Developing Vacant Land

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by Luau Time

Thanks for all the advice. We definitely need to be near Hilo Medical Center and don’t want more than an acre, but not less than 15,000 sf. Like you say, we don’t want to be secluded for the reasons you have stated. We don’t mind having neighbors as long as we’re not too close for comfort. We are only considering properties on county water. We just want to have a comfortable home in retirement but easy resale so our son can sell it after we have passed on.

Because the prices are so high for homes there that require remodeling and repairs, we feel that we’d be better building what we really want, which is why we’re looking for vacant land. We have a preapproved line-of-credit on our home so that we can secure the land, sell our home here in Florida, then build our home there. My SIL who is a widow wants us to stay with her while we build our home there. We would just have to put the stuff in storage that we take with us. We have two one-acre lots that we’ll be looking at when we visit there in two weeks; one in Keaau and one in Papaikou. The one in Papaikou is owned by a friend of my SIL who has not yet listed the property.

Mahalo.

Judy

Given a choice between Keaau and Papaikou, absolutely I'd choose Papaikou, YMMV. County water in Papaikou means it's probably pretty close in to town, too. Papaikou is also closer to HMC and is an established community. Check resale prices between Keaau and Papaikou. The same house built in Papaikou will sell for more than if it were built in Keaau.

The current building code is the 2006 International Residential Code as amended by Hawaii County.

Take advantage of views and tradewinds if the lot has them. Big wide eaves shade the sides of the house and keep it cooler. A covered lanai does the same thing and provides a nice indoor/outdoor space. White roofing also provides a cooler house. About 95% of houses in Hawaii have metal roofing and if you have any kind of water catchment then metal roofs are good, but if the lot has County water, then you'd only need to catchment if you wanted it for the garden or something.

Lots of windows are good. We don't worry about insulation or heat loss through windows, if anything it's heat gain if the sun comes in the window. Big fixed glass windows are usually the least expensive way to get big ones and a lot of times folks like to use jalousy (louvered) windows next to the big fixed glass ones since jalousy windows are 100% ventilation instead of 50% like most windows. Fixed glass, of course, is 0% ventilation.

Another way to keep the heat out is higher ceilings and transom windows above doors to let the heat escape. Vents in the floor or near the floor can let cooler air in from near the ground or under the house (if the house is up on post and pier) and then the transom windows can let the hot air out. I had one house which had a screened vent in a pantry floor with a louvered door. That circulated a lot of air.

For the kitchen, figure out how to easily get the groceries from the car to the kitchen. Then into storage. Then from storage and the fridge to the countertops & sink. Then to the cooking areas (stove, micro, etc.) Then to the serving areas and then dirty dishes back to the kitchen and then back to storage. If you get all those paths neatly organized, you'll have an easy to use kitchen. Same with the laundry for that matter.

A well designed house will be comfortable and inexpensive to run.

[paindude]

You can get what's called an owner-builder permit here. That way, you can do it yourself, except electronic and plumbing has to be done by a licensed contractor. Or, you can be the project manager, and hire less expensive labor. I have had some really unfortunate experiences dealing with licensed contractors here.

Many here buy kit homes. HPM is the typical source, but one of our neighbors told me who he's using and said it's who the locals use. I can't find the name right now, but if that interests you, send me a PM, and I will get it for you. One of the advantages of that route is quicker and simpler permitting.

[hotzcatz]

Typical kit home providers on island are HPM, Honsador and Argus Building Supply. The most common is HPM. Hicks Homes used to be extremely popular, although they were based on Oahu and I don't know if they're still in business.

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by paindude

You can get what's called an owner-builder permit here. That way, you can do it yourself

I believe you can't sell a house built under an owner builder permit for a year after it's finaled, so make sure you're where you want to be.


We bought a house that hadn't been finaled, lived there ten years, then did the work to get it finaled so we could sell it. Oops. That was 2018, rules may have changed.
Some inspectors are more willing than others to work with you on this kind of problem.

[Luau Time]

Update: We purchased an acre lot in Ola Hou Estates in Kea’au and had a contractor build our home. We moved in January 10 and are very happy here. We did, however, wind up spending $167K over what we wanted to spend. We didn’t go with a package home. We could have gone a lot cheaper with fiberglass showers and tubs and Wilsonart countertops and inexpensive lights and cabinets, etc., but we do have a beautiful home and had a great contractor.

The only regret is going with a VA loan. If you have excellent credit and a sizable down payment, you’re better off going with a local bank. Too long a list of complaints to share. Right now we’re still battling with them. We authorized autopay ONLY for the loan p&i. They keep taking out an additional $600/mo, which we did not authorize, for property taxes and insurance which we pay direct to the County and our insurance agent. Our credit union said we have to talk to the mortgage company about it. The mortgage company is in California and will not return our phone calls. So much for supporting our veterans. They estimate our property tax to be $4,000/yr, despite sending them proof that we will be paying approximately $1,800/yr. ������

[terracore]

Thanks for the update, and sorry to hear that you are getting screwed with the tax and insurance escrow. I hope that you will soon be able to update us with a happy update on that as well.

I don't think the credit union's response was accurate. If mine did that I would withdrawal all my money and close my account. That would stop the auto-withdrawals. They are there to protect your financial interests.

[Luau Time]

Originally Posted by terracore

Thanks for the update, and sorry to hear that you are getting screwed with the tax and insurance escrow. I hope that you will soon be able to update us with a happy update on that as well.

I don't think the credit union's response was accurate. If mine did that I would withdrawal all my money and close my account. That would stop the auto-withdrawals. They are there to protect your financial interests.

I agree with you about the credit union’s response. I told my husband to ask the credit union to see the signed authorization. He said he’ll take care of it.

Don’t know what happened to the rest of my response. Lol

Will rewrite tomorrow. Good night.

[Ariel188]

Dont forget about hog fencing if you wanna have a garden! ;-)

Originally Posted by Luau Time

Looking at a couple of vacant acre parcels. If any of you have built a home on vacant land, would you be willing to share the costs of developing the property? I’m aware all properties vary depending upon the distance from the source of the utilities.

From what I have heard, a septic/sewer system runs around $10,000. But, how about hooking up to electricity, county water, and telephone service? How about internet/cable services? I would gather that if Spectrum is not available, satellite services would also provide internet service? One of the areas that we’re looking at is in Papaikou about 6 miles from Hilo.

I’d appreciate any info you can provide.

Mahalo everyone.

Judy