are a couple of buses that run between the south end of the island and Kona, but it's a heck of a long ride. With the lack of any employment down here, there's really not much of a choice for those who need an income.