It's a NEW DAY and a NEW YEAR - Project Big Island on the Horizon

It’s a new day and it’s new year. Mahalos, Kallahngan, Kulo, Kinisou, and Kamagar as well as Sa Gashigeshig to the man above, Goddess Pe’le, King Kamehameha, and all our Pasifika Ancestors for all the blessings of 2022 and we pray they continue to bless us with health, love, happiness and successes.

Now that congratulations are expressed and the anticipation is finally over that we got this piece of paradise, then next question is Now what?

Let me tell you, more stress and pain in the neck. Hehehe. It’s now real. Gotta put the planning and budgeting as well as the networking in motion for a smooth sailing. I think this is the hardest, harshest, and most complicated part of this journey. But I will tell you exactly how I approached it with the hope that it will inspire you to do the same.

We got ourselves a Civil Engineering graduate with a Degree from the University of Washington, and is now working at an Engineering Firm, and boy he sure questions everything I do and set out to do on this journey. He is very critical, which I think is a good thing, but at times not so much. I got really angry sometimes with and at the questions he threw at me and sometimes I would think of just giving up this journey all together, but I am not one of those that will give up that easily.

It feels as if it is my job to show my boy that I sure can do this. The numbers may not be satisfactory to an Engineer, but to a business minded individual, it sure can be done. So, the challenge is YUUUGE! And so is my DETERMINATION.

Russel, I got this! Oooops. I forgot we fired the guy because he’s no longer productive. To an Engineer in the mile high stadium, and the home of the Bronchitis, they may see Captain Russel as the future of their franchise, but to the business man in Seattle, Russel is no longer a Captain, but a retired general that needs pampering and lots of water. Hahahahahahahaha.

Many moons ago, I put this journey on the calendar. It was 2017 when I put this plan/journey on the calendar. A year later, Kilauea erupted and my other half wanted me to shelf it, and so I did. But I wasn’t done with it. In fact, it piqued my interest that I continue to do research and find the different volcanic zones, elevation, climate patterns, etc… And it came to me that many people had lived alongside these volcanoes for so many years and had enjoyed the island with no problems at all. Goddess Pele was a good host and gave the Aloha spirit for all these people to enjoy.

Sorry, I got distracted a little there, but the very first thing I did was look at different options, custom home or packaged home, two story or one story. I reached out to a couple of companies that do packaged homes and that’s when I learned Hawaii county was working on an EPIC system and that the permitting process can take from 6 months to a year. That was a terrible piece of information. I made a joke to this guy that it made sense to name their new permitting platform EPIC. That dude didn’t hide his frustration with the process.

He told me straight up that if my goal was to get something done quicker, I must forget the 2 story homes because those would take a long time for the permitting to get through. He said the fastest homes to get a permit for would be their pre-approved homes, since the county is already familiar with those plans. And that is exactly what I am doing right now.

Here is a list of what I need in order of priority.

Septic System Planning and Permitting ($750)
House Plan and Permitting ($5,500)
Land Clearing to include the House Pad, Driveway, Drain Field ($3,500)
Septic System Installation ($10,000)
Water Catchment System ($15,000)
Rough-in Plumbing/Electrical ($10,000)
Foundation ($10,000)
Framing
Roofing
Finishing
Final Inspection

Framing, Roofing, and Finishing is probably going to cost about $77,000 for a 1 or 2 Bedroom plan and it goes up from there. All the numbers are my rough estimates of what the maximum cost would be. Now, it is my job to make sure I find the best way to come out way below those numbers.
And that is exactly what my job is. To make sure that everything is done legally and correctly with the least amount of money.

Please share this post to your friends in Hawaii county as I will be looking to hire subcontractors for this project. I will only hire individuals/companies that are insured, bonded and certified by the state and/or county.

I will start posting to our ifagalz youtube channel about the experiences and difficulties we face so it can help you when you do your own project. Please subscribe and like our channel so you can be the first to see our videos.

You can reach out to me HERE.