Blog Series 5: Which Island is our gravity?

—-Our Fourth Challenge

We have so many relevant questions as we ponder a move to Hawaii.

• • • • • Which island is our gravity?
        • What type of property are we looking for?
        • Are we interested in a lot (plan and build our own home), an existing home, or a condo?
        • Rent or own?
        • What about space for visiting family and rentable space?

 

By the time we got these logistics problems solved, would we be too old to plan/ build the house in Paradise?

Would the cost be too lofty to achieve the goal?

The ultimate island search went like this. Oahu visit- drove around, The Big Island visit- drove around, Maui visit-drove around and found our gravity. So, Maui became our new focus for a future home.

We spent many flights and hours on rental car road trips around Maui neighborhoods with our Challenge at the forefront. We rolled in and out of shaggy-looking neighborhoods with “beware of dogs” signs posted at their garages and leftover boxes with an assortment of no-longer-used house things stacked precariously in open carports. Nope.

We drove through fancy neighborhoods with coiffed shrubbery, manicured lawns, and loaded golf carts motoring quietly on little pathways. Generally, these are gated communities. Nope. Nope.

Many Condos for Sale signs caused us to brake quickly, turn in, hike up the exterior staircases to the second or third floors to chat with the representative broker, mostly sporting a flowered Hawaiian style shirt.  We gleaned info about the tourist areas, the rental and housing market. A High-rise condo with the option of seasonal rental income was an option. Nope.

Alleys, roundabouts, and dead-ends were traversed. We saw a goat farm, coffee farm, and chicken farm with roosters standing on V-shaped perches (thus the name rooster… who knew?).

“There’s the water treatment plant” and “Here’s the water retention pond,” I said while pointing from the convertible. We discovered where the rainwater runoff ditches ran during heavy rainfall- particularly important.

Some roads ended with a blockade indicating water view lots for sale. There are residential communities where the homeowner’s association would not allow an Ohana or short-term rental to defray the cost. Nope.

There are residential communities that do allow Ohana rental. Yes! Our new focus: A lot in a housing community (not gated) with a homeowner association that allows Ohana rental. This would allow neighborhood basic standards (weed control, noise control, cars on the street…). Wait, it needs to be close to the beach! I mean close to the longest walking beach on Maui. Yes.

Now we needed to find the perfect lot central to the island thoroughfares and good beach access. We chatted with tourists on the beach. We traveled through the wet areas (top closed) and the desert areas (top open), and beaches with the most dangerous waves. NOTE: Maui hasn’t historically gotten many tsunamis, however once a month the warning test alarm sounds off and the nearby dogs join in the cacophony song. So, a tsunami is another factor in the search for the perfect lot.

We stopped to watch a children’s surfing class and then stop at a roadside stand for fresh banana bread. Coffee called our name, so we visited with a barista about her move to Maui. She advised us to sell everything and make the move. She said, “Buy your household stuff here.” Aack! We can’t! It’s just not that simple when you own a business.

We drove through one more residential community and found the perfect lot at the right price.

• • • • • • All the required stub outs: check
          • Not gated: check
          • Homeowner’s Association: check
          • Near the beach: check
          • Centrally located on the island: check
          • Allowable Ohana lease: check
          • Above flood plain (tsunami): check
          • No adjacent rainwater runoff ditch: check
          • Families/activity happening: check
          • Park nearby: check

 

The offer was made, the papers were signed, and the money was paid (actually a 1039 real estate trade). We got this weird, giddy feeling mixed with fear we had done something wrong, like taking two candy bars from the Halloween candy dish.

We took a collective breath and discussed the options. If we chose to back out and re-sell the lot, we would still come out with a profit. Well, okay! I can live with that!