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Hello everyone. I'm just dropping in to say hello. I may be taking a trip to your beautiful state soon and am very excited. When that day gets closer I'm sure I'll be back here to get information from you.
I've been told by my Hawaiian friends that I have the "Aloha Spirit". I'm feeling it!!
Have a great weekend everyone,
Aloha
Lots of folks want to live there when they visit. But then reality sets in. Be careful, especially if you have children.
check with Hothulamaui on this thread....but she's moving off island after about 15 years. It is WAY too expensive to retire in if you aren't part of the well off, or don't mind living in a crappy condo that is around 400-500 sq. ft. Yes there is 6$ milk. Literally everything is more expensive because its all shipped in and if you are living on the tourist side of the island its even more so. There is a costco, kmart and a walgreens (I think), but not a whole lot else. Schools are not rated well, and they wouldn't move there until their daughter graduated from high school because the native children can be pretty hard on the "howlie" kids, not to mention the schools aren't good. Health care isn't the greatest either. But its beautiful and they loved it, so it all depends. I love it also, but ONLY for vacations, I couldn't live there.
My grandparents on my father's side lived in about that size house in southern Ohio. It was on a hillside, on a dirt road, had slabs for siding (slabs are the bark side where it is cut off a log as the first cut), heated with a wood stove, cooked on a wood cook stove, had a well and outhouse. They did have electricity with a single light bulb in the center of the rooms and a refrigerator. I'm sure you would class that as "crappy".
My grandmother baked biscuits for every meal. The only time they bought bread was when they had company and wanted to make sandwiches. But that was waaaay back in 1963 when she passed away in her eighties. There are places on the mainland like that today, and you would be surprised how many people are going back to homes that are that small size, and sometimes without the "normal" amenities.
Also, I do believe it is "haole" not "howlie" knew I was blowing the spelling but didn't want to take the time to look it up. I figured someone would correct me.
My grandparents on my father's side lived in about that size house in southern Ohio. It was on a hillside, on a dirt road, had slabs for siding (slabs are the bark side where it is cut off a log as the first cut), heated with a wood stove, cooked on a wood cook stove, had a well and outhouse. They did have electricity with a single light bulb in the center of the rooms and a refrigerator. I'm sure you would class that as "crappy". crappy and small as opposed to the typical tourist condo, which are much nicer and larger. My sister called her place before she bought a house Munchin Manor. The downstairs was literally the size of about a 30ft boat with a loft. But cute and walking distance to the beach, so worked out for a couple years.
My grandmother baked biscuits for every meal. The only time they bought bread was when they had company and wanted to make sandwiches. But that was waaaay back in 1963 when she passed away in her eighties. There are places on the mainland like that today, and you would be surprised how many people are going back to homes that are that small size, and sometimes without the "normal" amenities. as I will be when we retire in about 2 years. Can't complain when you can walk to a beach, for for a mainlander expecting to "typical" home and realize Kahalui houses that are around 1400 sq. ft with no A/c are selling for 400 grand in a down market. thats after the current owners losing about 250,000 from the downturn! Maui is still way too expensive! Worth it for some, others...
My 2 cents from Kaua'i (which is similar in some ways):
- Kids do matter, see my reply to MickeyE's side-thread/rant. To summarize: kids with fragile social skills will not react well to being transplanted, and Hawaii public schools are generally tougher to integrate. Private schools are better (more mainland style), but too expensive on your budget, and home-schooling (even with groups and tutors) makes it much harder to redevelop the social circle.
- You need to look at possible scenarios if you move: what if you really don't like it and move back in 6-12 months (or ASAP). Are you going to keep your current house, can your husband get transferred back to his current position? What if you like it for a while, but then HS doesn't work for the kids, or you start to really miss family, so you're looking at 2-5 years. Do you still have your mainland house? Can you move back and fit back in somehow? Are you better off having had the adventure, or did the stress impact your family too much?
- What kind of lifestyle do you live/want to have? It seems most of the people successful in moving to HI are those who downsize and are open to new situations. If you are living in suburbia, shopping at big malls, eating at chain restaurants, living in the biggest house you can afford, and you prefer it that way, then Hawaii is probably not for you. If you are flexible, frugal, enjoy the outdoors (even if just spending time on your patio), open to new foods, and can contribute to a potluck, then you have a chance in Hawaii. The best example of this is perhaps A/C: yes, you can get a house with A/C and just have 100% comfort and convenience all the time, for $300 a month in electricity bills. Or you can get a local-style house, open to the trade winds, no A/C, no heating, no insulation, just ceiling fans for $150/mo in electricity. Sure it gets a bit hotter sometimes, muggy at others, but it's not bad, and you feel the local weather instead of locking it out.
- 60K is the very low end for living without stress in Hawaii. You can get buy on that one income for a while, but no big trips to the mainland, no big toys (extra cars/trucks, etc), no private schools, no savings for retirement/college, and probably not possible to buy a place big enough for your family that you'd want to live in. And you should probably avoid a few luxuries like cable TV, dining out, etc. So the pressure's on for you to get a job, but you probably need to spend more time with your kids to get them adjusted.
- "most of your debts" being paid off is not a good sign. I don't think it is wise to have debts as a transplant to HI, because you're needing a lot of extra cash for the move, for initial expenses until you get settled into a regular budget. Plus that means you have little or no savings, and worse, no savings habit. Most transplants come with 5-20K savings to make the move. Plus there is always the risk of needing to move back for whatever reason, for which you should have about 5K savings just in case--otherwise, you find yourself back home with even more debt.
So yes, milk, gas, utilities, and a million other things are more expensive, but you need to look at the bigger picture. Ideally, you've been to Hawaii before and visited Maui so you know what it feels like, even if it's different as a tourist and as a resident needing to go to work every day.
Dear nervousaboutmaui,
I am VERY new to this but I thought I would throw out an idea.
You might want/try using ZILLOW.COM to look at the houses available in Kahului or Wailuku. There you will see the prices and usually pictures and descriptions of the home. Also many streets there are viewable using
"Streetview". This will give a very good overview of the looks of the surrounding neihborhood.
So many things in life are relative and each must determine their priorities. Yes, there are people living on Maui on 30K a year, as well, there are people living in LA on 30K also.
Where do we fit in???
Regrets most often refer to actions we did not take. Though some actions do not turn out as well as we may have wished, in later years we will remember "The Best of Times"
I lived on Oahu for three years a LONG time ago. I would love to move back to the Islands, But.....
I wish for you “A day of vision to witness the Wind, the Sea, and the Sky through the young eyes of Prince Albert Edward Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa a Kamehamehaâ€.
$60k? How? There are so few professional jobs relative to the number of service jobs. The rich part time residents don't count. So how can half the households here possibly be making over $60k?
- What kind of lifestyle do you live/want to have? It seems most of the people successful in moving to HI are those who downsize and are open to new situations. If you are living in suburbia, shopping at big malls, eating at chain restaurants, living in the biggest house you can afford, and you prefer it that way, then Hawaii is probably not for you. If you are flexible, frugal, enjoy the outdoors (even if just spending time on your patio), open to new foods, and can contribute to a potluck, then you have a chance in Hawaii.
That certainly can't be stressed enough.
I'm routinely amazed at how many people want to move to Hawaii, and inquire about shopping, chain stores, shipping freights of their water 'toys', shipping their large vehicles, on and on.
I was wondering what town on Maui was a possibility? Everything is very compact on the western side of the isle, within a few miles, so the commute for your hubby will definitely be cut down! You'll be able to find work in the service industry if you have experience. I'd head for the luxe hotels and start passing out resumes there.
It can be really stifling being so isolated from the world-- no epic road trips,that's for sure! But the diversity of scenery and beauty of the islands will give you years of volcanoes and beaches and jungles and craters to explore.
I hope you go for it! If it's going to be Hawaii, you can't get any better than Maui!
It's definitely something someone without kids should do in their life. Just have an exit plan if you have kids.
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Move to Maui
