How busy is the Hawaii forum? (Honolulu, Kihei: real estate, condo, transfer)

[palani]

Aloha,
My name is Palani, and I just registered to this forum. My question is how many members are on this Hawaii forum?

[mrs1885]

My guess is not a whole heck of alot. Only 2 posting popped up when I logged onto it.
Did you have a Hawaii specific question? The lady I work with is from there and planning on moving back.

[ExLocal]

My wife and I moved to the mainland in the mid 80's from Honolulu where we were both born and raised. We have not really missed the islands too much. We still have relatives and friends so we know what's happening .. Prices - Housing is high and comparable to big city West Coast. Gasoline is very high; SO you "pay the price to live in paradise".

[elfmom]

Hi- I was sad to see so few postings. I just found this forum and would love to chat with other Hawaii lovers. I hope to return one day to live in Puna again. I just returned from a visit that renewed my spirits. Aloha to all. Dee

[dsch123]

Hi all, I've lived in Hawaii for 3 years now in Kihei, Maui. I'm 27, and I work in the tech sector, which is a very small part of the economy. My wife is in real estate, so I've got a nice overview of the market(for better or worse). If anyone has any questions on the quality of life on Maui, or Kauai/Oahu/Hawaii (from an island hopping point of view), I'm happy to oblige.

In particular, Kihei is a booming area -- since we've been here, real estate (low-end and high-end) has increased in price by ~200%. Many baby-boomers have been buying up properties for investment/pre-retirement purposes. Also, many of the newcomers are looking for their "Hawaiian Paradise". Most of the jobs are here are in the services industry, and most of these directly support tourism. Gasoline is currently $3.22/gal and the gov't has been experimenting with price caps for ~6 months.

The weather is great during the winter, but often too hot for mainland-types during the summer. The island has many microclimates, which results in rain forest in one region, deserts in another. Ironically, Kihei/Wailea would be desert if not for the water importation via the sugar cane fields from the West Maui's. Like in many mainland places, A/C is a sought-after commodity in many areas. Our electricity bill doubles in the summer months (currently Maui pays $0.20/kWh which is 3x the cost of Utah, the next highest in the US). 95% of the electricity is generated from burning pertroleum(fuel oil/diesel) and 5% comes from an on-availability biomasse burning from the Puunene sugar cane plant(they burn cane byproduct and produce the "black snow"). There is a wind-power project near Ma'alaea that will comprise 5% of the power budget when finished.

The health care system and education system are atrocious. The Maui Memorial hospital has more staph than staff... I find it ironic that such a large segment of the health-care reliant population is moving here.

As a Hawaii resident, I believe paradise is a state-of-mind, not a place. I will not live here forever, as it is not my home.

[dsch123]

Hi, I live in Kihei, on Maui, and can offer answers to any questions. I'm 27, male, an engineer from the midwest and haved lived here for 3 years.

[sandi]

Originally Posted by dsch123

Hi all, I've lived in Hawaii for 3 years now in Kihei, Maui. I'm 27, and I work in the tech sector, which is a very small part of the economy. My wife is in real estate, so I've got a nice overview of the market(for better or worse). If anyone has any questions on the quality of life on Maui, or Kauai/Oahu/Hawaii (from an island hopping point of view), I'm happy to oblige.

In particular, Kihei is a booming area -- since we've been here, real estate (low-end and high-end) has increased in price by ~200%. Many baby-boomers have been buying up properties for investment/pre-retirement purposes. Also, many of the newcomers are looking for their "Hawaiian Paradise". Most of the jobs are here are in the services industry, and most of these directly support tourism. Gasoline is currently $3.22/gal and the gov't has been experimenting with price caps for ~6 months.

The weather is great during the winter, but often too hot for mainland-types during the summer. The island has many microclimates, which results in rain forest in one region, deserts in another. Ironically, Kihei/Wailea would be desert if not for the water importation via the sugar cane fields from the West Maui's. Like in many mainland places, A/C is a sought-after commodity in many areas. Our electricity bill doubles in the summer months (currently Maui pays $0.20/kWh which is 3x the cost of Utah, the next highest in the US). 95% of the electricity is generated from burning pertroleum(fuel oil/diesel) and 5% comes from an on-availability biomasse burning from the Puunene sugar cane plant(they burn cane byproduct and produce the "black snow"). There is a wind-power project near Ma'alaea that will comprise 5% of the power budget when finished.

The health care system and education system are atrocious. The Maui Memorial hospital has more staph than staff... I find it ironic that such a large segment of the health-care reliant population is moving here.

As a Hawaii resident, I believe paradise is a state-of-mind, not a place. I will not live here forever, as it is not my home.

Hi,

My husband & I have always wanted to live in Hawaii! We have timeshares in Princeville on Kauai & visit every two years. Our next trip will be in July. At the present time we live in Naples, FL. It is probably the closest we will get to paradise! I know the price of real estate is probably sky high. It has tripled here in Naples in the past 8 years. Any info. you can give us would be appreciated. I'm a nurse, but only do private duty at the present time.

Sandy rhart2@swfla.rr.com

[jdmk]

how ironic~ we are from naples too, and we almost got transfered to Kona-

What I found was when I started researching property values, it seemed like it was about as expensive as it is here in Naples.

I'm just having a hard time finding a lot here in Naples without driving to BFE....

Needless to say the transfer didn't happen, but we are making it one of our ultimate goals in life to move to Hawaii for at least 5 years just for the expirence. I had a very spritual awakening when I visited Maui in 2000. It's very laid back of course. I never saw a place where people pulled over to the side of the road to watch the sunsets.. and it was really cool to hear all the counch shells go off at sunset too.

[ohiolyn]

My family and I were lucky enough to visit Kekaha, Kauai in the summer of 2002. I cannot say enough wonderful things about the people of the west side of the island! I never felt like a tourist. They treat you as though you've simply moved in for a short time. We drove all over the island and never found an unfriendly person. Granted it was VERY expensive, but aren't most vacations? It was the first time I'd ever know eating out to cost less than cooking for yourself. :-) BIG hi to all the wonderful people from Kekaha to Koloa! ALOHA, MAHALO, and we miss you very much!

[Carlene]

I'm also new to this forum and love Hawaii, the west side of Oahu is our retirement home, coming from NoCal (Placerville) area. When we were visiting from Ca to Waianae we found prices not that much different than California, in fact the last time we "visited" Waianae (before moving), gas was actually 4 cents less than Cal. I shopped at Sam's club just like in Folsom CA and eggs were about a penny each higher, tp (the 24 count) was $2. higher than Folsom, so doing some comparison before move was good, but we found since "downsizing" from 1400 sq on 3+ acres in rural CA to 400 sq ft beach front condo and not having to drive to work every day, we surely can afford Hawaii. I also had an awakening the first time I visited Hawaii, the island of Kauaii, and feel "at home" on Oahu.

Dee, my mothers side of the family is from Minnesota, I live as a child in the Maple Plane area with grand parents in Bloomington, I have visited cousins over the years, but we all agree Hawaii is better.

Aloha,
Carlene