Neighborhoods/areas on the Big Island (Hilo, Kailua: rental, how much, house)

[Loriandrandy]

We are in our 50's. I am a mental health therapist and my husband is a helicopter pilot. He has a job offer on the Big Island (Kona side). We spent a week there in January but didn't get around to seeing much of the island in such a short time.
We're much more familiar with Maui and Kauai. In other words, if his offer would have been there, we would pretty much know what neighborhoods we would be interested in (and could afford!). But we are babes in the woods when it comes to the Big Island!
Our budget is $500k tops, but we'd prefer to purchase in the low to mid-400's, and need a yard for our dogs.
What are some areas that we should focus on? I'd obviously be happy to give more details.
Thanks so much.

[hotzcatz]

Helicopter pilots work out of either KOA airport or the heliport over by Waikoloa, don't they? So, the nearby housing areas would be Waikoloa as well as Pacific Palisades. Kawaihae, perhaps. Maybe as far uphill as Waimea, but that might be a bit far for commuting every day. It's always best to live as close to work as possible, IMHO.

Possibly finding a rental in Waikoloa might be a good idea? Especially if he is working with the helicopters below Waikoloa. Otherwise, pretty much anywhere near Kailua town itself should make for a short commute.

In any case, you really shouldn't buy a house until you've lived on the island for awhile. You'll get a much better life (considering how much where your house is impacts your lifestyle) if you have a chance to live in the area for awhile first. I know a lot of folks that would move from where they bought their first house if they could. It's not that their first house is all that bad or anything, it's just that the other areas would have been so much better but they didn't know since they'd not lived in the area.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Loriandrandy

We are in our 50's. I am a mental health therapist and my husband is a helicopter pilot. He has a job offer on the Big Island (Kona side). We spent a week there in January but didn't get around to seeing much of the island in such a short time.
We're much more familiar with Maui and Kauai. In other words, if his offer would have been there, we would pretty much know what neighborhoods we would be interested in (and could afford!). But we are babes in the woods when it comes to the Big Island!
Our budget is $500k tops, but we'd prefer to purchase in the low to mid-400's, and need a yard for our dogs.
What are some areas that we should focus on? I'd obviously be happy to give more details.
Thanks so much.

There are several helicopter touring companies on the Big Island. We stayed at Waikoloa Village when visiting the Big Island last November, about 6 miles past Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. It would be possible to find a property in Waikoloa Village in your price range. Waikoloa Village is in a dry area, but there is a lot of irrigation going on in that area to make it quite green. Waikoloa Village is close to 1,000 feet about sea level and is a little cooler than the coastline, which we find very nice and refreshing. The housing is more consistently nice looking in Waikoloa Village, but most of the lots are smaller, but large enough for smaller garden areas or trees. Some other areas have a mix of dumpy run down homes and nice looking homes. Waikoloa Village has a very nice grocery store, which we visited many times during out one week stay. It was also very quiet at night with the windows open. The commute from Waikoloa Village to Kona or Waikoloa Village to Waimea is about 20 to 25 minutes. The roads are in good conditions making the drive very nice. Some people prefer Waimea since there is more rainfall and more green on the green side of Waimea.

There's a new section of the Saddle road, which we took many times to get to Hilo. I think it took a little over an hour to drive the new section of Saddle Road, named after Senator Daniel Inoye. The new Saddle road is a beautiful road, and an easy drive. We never tried the old Saddle road. The new Saddle road winds quite a bit as you approach Hilo. I think it could get tiring commuting every day that far, but we did the drive nearly every day for the week we stayed in Waikoloa Village.

We didn't try taking a Blue Hawaiian Helicopters because we want to spend that much money. We have some regrets about not taking a helicopter tour though and will probably take the tour on our next visit. You should absolutely rent before buying since you don't know how the job will work out. Maybe the work will only be part time or there could be other working conditions problems. If you read the forum much, you will know that it will be tough to find a rental that accepts dogs, it will severely cut down your choices.

[Loriandrandy]

Thank you! We so agree that purchasing a home in a new area isn't a good idea until you get a good feel for the place first. Great advice. Getting rid of our dogs is absolutely not an option though. Yikes.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Loriandrandy

Thank you! We so agree that purchasing a home in a new area isn't a good idea until you get a good feel for the place first. Great advice. Getting rid of our dogs is absolutely not an option though. Yikes.

I think that's why a lot of people feel they are forced to buy a home in Hawaii sooner than they should. If you buy a home, then the dogs are not a problem. Although it could cost you about $1K per dog to get them over to Hawaii. There's a process you need to start several months in advance of the move.

Maybe you could get a job there first and your wife could follow later after you are there for 6 - 12 months. You would get a better feel for the job in far less than that time and you could be scouting out possible housing. If you're lucky, you might find a house where dogs are allowed, it's a longshot, but maybe if you check out enough places you'll find a place that would rent to someone who has dogs. What are the opportunities for your wife to get a job there? Keep in mind, most jobs pay quite a bit less, even though the cost of living is higher than most other places, except maybe San Francisco or NYC. That's why working remotely with an occupation that allows it or waiting till you retire might be a better option.

Are you currently working now? If so, what kind of risk are you facing if you quit your current job and the new job does not work out? That's always a risk no matter where the new job is located. The stakes are probably quite a bit higher because of the distance, isolation, and other factors.

I'm only 5 and a half years from retirement, so I can hang on to my current job until I retire. Pets are really considered part of the family, so it would be very tough to part with them. We have a very smart cat which I trained to do a limited number of voice commands, which is very hard to do with a cat. Our cat is about 13 years old now and I don't know if our cat will live that long. We've considered cloning our cat if that is allowed, even though it would cost a lot of money to do it. But cloning our cat might not produce a cat with the same characteristics that we want. So, I know what you mean about not parting with your dog.