Do you think I can do it? Move to oahu

[nanoman3000]

Hey guys!
New to the forum, so help me out here. Here's the plan...I'm going into junior year of high school right now, and in 2007 i will graduate. About a week after i graduate i plan to get a one way ticket to Honolulu with my buddy mike. We are both going to go over there and look for jobs, take the first simester of college off...and settle in. NOW, heres where the trouble starts. 1) How is the job market in honolulu for a high school grad? 2) Do you think me and my buddy mike will be able to pay for a small apartment? (u kno, with the essentials...) 3) college reccomendations?? which ones do u guys like near honolulu?
So for the college situation, I have 25,000 from my parents...and thats it...and i think i will be considered "out of state", which rides up the wages even more. Please help...thank you so much

Mahalo...
-Bo :D

[kimo55]

>New to the forum, so help me out here.
yes SIR!

>NOW, heres where the trouble starts.
No, the trouble started a little earlier.

>1) How is the job market in honolulu for a high school grad?
do you enjoy the construction business? I mean the sandwich construction business? do you like subway?
gooood!

>2) Do you think me and my buddy mike will be able to pay for a small apartment?
Wrong question.
How about; "FIND... a small apartment"
then maybe, convince landlord to rent to you above all the other 50 applicants.
then maybe pay for small apartment.
and then, by "small apartment", I hope you realise that means bunk beds.
Or; you sleep nights, Mike sleeps days.
now yer gettin' it.

[scrivener]

Make that a round-trip ticket, just in case, and I'd say go for it. But do read the other threads here about moving to Hawaii.

Twenty-five grand can go a long way for education here if you're willing to start off at a community college. I've attended classes at two of our CCs and the instructors were very, very good.

If you really want some bang for your buck, though, move to Hilo, forget about taking the semester off, and attend the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Get a campus job to pay for food and incidentals. Earn a degree.

[Fondoo2]

since me and me wife are looking to move to Hilo I can say the price would be night and day what like 300% Scrivener?

[MadAzza]

Invest some of the money in a really well-maintained, later-model van when you get here. Move into it. Shower at beach parks. I'm not kidding.

[nanoman3000]

okay, hmmm sounds very complex from what i see here...soo do you think taking a year off in hawaii...setting up my residency...working full time as a waiter somewhere (somethin like that)...and then going to UH Manoa and living in a dorm would be a good idea?
Feedback please!

[kimo55]

>okay, hmmm sounds very complex from what i see here...

actually it's quite simple;
jobs and residential sitations are very scarce.

>...working full time as a waiter somewhere (somethin like that)...and then going to UH Manoa and living in a dorm would be a good idea?

sounds good in theory. in practice, that's another story.

[LikaNui]

actually it's quite simple;
jobs and residential sitations are very scarce.
Sorry Kimo, but I've gotta disagree with you. They're not "very" scarce.

They're extremely scarce!
:p

[nanoman3000]

so you guys are basically saying that it will be nearly impossible for me to move to hawaii if i am correct

[MadAzza]

I don't want to shoot down your dream. I think people here are just trying to give you a realistic idea of what it's like for someone in your situation to move here. Not that you can't or shouldn't, just that it would involve considerable sacrifice. But the payoff can be really cool, and well worth it. Don't get discouraged too easily! Just think hard about it and be as prepared as you can be.

[kimo55]

so you guys are basically saying that it will be nearly impossible for me to move to hawaii if i am correct

even if you were NOT correct; moving to Hawaii would be physically possible. Just make sure ya have return tix in yer hand so you can de-plane (deplane, boss! deplane!)
and grab a maitai, say aloha, howdy, howzit and then, buh bye!

[Miulang]

It won't be easy and it won't be cheap. But if you have the dream of hanging out in Hawai'i for awhile, do it while you don't have responsibilities like a career or a wife and kids. Check out shared housing situations, it may be the only way you'll be able to find a place to live. Available housing is very very scarce and very expensive. But you're still young, so if you're resourceful, you could at least try your luck there. Just don't forget to buy that round trip ticket and stay in your parents' good graces, just in case...

Miulang

[Kilinahe]

It's not impossible. Just impractical at this stage. I did what you did twelve years ago. It was not an easy thing to do then, and things have changed a lot since then. The cost of living here is outrageous. Nobody I know on the mainland believes me when I say that, but it's true. If you come out here without a job or prospects, you will have a very hard time.

Having said that, I love Hawai'i. I married a local boy and I'm raising my kids here and moving here was the best thing I ever did. But it really helps to have a plan.

[nanoman3000]

okay, good feedback...but what are your stories??? How did you get to hawaii??? There has got to be some way for me to move there after high school, get a job and rent out a small apartment with some friends...

[pzarquon]

If you really have that $25,000 cash in hand, your prospects are a hair better than your average "throw caution to the wind" transplant. I say you sock away $5,000 or so specifically to fund an exit plan -- return tickets, living expenses for a couple of weeks, moving costs, and the ever present "miscellaneous." The hardest part of landing in Honolulu and finding it impossible to subsist (or simply finding it a bad match) is getting back out. Without a worst-case plan, you'll end up on the streets.

Keep in mind, there are people who grew up here, lived here their entire lives, had jobs, homes, and a family, and they ended up homeless. "One paycheck away from the streets" is standard operating procedure here.

I think Miulang makes a good point in that, if there's any point in your lifetime to try this, it's probably now. I'm much more confident about a young person just testing out the world than I am about someone who's uprooting a family. So if you've got that Hawaii twinkle in your eye that just won't die, after graduation makes more sense than ten years from now with a family and a mortgage.

I've helped a handful of people in nearly your same situation make a go of it here. A couple of them are thriving. So it's possible, yes. Just be prepared to lower your standard of living.

You will fight like mad for a closet of a studio apartment in a noisy neighborhood for $1,000 a month, exclusive of other expenses -- then probably cram two roomates into that space to afford it.

You will pound the pavement to find a job, and it will almost certainly be in the service industry -- low wages, long hours, lots of stress, little respect. If you've done food service, I have to say that waiting tables seems to be one popular way of making ends meet. The pay can range from mediocre to good, just expect to start on graveyard shifts and have plenty of patience for the way locals conduct themselves as customers and as managers. :p

To earn money to pay rent and to fund college will be a serious challenge. I agree that our community colleges are a good deal, but I still think out-of-state rates aren't exactly cheap. But if I were to change one part of your plan, it would be to work like mad to start school here immediately. Everyone knows what really happens when you say you're taking "just one semester off."

Since you have some funds to cushion your landing, why not start off as a part-time student, part-time worker, and room-to-share renter. If you end up unable to sustain tuition, so be it, but it might be easier to make contacts (your chosen campus might even have job placement services) and put down roots with what little structure the student life offers, rather than landing and immediately becoming yet another kid with a high school diploma and not much else.

[Miulang]

Start by doing some homework. Here's a listing of all houses to share (http://classifieds.starbulletin.com/results.php?classification_id=0470&priceMax=&format=ascii&numPer=10&category_id=3&mls=&acTst=Grr) for the entire island of Oahu from one of the local newspapers. Pickings are slim.

And here's a sample of what's available apartment-wise (http://classifieds.starbulletin.com/results.php?classification_id=4170&priceMax=&bedrooms=&bathrooms=&format=ascii&numPer=10&category_id=3&mls=&acTst=Grr) in Waikiki, just by comparison. Obviously Waikiki is in the middle of where the action is, so prices will be higher, but the further out you go, you have to figure in a commute, depending on where you land a job.

Miulang

[Kilinahe]

You may even want to consider looking at the neighbor islands. I came here on a mission to get a degree in Marine Science. The university in Hilo was the only school that offered that program at the time and to this day it's me and pzarquon's dream to live on the Big Island. The neighbor islands are less crowded and cheaper to live.

[pzarquon]

The neighbor islands are less crowded and cheaper to live.Well, sort of. Real estate is cheaper, so rent is cheaper. But, honestly, gas is more expensive, groceries can be more expensive (unless you go out of your way to buy local, and you should), and the like. Rent or mortgage payments are usually the biggest chunk of your budget, though, so ultimately living on the neighbor islands can be cheaper.

More significantly, though, job opportunities are more scarce, and also the range of careers are more narrow. Honolulu offers the full range of industries and businesses of any city. A neighbor island (save, of course, the more touristy parts) generally has a small economy, and fewer white-collar jobs overall. They're also more sensitive to larger economic swings, and take longer to recover from crashes and disasters.

My advice is almost always for a newcomer to start in Honolulu. There's a lot more to fall back on.

[TurquoiseDuck]

Hey guys!
New to the forum, so help me out here. Here's the plan...I'm going into junior year of high school right now, and in 2007 i will graduate. About a week after i graduate i plan to get a one way ticket to Honolulu with my buddy mike. We are both going to go over there and look for jobs, take the first simester of college off...and settle in. NOW, heres where the trouble starts. 1) How is the job market in honolulu for a high school grad? 2) Do you think me and my buddy mike will be able to pay for a small apartment? (u kno, with the essentials...) 3) college reccomendations?? which ones do u guys like near honolulu?
So for the college situation, I have 25,000 from my parents...and thats it...and i think i will be considered "out of state", which rides up the wages even more. Please help...thank you so much

Mahalo...
-Bo :D

When you try to rent a place to live here you will have to fill out an application. On this application, you will have to allow your credit to be checked. If you pass that test, you will also need to show TWO current pay stubs to prove that you can pay the rent. Some places even do back ground checks. You have to provide personal references, and I do not think they will call long distance to check these, since there are many people already living here and their references can be checked with a local phone call. ALSO, on the rental application they want to know where you have been living and the name of the landlord and they will call them too and see what kind of a renter you have been.Some places even call the building manager and see if you have had any violations of the house rules. As the previous posted stated, as many as 50 applicants are after EACH rental unit. They will choose the applicant that is MOST qualified. IF you should be fortunate enough to get past all this, which I do not see how you will, (just being honest, no offense intended) THEN you have to come up with the first month's rent, AND a security deposit, which, by law, can be equal to, but no more than one month's rent. They will not wait for all this money because there will be other's that have all the money. That being said there is another option you have. Check out the Hostels in Waikiki. You can get a room there for less than thirty dollars a day however, you HAVE to show them a plane ticket leaving Oahu and you can only stay at a hostel for thirty days, max. It is also cheaper to buy a round trip ticket than it is to buy a one way ticket to Hawaii from the US Mainland.

[AzCheetah]

Aloha,

We're new to this forum also, but we're not looking for help, not at the moment anyway. We're just enjoying the conversation and learning what we can, in the event we are able to one day spend more time in beautiful Hawaii.

We were there for a week back in January - some of you may have seen us in that little white Jeep wrangler. ;) (probly only about a thousand of them on Oahu) Had a great time and put almost 600 miles on that ride in 5 days. The Dollar rent a Jeep guys down near Waikiki got a real laugh out of the mileage - swore we must have drove it over to the Big Island at least once.

Anyway, this thread really brings back memories - one in particular involving a nice young gal and her puppy dog enjoying the sun at Waimea - she was there a couple of times during our daily visits to our favorite shoreline. She told us of how she was originally there on a visit and just couldn't leave and so she ended up staying and got a job as a waitress (I believe) and lived in a small house with something like 15 other persons, all trying to do the same basic thing - work hard long hours, scrimp every financial way possible and share a small nest with a whole lot of other people, just to survive. She seemed to really love Waimea (as do we) and so we figured it's all worth it to her. She did express some frustration relating to the problems stemming from co-tenants not always having their share of the rent money, transportation to and from work for those employed on a regular basis, general monthly cost of living, etc., but she seemed determined, so more power to her.

As others mentioned in this thread, that Waimea girl seemed to have the opportune time in finding out about surviving in Hawaii. Her only family was the puppy and as long as her friends/co-tenants held up their end, she had a real chance to make it work.

I personally had the pleasure of spending about a year on Oahu back in the 70-71 era and simply loved every second of it. I traveled about the island and remember sometimes sleeping in the ground floors of new hotels under construction down on Waikiki - used to find large cardboard boxes that had contained appliances for the various hotels and I'd sleep in them over night and back on the beach the following morning. It was GREAT!! Of course, when the weekend was over it was a hike back to Pearl Harbor to the ship I was stationed on for the regular Monday through Friday routine.

Lots of changes since then, but the people there were always very nice then and they were certainly very nice to us during our visit in January. We hope to get back there in Jan 06 and maybe take in another island or two.

Thanks for having this site - we are enjoying it greatly.

Angie and Neal