Trying to decide where to live...

[foxyfox31]

Hello. My husband is looking for a place for us to live in when I arrive with our two fur children in December. He works at U of H and I may be working at Queens Medical center or U of H as well. We're post-docs so we don't want to pay a ton of rent (trying to stay around 1500-2,000/month) but we could use a two bedroom place. A house would be best, but would most likely be out of our price range!

So here are my questions: Should we stay in town? What about Pearl City, Aiea, Kaneohe, Kailua? Any thoughts about what those places are like, what housing costs are, and how muderous of a commute we would have?

Of course, the two dogs will narrow our housing hoices considerably. We will be leasing a car, but taking the bus wouldn't bother either of us in we lived in town.
Any info would be much appreciated. My husband has been in Honolulu for two months, but not having a car has made it difficult for him to really explore.

[foxyfox31]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

No takers, huh?

My thread looks lonely so I thought I'd reply to it

[1stwahine]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

No takers, huh?

My thread looks lonely so I thought I'd reply to it

Do a search in our archives.

Auntie Lynn

[tutusue]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

Not having a car to follow up on any future suggestions is the biggest obstacle as I see it. Other obstacles are the dogs and your price range. All the areas you mentioned are fine but it seems to me that where you move will depend on the dogs followed closed by the rental $.

Can your husband use the classifieds either online or a real paper, set up appointments for, hopefully, the same day then rent a car for the day?

I don't think there's anything, at this point, that HT can do for you but maybe I'm wrong!

[ItsGoTime!]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

I recently went through something similar (I moved to O'ahu bout four weeks ago), so I can share my experience with you, maybe that will help. My family and I had a few criteria in mind when we were looking for a place to settle. We wanted to be close to work cuz I didn't want to commute and my wife wanted me to be close to home (5 min drive, check), we wanted a supermarket that was open late (Foodland, check), and we wanted some parks nearby where we can play with the boy (check). We also wanted 2 bed 2 bath for around 1500/month, and a neighbourhood we could walk around at night and feel comfortable. I don't know the areas near UH at all, but as long as you have some criteria (which I see you do), you should be at least satisfied with your place if you meet them (eg, "It may be a bit small, but at least we can walk to get groceries at 9PM."). It's helpful that your husband is here to check things out (we signed a rental agreement without having seen our place or neighbourhood. We relied heavily on advice from my new colleagues, the internet, and the good people at HT). I would suggest that you look up some neighbourhoods that are in within the limits you'd like to live in, do some research about the qualities of said neighbourhoods, and come to HT to refine what you have learned. I started a thread a little while back, and you can see how my thoughts and strategies have changed over time. Like Tutusue mentioned, it's really hard to help unless you provide some more info. A good neighbourhood for some may be a bad neighbourhood for others. Good luck, and enjoy O'ahu. We certainly are.

[sparks79]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

http://www.hicentral.com/properties/...=1&type=rental

[UES Mayor]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

I don't know for sure but suspect you might not be aware of possible quaranine laws for your dogs in hawaii!!! check into that!
http://www.hawaii.gov/hdoa/ai/aqs/aqsbrochure.pdf

[foxyfox31]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

Hey, thanks for all the advice! My husband found a great 3 bedroom in Nuuanu. A little further from his job but closer to my potential employer (nice trade off since I currently drive 50 miles one way to work). I'm shipping out his car next week, so we will have one when I arrive.
Can't wait to get there! It's getting chilly here in Va

[sparks79]

Re: Trying to decide where to live...

Good luck to you, If the real esate market ever picks up we will be selling our house and making the move also. My wife and I lived in Portsmouth for 7 years, are you near there?