How can anyone afford to live here? (Honolulu, Mililani Town: rental car, sale)

[kani-lehua]

Originally Posted by HawaiiboundNelli

Congratulations kani-lehua! I know you were waiting on pins and needles so I'm glad it all came out positively! :-)

mahalo. hope to meet you there!

[HawaiiboundNelli]

Most definitely! We'll have to meet for lunch or something after we are both settled in. I won't be there until mid January. Aloha!
Nelli

[jonomo]

I lived in Southern California and now Seoul Korea, which is one of the top 3 most expensive cities in the world. I don't think Hawaii even makes the top 20 list... I can't imagine it will be that bad.. I'm thinking of moving there next year.. gonna visit in January to check things out....

[hawaiihomes1]

If you're planning to live on Oahu, the current median home price is $615,000 and condo/townhome median prices are $322,000. It's not easy for people with average income but it can be done.

There are several ways we can manage the housing prices here. One is to live with your parents as long as possible and save to buy a home. Two, buy something small. Three, live outside of Honolulu, where prices are lower. For example, Mililani, Makakilo, Kapolei and Ewa Beach. Those areas are seeing price declines right now (11/08).

Over the long run, prices go up. Buy a property that you can afford, when prices go up sell it for a profit and move on to something better. I sold a 2-bedroom condo after living in it 8 years and made $100k profit. That plus cash in the bank was my nest egg to buy a modest house for $505,000 in town.

If you want a house on a big lot for $250,000, try the Big Island.

[dgfurman]

Originally Posted by hawaiihomes1

If you're planning to live on Oahu, the current median home price is $615,000 and condo/townhome median prices are $322,000. It's not easy for people with average income but it can be done.

There are several ways we can manage the housing prices here. One is to live with your parents as long as possible and save to buy a home. Two, buy something small. Three, live outside of Honolulu, where prices are lower. For example, Mililani, Makakilo, Kapolei and Ewa Beach. Those areas are seeing price declines right now (11/08).

Over the long run, prices go up. Buy a property that you can afford, when prices go up sell it for a profit and move on to something better. I sold a 2-bedroom condo after living in it 8 years and made $100k profit. That plus cash in the bank was my nest egg to buy a modest house for $505,000 in town.

If you want a house on a big lot for $250,000, try the Big Island.

Great suggestions. How is the commute from these other cities to Honolulu? Doable?

[HankDfrmSD]

Originally Posted by mattywo85

I was looking at moving to Honolulu or Maui. Are they both very expensive? Easy to commute around? I can afford roughly $250-300K for a house/condo.

This is about Oahu:

I think you will have a hard time finding a house for that. Perhaps a condo, but it will be pretty small. Here is a web site where you can search all the condos on Oahu. Just scroll up and down and look at the sold prices. Then click the name in the left column to see the details (including no of bedrooms, photos, maps, etc.)

Oahu Real Estate All Condos by Building Name

Hank

[kani-lehua]

Originally Posted by dgfurman

Great suggestions. How is the commute from these other cities to Honolulu? Doable?

traffic. that's it in a nutshell.

[hotzcatz]

Ah, these other "cities" are not exactly separate from Honolulu. It is unending houses from Kapolei to Hawaii Kai with Honolulu stuck in the middle of all that mess. Different areas of these houses are considered different cities even though the uneducated eye couldn't tell where one area started and another one ended. And the commute sucks big time. There is public transport, but the traffic is ferocious.

How most folks manage to live is to live in very small houses and share with other folks. Sometimes folks will even share a bedroom with someone else although it is much more common to rent a room in a house and all share the kitchen with several bedrooms sharing a bathroom. A separate bedroom with a private bath and separate entrance is considered a very desirable thing. These are usually singles or couples without kids or pets, though. To live in Hawaii you don't live like you do on the mainland unless you have a LOT of money. Even the highly paid professionals will move to Hawaii and be amazed that they have to watch their money.

[HankDfrmSD]

Originally Posted by dgfurman

Great suggestions. How is the commute from these other cities to Honolulu? Doable?

There have been some detailed discussions of this question in past threads here. In one of them, I posted a photo from a traffic-cam at early commute time on a Tuesday morning. It was the merge of the H-1 and the H-2 just west of Pearl city. Jammed up!

Look at these threads:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hawai...-h1-h2-h3.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hawai...-mililani.html

Hank

[Mililani Gal]

I live in Mililani Town, 4br/2.5 bath townhome purchased 1.5 years ago for $407,000. It's got about 1400 sq ft, 1 covered carport and 1 open parking. Our maintenance fee has just gone up and in addition to our mortgage we pay almost $500/mo for our maintenance fee, plus Mililani Town Association's fee of $33/mo.

We try to conserve electricity and our monthly bill averages about $140. Most people I ask that own a single family home are paying $200/mo. I'm not sure what water costs, but I know it's increasing because of sewar improvements being made by the City and COunty of Honolulu, thus, the increase to my maintenance fee.

Gasoline right now is $2.35 at the Waipio Costco.

I've work at the University of Hawaii in fiscal for the last 13 years and my husband also works at UH doing administrative work for the last 5 years. We make a combined gross income of $100K.

My older daughter attends public elementary, my younger daughter attends preschool/daycare at $650/mo. We struggle to make ends meet but if we eat-in more often and stopped buying gifts for friends birthdyas, retirements, etc. it would be easier. But what kind of life would that be.

We sacrifice by not going to the mall and taking advantage of my dad's commissary benefits.

It's doable, but we don't have "play money," which can be frustrating and has taken a toll on us.