Has anyone ever lived in Hawaii?

DavidWhite

DavidWhite

Final Approach
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DW
Any good recommendations on where to live? Nothing is set in stone, far from it in fact. I really want to live in a place that I can drink mojitos on a sandy beach year round though.
 
DavidWhite said:
Any good recommendations on where to live? Nothing is set in stone, far from it in fact. I really want to live in a place that I can drink mojitos on a sandy beach year round though.
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I don't think you have to go 4000 miles to do that. Lots of places in Caribbean. I hear Cuba's going to open up soon...
 
paflyer said:
I don't think you have to go 4000 miles to do that. Lots of places in Caribbean. I hear Cuba's going to open up soon...
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I would be commuting from the 49th state to the 50th state and hawaii is the closest offering thats not in Kalifornia
 
Some nice houses for sale at Mauna Kea on the Big Island. I saw a couple that started at $25 mil. They look pretty sweet. They probably have the same owners as a couple of the private jets parked at the south end of the airport.

Or on the other end of the spectrum you can buy and live cheap on the Pahoa side.
 
DavidWhite said:
Any good recommendations on where to live? Nothing is set in stone, far from it in fact. I really want to live in a place that I can drink mojitos on a sandy beach year round though.
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Well . . .kona has direct flights to Anchorage - which may be your best bet - HNL does too but you can't afford to live there -

I have put offers in lots of time on real estate On the Big Island and have never pulled the trigger - one place that truly looks like a pretty much non-tourist place to live on the Big Island is Waimea - 2500' elevation - I looked at several places between 450-575k that did not have a heater or an AC unit - if you can believe that - climate is so benign - 73 in dummrt = 68 in winter- low of 60 all the time - real sense of community - people looking out for each other, raising their kids - community activities and events all the time.

Anyway - its a 30 min drive to Kona airport and 5 hour non-stop flight from there to Anchorage -

Plus, if you have an airplane containered in there is an airport right there - 2500' up - 6000' long . . . right into the wind.
 
Big Island or Maui. Oahu is a big city, Kaui is small, the other islands are even smaller. Maui is hip. Big Island is biggest by far, and land is least expensive. They are all tropical and have nice beaches and are worth visiting. They all have rainy sides and dry sides. They all have airports.
 
Check out Haiku, Maui. Add Kalani Prince on FB, he lives there. I don't think I'd live on Oahu.
 
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I used to live in Oahu (Waikiki area). The traffic there is a nightmare. On Friday nights often it will take me 2 hours to get home from the office in downtown Honolu back to Waikiki (less than 10 miles).

After a while it's just like living in any other city.

Fun and beautiful place to visit for short periods - not so much to live.
 
deonb said:
After a while it's just like living in any other city.

Fun and beautiful place to visit for short periods - not so much to live.
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Indeed. As a native island boy, I second the sentiment. Continental living has afforded me economic opportunities I'd never have available had I stay planted in "island time". Don't get me wrong, I miss the weather and my folks, but the economy, personal lack of safety and cost of living I certainly do not.

Locals making a living seldom live their lives by the beach or the tourist traps; that's another misconception landlock dwellers have about island living. People are busy raising families, paying bills and enduring work commutes times that would shock even the most hardened CONUS city commuters. Sure, paradise is always 5 miles away, but for the opportunity cost, it's hardly paradise at all. Visiting is much cheaper and largely devoid of the larger economic opportunity cost.

Hawaii, much like Florida, is transient to the core. The economy has that backwash flow of people already baked in.The OP should be able to flow in, get it out of his system, grow frustrated with island fever and island time given enough years, and flow out in due time. Nothing new under the sun. It is my understanding he is single, college aged and childless, perfect life stage as any to get that novelty crossed out the ol' checklist.
 
Honeymoon was on Kaua'i. Beautiful place and want to go back as soon as possible. Even got the itch to fly for one of the local airlines.

Then again, we were a minority on the island and it was obvious we weren't the favorites. I don't care to deal with that 24/7 but we will visit.
 
You wanna fly for Mokulele?
 
DavidWhite said:
I would be commuting from the 49th state to the 50th state and hawaii is the closest offering thats not in Kalifornia
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I see you're spelling California with a K. That usually means you think California is far too left in it's politics for your liking. I really hate to break this to you, but the state of Hawaii is even further left in it's politics. They are straight up socialists there. They just don't have enough political clout to effect national politics so folks on the right don't have the hate in for them. However if you move there and live there you will be subject to all manor of statist, socialist and "progressive" legislation and regulation.

If politics are a big part of your life, then I might suggest Corpus Christie on the Texas Gulf coast. They have beaches, it stays pretty warm there in the winter and it's red state all the way.
 
Dav8or said:
I see you're spelling California with a K. That usually means you think California is far too left in it's politics for your liking. I really hate to break this to you, but the state of Hawaii is even further left in it's politics. They are straight up socialists there. They just don't have enough political clout to effect national politics so folks on the right don't have the hate in for them. However if you move there and live there you will be subject to all manor of statist, socialist and "progressive" legislation and regulation.

If politics are a big part of your life, then I might suggest Corpus Christie on the Texas Gulf coast. They have beaches, it stays pretty warm there in the winter and it's red state all the way.
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I spell Kalifornia with a K because my ex fiancé lives there and she's a damn succubus!
 
The Hilo and Pana districts are very conservative so the socialist stereotype doesn't fit all. And last time I was in Austin it was pretty darned liberal so that one doesn't fit, either.

Hawaii's great. We sold our little beach house almost 30 years ago because we had to choose where to live and we couldn't make a good living in Hawaii. Little has changed except 30 years of making a good living later we can choose to own a vacation property a couple of miles from our old beach shack. No regrets.

The Big Island has the dry, warm Kona side and the wetter, cooler Hilo side. A 900sq ft basic condo within walking distance to the beach will start at about $450K on the Kona side. If you're lucky you'll find one with HOA fees around $1K per month, and beware they can be higher than that. On the other side of the island you can buy a basic house in the Puna area for about $300k and nicer ones escalate up quickly. Probably with on site sewer and rain water catchment for domestic water. Hilo is a great town but not what most people dream about when they think Hawaii. Somebody mentioned Waimea. Very trendy and a hot real estate market as retiring mainlanders move in. Also not what most people dream about but a very nice town. Most young people have a dream about what they want and are humbled by what they can afford. Visit, talk to realtors, drive around, figure out what works for you,
 
Stewartb said:
The Hilo and Pana districts are very conservative so the socialist stereotype doesn't fit all. And last time I was in Austin it was pretty darned liberal so that one doesn't fit, either.
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Yep, there some very, very red areas of California too. It just means you get to be frustrated every election and rant at the local news a lot. Basically, your vote doesn't matter much. I'm sure the folks in Austin feel the same way.
 
My brother-in-law lived in Honolulu and had to leave his house twice a year so it could be fumigated for cockroaches.
 
Huh? There's a lot to love about California. There's good reason so many people live there. You aren't a resident of Alaska either, right?
 
If you fly a small plane in Hawaii, navigation is easy, because you only need to know two headings. East and West.

Otherwise, there's nothing.
 
NoHeat said:
If you fly a small plane in Hawaii, navigation is easy, because you only need to know two headings. East and West.

Otherwise, there's nothing.
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Yeah, other than the crazy winds out there, I think flying in Hawaii would quickly become kinda boring. I think is part of the reason why when I visit, I see almost zero GA in the sky other than a sight seeing helicopter every now and then. Of course where I live now, I'm used to small planes flying over all the time.
 
DavidWhite said:
I am a resident of alaska, currently.
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Then why would you want to **** away your hard-earned money on a 9% state income tax in California or Hawaii (+losing out on the dividend) ?
 
weilke said:
Then why would you want to **** away your hard-earned money on a 9% state income tax in California or Hawaii (+losing out on the dividend) ?
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Because you don't want to freeze your nuts off on a regular basis?? Cold is bull crap.
 
DavidWhite said:
I am a resident of alaska, currently.
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Hence, the location, "Minneapolis" in your profile, and your employment with a Minneapolis base?

Are you done with that gig?
 
I live in Hawaii. Vacationing here is not the same as living here. Yes, everything is expensive here (food, car registration, water, electricity come to mind). I came from the SF Bay Area so the cost of living is about the same. There's a lot of things that are backasswards compared to the mainland. :confused:I live in busy Oahu. Personally when I go on staycations and stay on island it doesn't feel like one. I like going to the Big Island where it's nice and slow. It's been awhile since I've been to Maui but I'm sure it's the same. You can probably say the same thing for Kauai.

GA is popular in HNL. We have a few flight schools here. Rental prices are not too bad here (compared to SF). I think Maui has 2 flight schools and Big Island has 1. However, rates on Maui and Big Island are more.
 
How's hangaring and insurance? One of my favorite things about non-coastal continental living is it affords me the ability for enjoy sole ownership. I couldn't afford it back home in PR. Hangar availability is tough and prohibitive, and insurance rates are insane. I wonder if the dynamics are the same in HI.
 
Stewartb said:
The Hilo and Pana districts are very conservative so the socialist stereotype doesn't fit all. And last time I was in Austin it was pretty darned liberal so that one doesn't fit, either.
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Austin has always been Far Out and Far Left. Just remember the city motto..."Keep Austin Wierd"
Hawaii's great. We sold our little beach house almost 30 years ago because we had to choose where to live and we couldn't make a good living in Hawaii. Little has changed except 30 years of making a good living later we can choose to own a vacation property a couple of miles from our old beach shack. No regrets.

The Big Island has the dry, warm Kona side and the wetter, cooler Hilo side. A 900sq ft basic condo within walking distance to the beach will start at about $450K on the Kona side. If you're lucky you'll find one with HOA fees around $1K per month, and beware they can be higher than that. On the other side of the island you can buy a basic house in the Puna area for about $300k and nicer ones escalate up quickly. Probably with on site sewer and rain water catchment for domestic water. Hilo is a great town but not what most people dream about when they think Hawaii. Somebody mentioned Waimea. Very trendy and a hot real estate market as retiring mainlanders move in. Also not what most people dream about but a very nice town. Most young people have a dream about what they want and are humbled by what they can afford. Visit, talk to realtors, drive around, figure out what works for you,
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DavidWhite said:
Any good recommendations on where to live? Nothing is set in stone, far from it in fact. I really want to live in a place that I can drink mojitos on a sandy beach year round though.
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All I can say is you should go for it while you're young and willing to live modestly. We went for 3 weeks a few years ago (Oahu and Big Island) and really enjoyed it. I realize living there would be different but if you don't like it after a year or two, you can leave.
 
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