The Questions We Answer Every Week
Compiled from seventeen years of phone calls. Click a question to expand it. If yours isn't here, ask us directly — the eighteenth year of questions has to come from somewhere.
No catch, just trade-offs stacked in plain sight: no county water or power (catchment and solar), community-maintained gravel roads, lots of rain, and a 25-minute drive to town. The price reflects all of it honestly. For a certain kind of person that list reads as features — those are our buyers.
USGS hazard zones 1 (highest) through 9. Hawaiian Acres and Orchidland are mostly zone 3 — insurable through standard carriers, financeable by the sellers who carry here, and historically stable. Lower Puna's zones 1–2 are much cheaper for a reason. We disclose the zone on every conversation about every lot, first thing.
The county's rules on temporary dwellings during permitted construction exist and are enforced with what we'll diplomatically call variable enthusiasm. The honest answer: many people do it, the legal path is a building permit for the main house with temporary occupancy provisions, and we'll point you to the county planning office for the current specifics rather than pretend the rules haven't changed three times since 2015.
With a proper setup — first-flush diverter, sediment filtration, UV sterilizer — yes, tens of thousands of Puna households do it every day. Many folks still buy drinking water in town out of preference. Budget $8–12k for a full new system and it's a solved problem.
Main association roads: fine in a normal car, graded regularly. Side roads: ranges from fine to genuinely rough after storms. This is exactly why we drive you to the lot in a regular vehicle rather than a lifted truck — you should see what your future commute actually feels like. "Buy the road, not just the lot" is rule one.
Genuinely low. Hawaii County agricultural rates on vacant lots commonly run $150–400 a year. Yes, a year. It's one of the few line items here that makes mainlanders do a double-take in the good direction.
You can and people do — about a third of our buyers close before ever visiting. We do live video lot walks, send GPS-tagged photos, and write up terrain notes. That said, we always suggest visiting before you build. The lot that's perfect on video should also feel right with your boots on it.
Yes. Waiawi (strawberry guava) grows several feet a year and albizia grows like it has somewhere to be. An unattended lot disappears back into forest in 2–3 years. It's manageable with a mower and vigilance — but budget for clearing maintenance or a very good relationship with a neighbor who has a tractor.
When Kilauea is active, vog drifts — usually toward Kona, ironically, thanks to the trade winds. On the Hilo side we get it occasionally when the winds reverse. People with serious respiratory conditions should visit during an active period and see how they feel before buying anywhere on this island.
No design police. The community associations here maintain roads; they don't approve paint colors. You'll deal with Hawaii County for building permits (real requirements, standard process) but nobody's measuring your setback from an aesthetic standpoint. This is Puna — your neighbor's house might be a geodesic dome, and nobody blinks.