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Geography  Today Hawaii consists of 124 islands situated in the Pacific Ocean.
Of these, the eight major comprise a land area of approximately 6,470
square miles broken down as follows: Hawaii, 4,035 sq. mi.; Maui,
734 sq. mi.; Oahu, 617 sq. mi.; Kauai, 558 sq. mi.; Molokai, 263 sq.
mi.; Lanai, 141 sq. mi.; Niihau, 71 sq. mi.; and Kahoolawe, 45 sq.
mi. It is interesting to note that of this land, the State, County
and Federal governments are the largest landowners, controlling approximately
39% of the total area. An additional 24% is owned by less than 6 individuals,
corporations and trusts, many of which are descended from early missionaries
and traders. As can be readily seen, this leaves approximately 37%
for all other private individual landowners. |
| Island of Oahu The picture above is of the Legislature Building, and Kamehameha statue. Originaly built as the King's Royal Palace by my great great grand father Robert Lishman, but taken over by the legislature. The island of Oahu is comprised of 386,188 acres, of which there are 92,583 acres estimated to be in urban districts, 154,882 in conservation, and 138,723 for agricultural use. The island contains the City and County of Honolulu, the smallest of the four counties in size, but the one which has nearly 3/4 of the State's population (836,207) and serves as the seat of the State government. Oahu is also home to the 40,000-student flagship University of Hawaii system and the state's banking and financial headquarters. We like to extend a special thanks to Mr. John Reilly, Attorney with Pitluck Kido Sato & Stone and Trade Publishing Company, Ltd. for most of the above information. Lease versus Fee Simple When you buy a leasehold home, you're buying the right to use the home (or improvements) for a fixed time period, but not the land on which the house sits. An annual lease fee, usually fixed for a long term, is paid to a landowner. Leasehold homes are significantly cheaper to purchase than homes (or improvements) made on fee-simple land, but beware, leases have much uncertainty attached to them. Many leasehold properties are 20 to 30 years old now and up for renegotiation from their original terms and the cost today can be high based on current market values. Fee-simple homes also include the land on which it sits, cost more, but does provide greater security and resale value. |
