Is it really that much more expensive? I just don't understand (Honolulu: property taxes, house)

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

There's more to the cost-of-living than housing prices.

Every time I go to the grocery store, put gasoline in my car, pay my electric bill, or purchase furniture in Hawai'i, etc. I am reminded of the "price of paradise." Since most of the jobs in Hawai'i pay less than comparable positions elsewhere, folks either work longer hours or reduce their standard of living.

Jonah, I think you already know I have a house in South Kona but I live in L.A. full time...so yes, you're right on.

I determined it cost me 3 times as much to live on the Big Island as it did to live here in L.A...and that's when I lived on the east side of the island. I paid 59 cents for a loaf of wheat bread at Food 4 Less last night. I still can't believe how cheap groceries are here.

[gladis3]

Originally Posted by DDane

Keep in mind that this person is buying a house and you are renting.

She's probably much better off than you are from the start.

Maybe and maybe not. We both have good jobs here. I only work part time, by choice. We just sold a house & put our money in savings until we find another house we want to buy (hence our renting status - which is by far cheaper than owning, and we rent a house, not an apartment or condo). We did not want a house to hold us here in CA if we wanted to move to Hawaii. We have 3 new cars between me & hubby, fully paid off...no debt what-so-ever. No school loans...paid off. Retirement savings, 401ks, our kids have bank accounts since they were 1 yr old. I don't think the fact that we prefer to not be tied down at this moment and chose to rent & save more money doing so puts us in a worse off situation.

The point was prices of items...cost of living...not what we personally can or cannot afford since "they might be better off from the start"...Is it really that much more expensive. Tell me why it is...not if you think we can afford it based on us renting.

[gladis3]

Jonah K...how much is gas right now? I am trying to get cycles here...ours has gone down just a bit. When I left for our Hawaii trip, it was $3.20 here and about $3.26 in Hawaii, at least near Ko-Olina. Today it is about $2.87 by my house, closer to my friends home in Cerritos, closer to LA...its about $2.60. I cannot get that near my house unless I drive about 30+ miles to fuel up.

How about air conditioning...is it necessary? We were there in early July for a couple weeks and found the weather pleasant. Does the humidity get that bad? I lived in Phoenix where heat was extreme or extreme with humidity during monsoon season...so I am familiar with $400+ monthly electric bills. Currently ours is up since I have been using AC quite a bit. We have almost hit 100 degree weather and so its almost a must to have.


About tax on homes...is there a different tax base on homes there depending on area? Here, it depends on how established the neighborhoods are...newer areas have higher tax rates...mostly used to pay for development of community & roads, but base tax can be around 1% and up on assessed home value. Do you or anyone else know how that works out?

[cynmkolohe]

City and County of Honolulu Public Access

For the most up to date tax info, spend some time on the county site. If you know a street address in the neighborhood you might want to live in, do a Property Search and look through a few tax bills. Look at Assessed Value as well as the Tax Detail 2007 to get a general idea of what property taxes may be on a home in the area. Of course, this will vary greatly from home to home and depending on exemptions. But it can be very informative once you've narrowed down the area you are interested in to page through some of these.

Here is the tax rate schedule for Hawaii County (the Big Island):
Hawaii County

This link is for Kauai: Kauai County

Here is the link for Maui: Maui County

(BTW, an MLS listing contains tax data for each property. If you are working with an agent, they can provide this information to you for individual listings. You will always want to know if there is a homeowners exemption or not when comparing the numbers.)

[gladis3]

Thanks! I think that tax info really helped.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by Sorcerer68

Jonah, I think you already know I have a house in South Kona but I live in L.A. full time...so yes, you're right on.

I determined it cost me 3 times as much to live on the Big Island as it did to live here in L.A...and that's when I lived on the east side of the island. I paid 59 cents for a loaf of wheat bread at Food 4 Less last night. I still can't believe how cheap groceries are here.

Compared to prices at most of the grocery stores on the Hilo side, the prices at Whole Foods, Gelsons, and Pavilions in Southern California seem pretty low. Every time I travel from Southern California to the Big Island, I usually take along 150 pounds of non-perishable items from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's for my friends, relatives, and neighbors on the Big Island. I'm almost tempted to set up "Trader Jonah's" booths at the Hilo and Maku'u Farmer's Markets.

Originally Posted by gladis3

Jonah K...how much is gas right now? I am trying to get cycles here...ours has gone down just a bit. When I left for our Hawaii trip, it was $3.20 here and about $3.26 in Hawaii, at least near Ko-Olina. Today it is about $2.87 by my house, closer to my friends home in Cerritos, closer to LA...its about $2.60. I cannot get that near my house unless I drive about 30+ miles to fuel up.

Gas is currently about $3.20 per gallon for regular in Hilo and a couple of cents per gallon higher in Puna. I was in Las Vegas yesterday and gas there was around $2.62 per gallon for regular.

Originally Posted by gladis3

How about air conditioning...is it necessary? We were there in early July for a couple weeks and found the weather pleasant. Does the humidity get that bad? I lived in Phoenix where heat was extreme or extreme with humidity during monsoon season...so I am familiar with $400+ monthly electric bills. Currently ours is up since I have been using AC quite a bit. We have almost hit 100 degree weather and so its almost a must to have.

For the most part, if one's home is designed to take advantage of the trade winds, air conditioning isn't necessary. I have a portable A/C unit that I purchased for my computer room; however, I've only used it once in the three years that I've owned it and that was to see if it works.

Originally Posted by gladis3

About tax on homes...is there a different tax base on homes there depending on area? Here, it depends on how established the neighborhoods are...newer areas have higher tax rates...mostly used to pay for development of community & roads, but base tax can be around 1% and up on assessed home value. Do you or anyone else know how that works out?

In addition to the tax rate links that cynmkolohe provided, be sure to check out the exemptions at the links below...

Hawai'i County
Maui County
Honolulu County
Kaua'i County

For instance, because of exemptions, Oprah Winfrey pays a total of $60 per year in property taxes for 102.09 acres of prime agricultural land on Maui, while many folks on the Big Island pay at least $100 per year in property taxes for a mere 15,000 sq. ft. of lava rock.

[LovinMaui]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

Compared to prices at most of the grocery stores on the Hilo side, the prices at Whole Foods, Gelsons, and Pavilions in Southern California seem pretty low. Every time I travel from Southern California to the Big Island, I usually take along 150 pounds of non-perishable items from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's for my friends, relatives, and neighbors on the Big Island. I'm almost tempted to set up "Trader Jonah's" booths at the Hilo and Maku'u Farmer's Markets.

HA!!! I do the exact same thing!!! Every time I go to the mainland I make sure every extra pound of my checked bags are filled with Trader Joes stuff!! I so miss being able to go into TJ's, fill a whole cart and only spend $40. I think Trader Joe's is really the only thing I "truly miss" from the mainland !

I am curious to see how the prices compare on Maui once the new Whole Foods goes in....

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

Compared to prices at most of the grocery stores on the Hilo side, the prices at Whole Foods, Gelsons, and Pavilions in Southern California seem pretty low. Every time I travel from Southern California to the Big Island, I usually take along 150 pounds of non-perishable items from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's for my friends, relatives, and neighbors on the Big Island. I'm almost tempted to set up "Trader Jonah's" booths at the Hilo and Maku'u Farmer's Markets.

We flirted with the idea of buying containers of stuff and reselling it on Mamo St.

Regarding a/c, I lived in one of the supposedly "cool" areas at about 900 feet elevation and I had a window unit in my home office (where I spent most of my waking hours) and another one in my bedroom. I ran a/c in whichever room I was in 9+ months a year. I find Hawaii steamy and a/c is necessary for me. My house was old plantation style with big windows, great cross ventilation and a direct line to the ocean. My basement (rare in Hawaii) was usually cool. The house faced right into trade winds. Some people seem to be ok with the weather, others like me need the a/c. When we lived in Waimea we never needed it (obviously).

[Koale]

Ahhhh... Hawaii can be as expensive as you want it to be. It can also be as affordable as you want it to be. Someone told me they 'moved' to Maui with $20,000 and ran out after six months and had to come home, that's how expensive it is. A little more conversation and you discover they ate every meal at a nice restaurant. She worked part-time, he didn't work at all because 'he just couldn't find his niche'. He was in real estate and thought he would just pop in and sore to the top of the listings. They partied more often than not. Basically, they took a six month vacation and called it quits. It's all up to you...

[Brav989]

If you change your diet I feel it would be easier. Could just catch your own fish and go around hunting for various fruits to pluck out of the tree/off the ground. = free