Aloha,
My wife and I have been visiting Hawaii for the past 4 years to research a move to Hawaii. We visited Oahu, Maui and Kauai before falling in love with the Big Island in general and Kona in particular! We sold our house 2 years ago and we have been following the real estate market in Kona since then. We have visited several times- the last time being this past Christmas. We are planning to make an offer on a house in the not too distant future.

I am nearing retirement age but I am not planning to retire just yet. I have a business in NY that I plan to manage from Kona.

My wife practices Structural Integration (also known as Rolfing) and Gyrotonic - both holistic systems to help improve posture, flexibility and health. She is moving her practice from NJ and NY and will start afresh in Kona. Many of her clients in NY are runners and marathoners and she is looking forward to joining the holistic community in Kona.

My wife is Japanese and one of the draws to Hawaii is its proximity to Japan as well as the Asian influence that we can see in all of the islands.

The properties that we have been looking into are all large enough to offer my wife a comfortable place to practice her work (no CC&R's) as well as eventually some income from vacation rentals. I know that this may not be the best time to start a vacation rental business but we are hoping that it is about the best time to buy the property!

Anyway we are excited about what the next few months will bring. We are looking (hopefully) to have things come together by the end of Summer. I will be posting questions no doubt in some of your other sections. Mahalo in advance for any help you may provide us. We look forward to becoming part of your online (as well as actual!) community.

Randy & Atsumi

Welcome to the Forums! As an ex-NY-er I can tell you the best move I ever made was to move here from NYC. I'm sure you will love it too. There is a large community practicing what your wife does, so be prepared for the competition. You can check the current property listings at http://HawaiiInformation.com. If you e-mail me privately I will send you some files that will help you in your move.

Welcome to thr forum! My wife is from upstate NY and has a nephew living in NJ. As long as you have a good plan for moving you won't have to many setbacks for your move. What sort of business do you have that can be managed long distance? Now is a good time to buy if you can. What areas around Kona were you looking at?

Hi Kona Dave-

Upstate New York is so nice. We have spent a lot of time at a retreat near Livingston Manor in the Catskills. We live in Hoboken, NJ- right across the Hudson from NY. I take the ferry each morning to work and weather permitting take my bike. There is a lovely bike path on the West side of Manhattan that is completely without car traffic. So I get about a 20 minute bike ride twice a day!

I have a small business that sells expendable supplies to photographers and also to trade shows. We have been in business 32 years. I had a branch in Tokyo for 25 years that I parted with four years ago. We still sell wholesale to Japan every month. Much of what I do on a daily basis could be done at a distance. I have staff that has been with me for many years and are reliable. All of this is not without risks but I am comfortable to make the change.

We have looked all over Kona. SInce we plan to do business out of our house many subdivisions are out because of strict CC&R's. We have found properties that we like in less restrictive subdivisions but we seem drawn really more to Holualoa. Actually on a line from Holualoa to Kaloko seems to be where we find the houses that we like best. We also prefer an altitude of 800-1,500 ft. as we would like to live without much air conditioning or heating.

They are in the upper end of the range, and Kaloko is between 2,000 ft. and 5,000 ft. The lower part of Keopu Hights would be about at 1,000 ft. in Holualoa. You certainly would not need an A/C there, but you will need a fireplace. It's very wet and cold above 1,000 ft. and I wouldn't even consider anything above 1,500 ft. because of the dampness and mold issues.
PS. Please send me your e-mail address again. I sent you an e-mail but it bounced back, so I probably mistyped it.