A Waikoloa Home Makes Kona Condos Attractive

$700,000 flipper Waikoloa home with an ocean view 6 miles up the hill.

My sister watches Hawaii Life on cable; I’ve never seen the show, but she loves to watch buyers look at homes in Hawaii. When I mentioned that Hella and I might take a look at condos, just so my husband and I could rule them out or perhaps decide to move in that direction, my sister already knew all about the HOA dues and how high they can go. She’s not joking, either, some of those HOA dues are in the range of $1,000 a month, on top of spending more than $500,000 for a 1,000 square foot place. And it’s not even prime oceanfront we’re talking about.

We are planning to look at a few condos today. One of the types of properties they call a condo in Hawaii is what we call a planned unit development and perhaps a patio home or zero lot line in Sacramento. We are looking at such a home today. It’s a free-standing, single level home with HOA dues in a community just above Kona. It’s comfortably cozy at about 1,200 square feet and in the low $400s. We have several more to check out.

Great room with bamboo ceiling and tigerwood floor in Waikoloa home.

Nothing like yesterday’s tour of a Waikoloa home. Bear in mind that this is just a second home investment we are considering. Nobody is moving to Hawaii any time soon. In case you were wondering. This Waikoloa home was absolutely beautiful. Bamboo accents in the living room ceiling and kitchen cabinets. Hardwood floors on the first level. Nice upgrades, crown molding, wood windows.

Wait is that artificial grass in the front yard I see? I tugged at it. Sure enough. Guess they ran short for a landscaping budget. Kitchen was spacious and perfect, brand new appliances with efficiency stickers; but something did not seem right. The listing agent wandered back into the house and I asked if it was a flip. Looked like a flip and was staged like a flip. Yes, it is, he said. That explained much. Although I’m not sure that he really meant to say it was a flipper and might have meant “spec” house, which is similar but different.

Balcony from second floor master suite at Waikoloa home.

Now, the view upstairs from the oversized master was spectacular, although a bit hazy, and the master suite bath featured all the bells and whistles: dual walk-in shower, Jacuzzi tub, plenty of storage, intricate stone tile design over the vanity, but it was still a flipper. As we stood out on the balcony, a young woman pulled up and got out of her car. What is the color of this house? she asked. Before Hella could respond, I answered, It is brown, ha, ha. This neighbor must have been watching all of the construction and now covets the paint color.

The sellers don’t even have this Waikoloa home listed in Big Island MLS. It seems to be only listed in the Honolulu MLS. It’s almost $700,000. I think they are looking for a certain type of buyer, perhaps a person unfamiliar with the neighborhood. There are tennis courts and a baseball field directly across the street, which negatively impacts the value in my calculations. It’s also much more house than my husband and I need. Too big.