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Apartment Search - Help Please!

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  • Apartment Search - Help Please!

    We will be moving back soon to Oahu. We lived on Scholfield barracks before.
    If the military does not move us back (we are army) we are getting OUT of military and moving back.

    Question, where is the BEST area to live on Oahu? Let me qualify that.
    I want to live where my kid can play outside, and not worry about a drive by shooting or dope pushers. I dont know the neighborhoods to well....

    Any suggestions? I know you "get what you pay for".

    Also, is it rare to get an apartment with utilities included? I looked online and several on oahu say "utilities included". This would be a plus because we would know EXACTLY what we will be paying each month.

    Thanks again!

  • #2
    Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

    There aren't too many neighborhoods I'd rule out completely. Neighborhoods that have many military families include Wahiawa, Miliani, Pearl Harbor/Salt Lake, Kaneohe/Kailua... I wouldn't make a decision sight unseen, though. "Nice" neighborhoods have bad parts, and "scary" neighborhoods have their hidden gems. Your best bet is to secure a transitional place, but only choose a more permanent apartment after you're able to visit them yourself.

    Note that the rental market is tight, and you'd be at a disadvantage applying from afar anyway. At least not without securing a local representative. Not too long ago, every listed apartment had fifty applicants.

    A lot of apartments include water service in the rent, but not electricity, cable, phone, or other services. I'd imagine units with all services included are rare, and are probably more likely offered for short terms.

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    • #3
      Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

      Originally posted by Palaina
      We will be moving back soon to Oahu. We lived on Scholfield barracks before.
      If the military does not move us back (we are army) we are getting OUT of military and moving back.

      Question, where is the BEST area to live on Oahu? Let me qualify that.
      I want to live where my kid can play outside, and not worry about a drive by shooting or dope pushers. I dont know the neighborhoods to well....

      Any suggestions? I know you "get what you pay for".

      Also, is it rare to get an apartment with utilities included? I looked online and several on oahu say "utilities included". This would be a plus because we would know EXACTLY what we will be paying each month.

      Thanks again!
      haha!mebbe a lot of laid-back pakalolo surfer pushers but the drive-bys are a los angeles thang.ironic that only mexico city has more mexicans than la.mexico has reclaimed california by default.
      and any big mainland city is a dangerous crime-ridden third world cesspool compared to honolulu.
      gonna get out of the corporate mercenary racket working for the military industrial complex and live in pricy aloha?
      hope you can get a job with abu gharaib and the haditha massacre on ya resumes.
      good luck buddy!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

        Wow, that was mean.

        AAAANYWAY, PZ makes good observations, as usual.

        Here are some rental search sites I hope will be helpful:

        http://www.dodreferral.com/index_new.php?ID=hi
        (It's DOD, but open to the public, cause you know, it's on the 'Net.)

        http://www.hicentral.com/
        (Honolulu Board of Realtors Web site -- look for the "rentals" link)

        ... and I've had good success finding rentals on this site, though I don't like its functionality since its redesign:

        http://www.rentalsillustrated.com/

        As for desirable areas, it's such a subjective issue. You have to really factor in what's important to you, such as whether a long commute between home and work would be acceptable, (considering gas prices), the kind of environment your children would be in when school starts (e.g., lots of kids who have similar life experiences?) ... but of course you already knew that.
        **************************************
        I know a lot less than what there is to be known.

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        • #5
          Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

          Much Mahalo!

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          • #6
            Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

            Does this mean that "buying" rental property is a good idea? If that many people are trying to rent, you should always have full occupancy.

            Also, are people renting homes? I'd rather buy a home in Hawaii till I move there, and rent it out for a couple of years. Is this plausible?

            Believe it or not, some of the homes (especially condos) are more affordable than the ones here in Los Angeles.

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            • #7
              Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

              It's still a seller's market, Dru. My daughter, who is thinking about returning to Hawaii, has been advised to wait 'til after the market peaks. Yep, parts of LA and Orange counties are indeed more expensive than Hawaii. Part of that difference, tho', might be due to our leasehold property prices. Not all properties are leasehold, of course, but they do factor into the average.

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              • #8
                Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

                I am partial to those valleys on that O'ahu isle...but Mother Nature can be a downright b*tch to their residents...floods, mudslides, boulders falling on/in/through houses...if I were you, I would check out Kane'ohe.

                pax

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                • #9
                  Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

                  Originally posted by drumorgan
                  Does this mean that "buying" rental property is a good idea? If that many people are trying to rent, you should always have full occupancy.

                  Also, are people renting homes? I'd rather buy a home in Hawaii till I move there, and rent it out for a couple of years. Is this plausible?

                  Believe it or not, some of the homes (especially condos) are more affordable than the ones here in Los Angeles.
                  Per one study, Honolulu homes are overvalued by at least one-third.

                  http://starbulletin.com/2006/06/14/b...s/story01.html

                  Other markets are worse-off, however, which may or may not be of any comfort.
                  **************************************
                  I know a lot less than what there is to be known.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Apartment Search - Help Please!

                    Palaina, I'm kind of in the same boat. I'll be moving to Oahu next month but without my family. I'm looking for a room to rent for a few months while I look around the island for housing for my family. I think letting me look around for a while will give us a better chance to find something we like and is affordable.

                    There are too many places I would love to live on Oahu. I love Kailua and Kaneohe, Mililani and the Waipio Gentry area and of course Kahala, Makiki, etc.

                    Chris

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