Puna Questions! (Hilo, Kurtistown, Leilani Estates: fit in, sales, insurance)

[Paddywagons]

Hello: I will be visiting the Big Island late July early Aug for 2 weeks. I just sold my home in South Florida = sticky humid overcrowded hurricane alley. I'm in the market for a moderate tropical climate like Hawaii. Rain, clouds= OK. Sun without 100% humidity and 90 degree plus = OK. Beaches - love to walk & look and splash, but I could live without surfing & beach madness. I don't want to fight kamakazee mosquitos all day, but some are OK. Can anyone that lives and really knows the Big Island say where they would love to have a home that they feel safe in from serious crime and lava threats & that would be less than $250, 000. I'm not rich! Just a working guy with a wife & 2 toddlers. We are a fairly socially liberal couple but think hard on crime. We've both been victims in the past of serious violent crime and have had enough. We are realists though and don't expect to be in heaven, just as close to it as possible! Does anyone have any suggestions? Please don't worry, we are the kind of people that others like to have around. We're genuinely friendly and kind. Both of us like to laugh a lot and make friends easily. We think we'd fit in anywhere with anyone - except criminals! I'm holding my breath for some honest answers. By the way, does anyone know what the insurance might be on a 250,000 home in Puna or Kau for example?Thanks for all thoughtful answers!

[Genxor]

With the name Paddywagons , I hope your both police officers, and actually Hawaii County is pretty short on cops at the moment .......

How much research have you done on Puna ? Your house price is realistic, just determine what area of Puna you wish to live. Remember, the Puna district is as large as the entire island of Oahu.

There are drug issues here. There are thefts by lazy bum locals. But this can happen anywhere.

Lava zones exist - but these are historic flows- lava zone 1 doesnt mean a flow is inevitable through your front yard.

We chose Leilani Estates to build, due to strict covenants. Many Puna subdivisions have a live/ let live mentality with main roads paved and side roads cinder / dirt etc. Thus, you could live next door to a person with 200 chickens and a collection of cars and broken appliances in their yard.

Check it out when your here. Even the weather varies from one area of Puna to the other..........

[Paddywagons]

Hello Genxor,
Thanks so much for responding, you're a gentleman. I just sold my home, and only got the new connection in last night.

Leilani Estates sounds like a good choice. What's are the elevation ranges if you know? I assume it's not threatened by a Tsumnami as it's far enough from, and probably high enough above the sea. Is that a fair guess? Even if it's not, if we liked it a lot, and felt it was safe overall, we'd probably not rule it out because we have lived right on the beach in Florida for years, hurricanes and all!

Also, I know all about neighborhoods being fragmented into different lifestyles. It doesn't scare me as long as it's not out of hand, and crime isn't so high above the average. I grew up in and worked in many tough neighborhoods, so I'm not alien to reality. My wife is small town, but has come to trust my intuition fortunately.

The lava issue is a concern, but one I will do more research on. As long as I'm not in a zone where I can't get reasonable insurance, and where it's so obvious it's dangerous, that also isn't going to stop me from choosing a location. I will keep an open mind.

By the way, only I'm in Law Enforcement as you were keen enough to sense. Were you too, if not, with your intuition on me and your island, you could easily have been had you wanted!

Thanks for any additional thoughts,

Patrick

PS We'll be there July 20th for 16 days, maybe we'll bump into each other! I will be looking around only the Big Island as it seems it's the only semi-affordable place left in Hawaii!

[Genxor]

Patrick,

Leilani Estates runs from about 900 ft - 700 ft in elevation, depending on your street.

Lava zone 1 did concern us also, but again, based on "historic flows". USGS worst case scenario is basically another subdivision "Nanawale" would be covered in lava, but Leilani would be inundated with toxic fumes/ gases. Again, sounds scary, but as you point out , you have to deal with hurricanes/tornadoes etc. in other places.

Yes, the Big Island is the last semi- affordable place. In your 16 days, you will be able to see it all ( if you hurry ! ) and get a good feel of the different areas and their subdivisions.

No, I'm not in law enforcement , though I guess maybe I could be a "profiler"

[Paddywagons]

Good morning Genxor, The information you share is invaluable to me. Every detail is one more piece of the puzzle I need to solve about the mystery of Hawaii. We have never been there, so I have been reading several books to prepare myself. I'm going to join Costco today as the one aspect of the trip that concerns me is the cost of food and gas. We could afford to just splurge right now on this trip, but that wouldn't help us to truly understand how are lives would have to change if we lived there full time. I wouldn't be able to continue to spend recklessly once we were paying bills daily, 365 days a year!

This is probably a far-fetched concept, but I'll ask anyway. Do you know of any families that grow fruits and vegetables successfully, without having to become full-time slaves to their gardening? You see where I'm going with this probably. I thought if there are some local foods that just grow virtually on their own, it might be worth planting them to reduce costs. In Florida we just put an orange tree in the ground, and wallah, fresh juice & all for the season. Does citrus grow easily in some parts of the big island?

I see your Puna area has bountiful rainfall, is there enough sunshine as well to grow most fruits and vegetables?

Lots of questions! Hope you don't mind.

Thanks,

Patrick

PS If you keep providing answers, I will gladly buy you breakfeast when we visit!

[William Kester]

There are several big farmer's markets in the Puna and Hilo area every weekend, where a wide-variety of produce is sold, much of it from just part-time growers.But yes you can grow just about anything in Puna,depending on where you pick your elevation ,rain level and type of soil; there is a wide variety within this 700 and something square mile district!

Bill Kester

[leilaniguy]

Aloha Paddywagons, here's what I've got growing & producing in upper Leilani: 3 kinds Avocados, 3 kinds bananas, starfruit, coconuts, several kinds citrus, papaya, even coffee, tea, and chocolate (cacao). Also lots of wild guava. There are many others that do well here that I just haven't planted yet. Things I CAN'T get to grow are tomatoes, corn or squash, either too wet or too many bugs.

[Paddywagons]

Aloha to you both!

Thank you gentlemen for that satisfying information! I know it's not going to be possible to start living off the land, but I sure will enjoy it everytime I get to eat a fruit as a gift from Mother Nature.

Too bad about the tomatoes, it's the one vegetable/ fruit that I use so regularly. I hope there is some hardy variety that we can all find works one day.

The markets sound wonderful, they are exactly our cup of tea!

The coffee aspect delights me as I have been delving into coffee sales recently. I had some limited success selling Jamaica Blue Mountain, but the Jamaicans and their Japanese marketeers have a tightly controlled monopoly on it that they don't want the rest of the world to get their hands on.

Are there parts of Puna and Kau that growing coffee is better? My budding coffee business may just get an unintended boost in Hawaii. I hadn't thought that it was possible to grow outside Kona, and the land I've heard is way too costly there. What do you hear on the grapevine about this, if anything?

Patrick

[leilaniguy]

There are coffee orchards in Hawaiian acres, and a coffee retail company in Kurtistown. There are also Cacao farms in Pahoa producing chocolate. Much of Kau may be too dry and cold for either, but there are many Protea flower farms in Kau, they need the cool nights of Oceanview (over 3000').

[Genxor]

I see how it is.... people hear "free breakfast" and come running !!!

Just kidding of course. Leilaniguy is very knowledgeable.

Yes , the cost of food and gas is a bit high.

With the gas prices, we are just honestly ignoring the prices, because you could drive yourself crazy worrying.

Food prices in the grocery stores are , on average , for us, 1-2 dollars more on every item. Sometimes more. But you can get deals , if you watch the ads and stock up when your items are on sale.

There is not a Costco in Hilo. There is a Cost-U-Less, a small version, same premise.