A Maui Adventure? (Kihei: for sale, rental, health insurance)

[kmkord]

My Husband and I have been visiting Maui at least once a year for the past 15 years. We currently have our home in the Chicago area up for sale, and are considering our options about where we should move.

We both have jobs where we work from home, so we would both already have well paying jobs. The idea of starting our day early and finishing business early is appealing to both of us. We are thinking of moving to the Wailea area of Maui, since we are really familiar with that area. We have two Daughters ages 9 & 12 who would be along for the adventure. They are both quite bright and academically ahead right now. The both love the idea of living in Hawaii.

We know that the schools in Hawaii are not good, but we were thinking of using the virtual school at Kihei Charter. I own my own business, so supervising their home schooling wouldn't be a problem.

We would probably drive to the west coast and ship one of our cars. One car should be plenty since we both work from home. We'd like to find a nice furnished 4 BR+ house in the Wailea area for approx. $5000 a month.

Our original thought was that we would stay for a year or two. Just long enough for a good adventure. We'll get rid of a lot of stuff we don't need, and store the rest. If we end up loving hawaii, we'll buy a house there.

The one area where we all have to compromise would be on our pet Bernese Mountain dog. I do not think he would enjoy the weather in Hawaii, so we would need to find a new home for him. Unless, anyone has any experience with large breed, furry dogs living in Hawaii.

This seems pretty simple, but I can't hep but feeling that I'm overlooking something. Any suggestions or comments?

[Ellwood]

Sounds like you have everything covered. My only question would be if you choose to only stay a couple of years, your daughters would be teens, which might be a tough time for them to move to a new place.

Agree about the dog...but so sad! Hope you find it a good home with lots of place to roam.

[kmkord]

Originally Posted by Ellwood

Sounds like you have everything covered. My only question would be if you choose to only stay a couple of years, your daughters would be teens, which might be a tough time for them to move to a new place.

Agree about the dog...but so sad! Hope you find it a good home with lots of place to roam.

We would most likely go back to the town where we live right now. That way they'll already have friends here. With cell phones and email, it will be much easier for them to stay in touch with their friends. We'll also welcome any visitors with open arms!

I just moved my business number to a cell phone, so clients wouldn't even necessarily know that I have left the mainland, though I doubt anyone would have a problem with it. I would have to increase the company travel budget, but since my personal vacation budget would decrease dramatically, I would probably sstill be way ahead!

Open to any more advice or suggestions!

[Calico Salsa]

How about healthcare? If anyone in the family needs specialized care or regular treatments, carefully look into what is available here on Maui.

Also, is your healthcare provided by your employer? Find out the options to transfer here. For example, we had Kaiser coverage in California. Found out that Kaiser Hawaii is an entirely different system. Instead of just putting in a change of address and using the same number with same records in place, we had to re-apply to Kaiser Hawaii, were issued a new number, and had our records transferred over.

There are actually large and furry doggies here. Even BMDs, I've seen them! It's possible they don't live on the Wailea South Side, probably more suited to upcountry cooler temps. But bringing over a large dog will also limit your rental options, especially for Wailea.

I'm guessing landlords in Wailea will prefer to maintain a pet-free renting situation, especially because laws here disallow any deposits other than one month as security. That means landlords can't collect a pet deposit, and risk damage above the normal human causes. Also landlords may be reluctant to risk neighbor reports of barking, pooping, etc.

In other areas, upcountry or Maui Meadows, landlords are probably more open to renting to pet owners.

Are you familiar with Maui Meadows? It's a bit higher up, above the highway but still technically Kihei. That slight additional elevation lowers the temps by 10-15 degrees. Some nice homes there; it's a bit of a mixed bag in ages and styles of homes. Another benefit is possibly ability to catch the Maui Bus if your one car is out on an errand.

[kmkord]

I'll have to check out the insurance implications. We have Blue Cross Blue Shield. Our policy is through Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, which is NY based. We've never hade an issue since they just do all claims through the Illinois Blue Cross Blue Shield plan.

Anyhone living in HI have Blue Cross Blue Shield?

We are leaning toward Wailea/Makenna so that we might be close enough to walk to the beach.

Our dog loves the snow, and I can't imagine him living somewhere where it doesn't get really cold. That is his favorite part of the year. We may be able to have our breeder take him with the option of us getting him back if we decide to move back to Chicago. We'll have more luck finding the type of home we want without a pet.

Our youngest Daughter does have some health issues, but she currently visits the Mayo clinic in Rochester, MN only once a year in August. Sounds like a perfect time to go to Chicago for a visit each year!

Our oldest Daughter who is 22 and just graduated from college will also stay behind. She is applying to medical school this cycle, and I think her Illinois residency will help her more than living in HI. She may also be interested in keeping the dog, but I'm not sure how she could make that work as a medical student. Something to consider.

[Bunny Foofoo]

I am planning a move to Maui in about 10 yrs.
I have a dog, who is the love of my life and dont wanna ship my dog over there and have him stay in Quarantine for 6 mo ... and no way will I give him up .
Any chance on postponing your move and keep him til his last days?

I love the Kihei, Wailea, Makena area too !! That's where I wanna go !

there are great online homeschools, my neice uses one called K12 | Online Public School, Online High School, Online Private School, Homeschooling, and Online Courses options

[mdand3boys]

Originally Posted by Bunny Foofoo

...I have a dog, who is the love of my life and dont wanna ship my dog over there and have him stay in Quarantine for 6 mo ...

This is wrong information! If you follow the rules on importing your dog/cat, there is no quarantine! It does, however, take about 6 months to get the shots, health exams and paperwork done, during which time, your pet is in no such thing as quarantine.

The ONLY time your pet has to be quarantined, at all, is if YOU don't get the necessary advance work done before you move.

[mdand3boys]

As to the original questions...

Are your jobs with a company or are you self-employed? If through a company, your employer may not want to go through the hassles of employing you in Hawaii. Your employer's insurance would have to be with a state of Hawaii approved plan, not to mention the tax issues.

[kmkord]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

As to the original questions...

Are your jobs with a company or are you self-employed? If through a company, your employer may not want to go through the hassles of employing you in Hawaii. Your employer's insurance would have to be with a state of Hawaii approved plan, not to mention the tax issues.

Can someone explain the health insurance issue? Not sure why Hawaii would be any different than moving to any other state.

My Husband works for a very large corporation with a 3 letter name starting with IB_. I am self employed. I'm pretty sure my Husband's company has a presance in Hawaii already.

[whynot?]

Originally Posted by kmkord

Can someone explain the health insurance issue? Not sure why Hawaii would be any different than moving to any other state.

My Husband works for a very large corporation with a 3 letter name starting with IB_. I am self employed. I'm pretty sure my Husband's company has a presance in Hawaii already.

Several years ago, I moved from the metro-DC (but Northern Virginia) area to the Richmond (state capitol of VA) area with a long history of Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage. [AKA: BC/BS, not to be smart.]

When I moved, I had to totally reapply (and be researched for pre-existing conditions and other possible "issues") in order to be covered in CENTRAL Virginia.

As you will likely learn if you move here, EVERYTHING is "a little different" in Hawai'i. Brand names that work one way on the mainland have another way of doing business here. Independant mainland franchises are consolidated and have slightly different rules. There are regional laws and customs that vary from state to state, ESPECIALLY Hawai'i.

So be VERY cautious about things like healthcare, existing-credit, auto leases, and major potential liabilities that you might take for granted on the contiguous-state side. We are a state, but still treated like a territory in some legal senses. Take nothing for granted -- get EVERYTHING in writing.

Best of luck.