Two People, One Niche
Hawaiian Acres Real Estate is Malia Kealoha and Kai Fontes, working out of a converted plantation-era cottage on Highway 11 in Kurtistown. We do one thing: vacant land in the Puna agricultural subdivisions. No condos, no Kona, no oceanfront estates — just lots, roads, and the occasional unpermitted cabin that comes with a story.
The specialization isn't a marketing angle. Land here is a genuinely different business from houses, and doing it well means knowing which roads flood in a kona storm, which sellers will carry paper, what the association actually spent the road fund on, and roughly four hundred other things that don't fit in an MLS field. That knowledge is the product. The lots mostly sell themselves once someone's standing on the right one.
Malia Kealoha — Principal Broker (RB-21447)
Born and raised in Hilo, third generation. Got her license in 2004, spent five years at a big Hilo office watching land deals get treated as an afterthought, and opened this office in 2009 to do them properly. Has personally walked — by her own conservative count — over a thousand Puna lots. Knows the difference between pahoehoe and a'a by the sound it makes under a truck tire, which is a party trick until it saves you $15,000 in site work.
Kai Fontes — Agent (RS-78103)
Grew up on his family's papaya farm off Road 3, which makes him one of the few agents anywhere who's lived his whole life inside the subdivision he sells. Licensed in 2016. Handles most of the lot walks, all of the video walk-throughs for off-island buyers, and the machete. If you get a video of a smiling guy in rubber boots standing in the rain on your future property, that's Kai.
How We Work
- We tell you the bad news first. Lava zone, road condition, the wet corner — before you're attached, not after.
- We'd rather lose a sale than sell you the wrong lot. Talked-out-of-it buyers come back. Regretful ones don't, and they tell their friends.
- We answer the phone. Two people, one number. You will never be transferred.
Our office cottage, for what it's worth, runs on catchment and solar — same as the lots we sell. We figure you shouldn't take off-grid advice from people with a utility bill.