Housing Maket - Manoa

[cabanalane]

Just dreaming about moving back to Hawaii.


The only place I like to come back to is Oahu and Manoa. Grew up there and think it's a great place for my family. However, looking at the real estate ads, I'm not surprise at very old homes going for $700K. My questions are:

- How do people afford to live there? Last time I check, the wages are not that high. On the mainland, my job position is consider "high" compare to cost of living. In CA, I get paid twice as much as AZ. Because housing cost twice as much. Hawaii (Oahu) does not seem to follow the same formula. How do people afford a house?

- Does everyone who live in Manoa (or any old construction in Hawaii) able to live there because their grandparents bought the house back in 1960? So the house is just past on from generation to generation?

Many of mainland cities are suffering with real estate falling under. Has the market in Hawaii gotten a bit cheaper? Just 10 years ago, Hawaii real estate was in the dumps.

- We live a very comfortable life on the mainland. Going back to Hawaii will be a struggle, financially just base on how much housing cost alone. Does that discourage many of you that are on the mainland? That your "one day I'll come back to Hawaii" is actually "Never?"

[tutusue]

Re: Housing Maket - Manoa

[...]
- How do people afford to live there? Last time I check, the wages are not that high. On the mainland, my job position is consider "high" compare to cost of living. In CA, I get paid twice as much as AZ. Because housing cost twice as much. Hawaii (Oahu) does not seem to follow the same formula. How do people afford a house?

Many, just like on the mainland, got in way over their heads because they were allowed to. Then the bank crisis hit...

- Does everyone who live in Manoa (or any old construction in Hawaii) able to live there because their grandparents bought the house back in 1960? So the house is just past on from generation to generation

I'd guess there are instances of that.

Many of mainland cities are suffering with real estate falling under. Has the market in Hawaii gotten a bit cheaper? Just 10 years ago, Hawaii real estate was in the dumps.

Last I heard homes have decreased a bit; condos have stayed somewhat stable. However, Hawaii economic trends lag behind the mainland's so we haven't seen the full real estate impact yet. Tourism, otoh, is already suffering.

- We live a very comfortable life on the mainland. Going back to Hawaii will be a struggle, financially just base on how much housing cost alone. Does that discourage many of you that are on the mainland? That your "one day I'll come back to Hawaii" is actually "Never?"

I'm in Hawaii but I'll answer anyway!
During the early 1990s I decided to downsize my life dramatically after realizing I could only live in one room at a time and why in the heck was I expending energy dusting and vacuuming rooms I rarely occupied! Fortunately that decision was a "want", not a "need". It was the best decision I ever made. I went from 2500+ sq. ft to 400 sq ft! How? I moved into a little rental condo I already owned...and it was/(still is!) smack dab oceanfront. What was outside my little hale was much more important than what was inside. Bare bones expenses and no regrets! Oh, and my kids had already flown da coop!

I think moving back to Hawaii will be predicated upon desire vs perceived comfort. How willing are you to scale back your standard of living? Only you can answer that.

[kani-lehua]

Re: Housing Maket - Manoa

we did the opposite of tutusue. went from a one bedroom condo to a 3 bedroom 2 story home in kapolei. eventually, we had to move back to kailua to care for "mom". the kapolei house is rented to "family" for which we do not make any profit. the amount of the rent covers just the mortgage and homeowner's insurance.

this kailua home is a family home that we own joint title with mom. when she passes, we will then own/inherit her half. the future for us will be on the big island when we sell the kapolei home and build on a lot that we bought last october. the kailua home will be rented along with a separate cottage rental. that is how we will be able to retire. the new home on the big island will be paid for outright so no mortgage.

we had to cut back on spending and entertainment because i am home 24/7. most of that time is taking care of mom. we were able to sell the nuuanu condo for almost the cost of the kapolei home and took out a home equity line of credit to purchase the lot on the big island. seems like we are doing things "right" for now.

[leashlaws]

Re: Housing Maket - Manoa

We moved from a 2 bdrm. townhouse to a "5" bedroom house relatively in the same neighborhood, well it's down the street from the old place and a bit over if that makes sense. Our motives for doing such was we wanted a pretty good sized place for the 2 of us and our dog (no longer with us) that we could host the IL's when they visit from MN. I say "5" because some of the said bedrooms aren't really what I would want to use as a bedroom but they function nicely for workout, day room, IL guest room. My goal in finding said house was to get a home that was only one level with lots of room and a pool and a fenced yard for said dog. The pool was a godsend as she had very bad arthritis and had two ACL operations so she needed to swim but couldn't do the beach with the currents and waves any longer. I have a million injuries and ailments that make it necessary to live on one level and as the years go on even more so. Many of my neighbors have cleaning people and I don't, I just do what I can and keep the place nice and tidy but I'm sure if I had help it would be much more spotless! We hardly go out although there are many here who think we're out all the time dining/drinking and I'm not sure why! We'd rather stay at home and cook and enjoy ourselves here and it's way cheaper!
When we first moved here we had a "1 bedroom" in Makiki at the blue roofed Village Maluhia, it was all we could get. A trip out here prior to moving led to no leads or possible rentals until the last day. The only friend we had who had been a college dorm resident and friend was an attorney who worked on foreclosures with the people we ended up renting from. Were it not for that and our friend actually co-signing our lease we'd never have been able to move here. Maybe it's easier now I don't know but if not for him and his connection and willingness we'd still probably be in Evanston, IL/Chicago, IL singing the blues! It was really a one room dwelling overlooking the parking lot off Pensacola with a 2 story building with a cute very old Korean lady that was always making kim chee or pounding something on a cutting board if it wasn't her cabbage. It was very difficult and we had no car for quite some time then we finally got one. We had it for a few years and then on Superbowl Sunday in 1990 it was smashed at the corner of Ward and Prospect while we were at a friends' house. We moved to the Windward side and lived with only 1 car for about 5 years then I got a car and didn't have to take the bus to Waikiki or Ala Moana for work. I realize I'm rambling, sorry! The point was I was kind of relating to Kani- Lehua about going from small to big unlike tutusue who went from big to small (you are so cool for that!). Anyway it is our hope to be carried out of here feet first when the time comes and never move again!

[kani-lehua]

Re: Housing Maket - Manoa

gotta tell you, leashlaws, we're glad we're not in the 2-story kapolei home anymore. to clean those stairs is a nightmare and i slipped and fell from one landing to the bottom of the stairs not once, but twice (my fault i was wearing socks!). the kailua home is a lot bigger app. 2400sft and the lot 3x as big--good for the dogs to run around. however, when we build on the big island, i don't want the square footage. maybe size the house down to 1800-2000sft one level 3 bedroom. the yard won't be that much either as it is mostly forest and we will try to maintain as much of it as possible. it's a half acre lot on a corner.

[Sharilyn]

Re: Housing Maket - Manoa

During the early 1990s I decided to downsize my life dramatically after realizing I could only live in one room at a time and why in the heck was I expending energy dusting and vacuuming rooms I rarely occupied!

Oh, I love that! If only I could convince my husband. We live in a modest 3B/2B home, but it's filled with junk we don't need... his junk, of course. My stuff is not junk.

[Nords]

Re: Housing Maket - Manoa

- How do people afford to live there? Last time I check, the wages are not that high. On the mainland, my job position is consider "high" compare to cost of living. In CA, I get paid twice as much as AZ. Because housing cost twice as much. Hawaii (Oahu) does not seem to follow the same formula. How do people afford a house?

Same as LA or SF or Coronado or Manhattan or Boston-- you get a big mortgage or buy in cheaper locations or work extra hours. We bought a "nice fixer-upper" and mortgaged it to the hilt. We were also very lucky that it was 2000, at what turned out to be about the beginning of the upturn in the last runup. When we moved in we really only owned one bathroom and a corner of the kitchen, but now we own two bathrooms and most of the kitchen.

- Does everyone who live in Manoa (or any old construction in Hawaii) able to live there because their grandparents bought the house back in 1960? So the house is just past on from generation to generation?

Uhm, no. We sunk every penny we had into our first place in the 1980s, a 2BR condo, and managed to trade up on appreciation. We bought another home in 1989, at the peak of the last Hawaii real-estate bubble, and rode it all the way down and all the way back up again. Now it's a rental. We also spend a lot of time looking at homes and we enjoy home improvement as a hobby. It's finally starting to pay off for us.

I know several retired senior military (with pensions over $70K/year) living in Manoa. They bought old homes and either tore them down/rebuilt or gutted them/remodeled. To pay for that, they're still working at jobs earning more than their military pensions. One of them is in his 50s and his ego will probably never retire, another is in his low 80s and is resigned to working for his Manoa mortgage until he dies.

But I'm sure their heirs will be very appreciative.

Many of mainland cities are suffering with real estate falling under. Has the market in Hawaii gotten a bit cheaper? Just 10 years ago, Hawaii real estate was in the dumps.

Local realtor George Stott publishes a quarterly newsletter (http://www.stott1.com.z57preview.com...ssional2.shtml) specifically for Hawaii homeowners living on the Mainland. He also has a monthly e-mail newsletter, and in his August issue he says that the state's economist has called the beginning of the end for the Hawaii housing market. (Jet fuel prices, drop in visitors, lack of easy subprime credit, more foreclosures as unemployment goes up.) The numbers of homes on the market and days to sell them have been rising steadily over the last year and now the prices are likely to start tumbling. The drop might not be as steep as 1990-96 but it could easily be 10-20%. I wouldn't be a buyer right now.

- We live a very comfortable life on the mainland. Going back to Hawaii will be a struggle, financially just base on how much housing cost alone. Does that discourage many of you that are on the mainland? That your "one day I'll come back to Hawaii" is actually "Never?"

I had to move back to the Mainland once. San Diego was nice, but every time the plane landed on the reef runway and I saw the Ko'olau I knew I was "home".

You have to decide what brings you value and arrange your spending priorities around that. If Hawaii is just a "nice place, always wanted to live there" then it probably won't happen for you. But if you think of Hawaii as "home", then you'll find a way to come back. However if the kids move to the Mainland to raise your grandchildren then the priorities have to be re-examined all over again.

When you come back, though, I'd rent for a year or two before thinking about buying.

[localmoco]

Re: Housing Maket - Manoa

I'm not surprise at very old homes going for $700K.

And some of those $700K homes will require an extensive remodel or complete teardown/rebuild.

How do people afford to live there? Last time I check, the wages are not that high.

Many of my friends and I also worked and lived on the mainland after college and went through the same issues when we moved back to Hawai'i. The salaries here are not comparable to most mainland cities when you consider the cost of living. But it's a sacrifice that we had to make to be closer to family when we had kids.

Does everyone who live in Manoa (or any old construction in Hawaii) able to live there because their grandparents bought the house back in 1960? So the house is just past on from generation to generation?

That's how we did it. Same with most of my friends who live in Manoa.