- Aloha!
-
- OK, I keep getting
comments about how come no new updates. Well, there is little
to update! The real estate situation is relatively unchanged
from my last posting. The Puna subdivisions are a still a buyer's
market - again unless you are looking right on the ocean. Anything
on the ocean or even with a great ocean view is still premium
property, and any such properties that are priced even close
to reasonably are sold quickly and usually at full price.
-
- Hilo has some
curious things going on right now. The homes for sale are in
short supply and the prices are holding. Anything ocean view
in Hilo is premium merchandise and the prices are basically unchanged
from even two years ago when everything was hot-hot-hot. But
the curious thing is that where historically there have been
few rental in hilo, there are now pages of them.
-
- Same goes for
the Puna subdivisions. Lots of rentals means cheap rent, so
if you are thinking about spending a little time here before
deciding whether or not you really want to move here, now is
a good time. And renting first is also highly recommended. Some
of the listed rentals are even furnished.
-
- The Kona side
prices seem to be holding and even going up. This is happening
even in some of the subdivisions up in the hills overlooking
the lava flows by the airport. We don't stay on top of those
prices like we do on the Hilo side, but we see the listings all
the time anyway so we get a good idea of what's going on there.
Kona prices are still higher that Hilo side for comparable homes,
but once you get that ocean proximity, there are no rules. There
are so many very unique properties here, especially the high-end
ones, that it is hard to find comparables from which to determine
a value. Appraisers have to work on these properties on their
own specific virtues.
-
- And of course
I can't post an Update without getting on my Living Aloha soap
box.
- We're still
seeing a slow degradation of our once-beautiful aloha spirit
on the roads here. There is much being said about that, especially
in our two alternative newspapers, but we're still seeing more
and more of those new SUVs and other hugely expensive cars, many
with California plates, and we're seeing the drivers bringing
their California driving habits with them.
-
- Y'know, anyone
fresh over here from the mainland might think that new cars delivered
in Hawaii come without horns, because you never hear a horn honking.
Ever! Well, that's the way it used to be. Only yesterday I
heard a long, loud blast of a horn in downtown Hilo. I looked
back over my shoulder and it had come from a new, pearly-white
Cadillac Escalade. The driver had gotten annoyed with the person
in front who hadn't gotten out of the way quickly enough.
-
- Quickly enough
for what? To get to the mall four seconds faster? Geez, folks,
most of you moved here at least in part because you were blown
away by the quiet, gentle and yes - aloha - lifestyle. So please
learn from the folks who have been practicing it all their lives.
Find the graciousness in yourself and enjoy being one of the
aloha folks. We all need to practice living aloha if aloha is
to continue to be the way of life here.
-
- Again, my last
few updates have gone into this in detail and it is ever more
important as more and more people relocate to the Islands. If
you would like to read my article on Living Aloha that appeared
in the Hawaii Island Journal, please click HERE!
-
- In case you
are having trouble relating to all this talk of aloha, please
read Affordable
Paradise!
In addition to making it all very clear, there is also a whole
chapter on why Hawaii is clearly not everyone's Paradise. There
are many reasons given to possibly reconsider a move to the Islands,
and even some tests for your feelings on issues that drive some
people nuts here. Relocating to an Island in the middle of the
ocean is a tryuly Big Deal, and Affordable Paradise is one of the few reads
that will tell you the whole story.
-
-
- And in the
meanwhile, please, please,
- ~~~~
- Live
Aloha!
-
- Mahalo for
"listening."
- Skip Thomsen
& Ohana
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