Scared to death!

[tinav]

Re: Scared to death!

tinav, Wow! What a great welcome and aloha you gave to our new member!

MAHALO

Auntie Lynn

thanx auntie...i wen learn from da aunties i've been blessed with...like YOU!!

[tinav]

Re: Scared to death!

Maybe it's the small town mentality but it has disturbed me. The attitude towards the Hispanic population is horrible!

I'm planning to look at some rentals in the Ko Olina area too. Do you have an opinion of that area?

"small town mentality" is exactly what i summed it up to. there are places here in Hawaii afflicted with this. the hispanic community in Hoke and Cumberland county was booming when we left NC. unfortunately, they were treated poorly. such a shame people feel the need to be hateful towards others.

as for KO'OLINA...dat place for da rich folks!!! LOL......what i've seen, i like. the lagoons are nice for a relaxing day at the beach. no need worry about the undertow taking u down to makaha. its a great place to watch the sunset. i've met some people who live out there. unfortunately, the ones i have met gave me the impression that they live there cause they dont want to live amongst da riff raff...like my family!! living out there means u'd have to drive a way just to buy milk. i would be very surprised if u found a place out there in the price range u're looking at. but...stranger things have happened. did u ever say what u were willing to "settle" for?? single family house??? condo?? townhouse?? that might help us give u more insight. makakilo is has alot of new developments also. the only thing i dont like about makakilo is driving up and down that hill. i know quite a few people up there...and they have to replace the brakes on their car regularly. BUT...its always cool up there...and its a nice tightknit community.

k den...gotta go drop da kids down da beach. i'll be back laterzzzzzzzzz

oh...btw...traffic is bad everywhere. there is no escaping it!!

[MadAzza]

Re: Scared to death!

Thanks for the info about Kapolei. ... I work from home so rush hour traffic isn't an issue for me. I'm planning to look at some rentals in the Ko Olina area too. Do you have an opinion of that area?

I own/live in Ko Olina. It's a resort area, so the rentals will tend to be higher here than in Kapolei proper (Ko Olina uses a Kapolei mailing address).

Welcome to HT!

[tutusue]

Re: Scared to death!

[...]Thanks for the info about Kapolei. I've looked at that area too. [...] I'm planning to look at some rentals in the Ko Olina area too. Do you have an opinion of that area?[...]

I think of Ko`olina as the Kahala of the Leeward Coast! I'm not sure Maddie will agree with me and I hope she chimes in! I have no idea how the rentals are priced there but they'll be pretty steep, I'm sure. I love the lagoons. The hotel is beautiful. There's a Roy's restaurant. The closest shopping...Safeway, Long's Drugs, Home Depot, KMart, banks, restaurants, theaters, and misc. small businesses...is Kapolei, which is just a few miles east (towards town) of Ko`olina. Very convenient. My daughter was thinking of buying in Ko`olina. When she visited earlier this year we traced the route in the car and she, too, felt it was convenient.

Best of luck in your new adventure. It sounds like you've really done your homework and have fallback plans. Not everyone who moves to Hawaii is lucky enough to move here with the provisions you have. And, for so many, it doesn't even occur to them to allow for those provisions. A wing and a prayer...yada, yada, yada!

[tutusue]

Re: Scared to death!

Well, look at that! Maddie beat me to it! That's what I get for answering the phone in the middle of typing my reply! Thanks, Maddie!

[tnts2k]

Re: Scared to death!

I've seen rentals in the Ko Olina area in our price range - $2000 - $2500/month. I'm not sure we'd be able to buy there. It depends on the final outcome of the sale of our NC house and what more we can save before we buy. What seemed like a lot of equity when we moved from Texas won't go nearly as far in Hawaii. We're definitely thinking townhome. Our last two houses have been around 2200 sq. ft. with large yards and we're DONE! We don't need that much space and now that the boys are gone we don't have free lawn service! I also think I might like the Ocean Pointe area. I prefer newer construction. We've lived in older homes and even though my husband works in construction, he's in management and not that great with a hammer. No more remodeling for me!

Thanks for all the encouragement. I feel much better about things after sharing my fear.

[SusieMisajon]

Re: Scared to death!

How much?????!!!!! And we think it's too much, for $500.00! Two thousand dollars a month will get you a real, live, authentic castle, over here.

I'l lucky, I bought my house a few years back...the mortgage is about $250.00 a month.

[tnts2k]

Re: Scared to death!

I guess it's too bad my husband's company doesn't do work in France!

[SusieMisajon]

Re: Scared to death!

Lots of English, Dutch, and German are taking advantage! We had friends here, who had come from Australia to live, for a few years, in a castle....when they went back, they invited my number two son to go over to Oz for a vist, which he did.

[CranBeree]

Re: Scared to death!

if you are looking to buy a house it will cost you from 500,000 and up depending on your location. my in laws just bought a 3 br/2bath cedar deck with a jacuzzi etc etc for almost 600,000. if its only the 2 of you and cant afford a house, then you could look into a townhome/condo units. makakilo area has 2 br/2baths 1 car starting at the high 300,000. hope that helps.

[Vanguard]

Re: Scared to death!

I don't think that this forum so much discourages people from moving to Hawai'i, but the posters like to be real about the good and the bad.

Also, as far as having some reservations about "Pets OK", one thing you should keep in mind is that small breeds of dogs (up to 20 lbs.) are very popular in Hawai'i, so it's possible that that's what many landlords have in mind when they say "Pets OK". If you are bringing a St. Bernard with you, you may want to inform your landlord of the details. Just my opinion :P

[Erika Engle]

Re: Scared to death!

Hi TNT,
I thought I'd chime in with some URLs that I've posted previously, since you're looking for a place.

Honolulu Board of Realtors, search homes for sale/rental, by area:
http://hicentral.com/

The DOD rent/buy/share search site, open to the public, loved by property managers:
http://www.dodreferral.com/index_new.php?ID=hi

I've had previous success in finding rentals here:
http://www.rentalsillustrated.com/

The Hawaii home ownership center -- mostly for first-time buyers (posted mostly for the benefit of others, I admit):
http://www.hihomeownership.org/

Naturally there are the newspaper classifieds, and yes folks, I'm even going to post the "other" paper's site:

Honolulu Star-Bulletin (props to my employer first)
www.starbulletin.com

Honolulu Advertiser
www.honoluluadvertiser.com

[tnts2k]

Re: Scared to death!

Thanks for the info. I've actually seen your postings before and have used the information in my search. They've been very helpful. I'm looking forward to our trip over so I can actually see what I've been looking at on the internet.

[Erika Engle]

Re: Scared to death!

Great!
Thanks for letting me know that (and for searching before starting a new thread).
I did forget to include one URL, for the Hawaiian Humane Society, which I'm told can be a good resource for pet-welcoming rentals:

www.hawaiianhumane.org

The Pet Walk is coming up in Oct., if any of you are so inclined. I think organizers/participants would take a dim view, were I to bring my 18-year-old son on a leash ... but he doesn't obey commands anyway, so, best to leave him at home.

[rhscare]

Re: Scared to death!

Just relax and enjoy the experience!!! You will love it. You alredy know you have a salary in place, and youve already researched the cost of living. Stressing will get you noowhere, belive me its all I did leading up to our move. We did the opposite of you. We just sold pretty much everything and left. Granted we were fortunate to have someone to stay with until we got settled. We still have alot to do here, but we are still loving it. And belive me, Im a stresser, and even I am loving it. Stay positive, and enjoy it. Theres no better place on earth.