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I have learned to continue to enjoy Maui in spite of some of the things that I dislike, which I won't get into because I have written about it ad nauseum already.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pacific3000
Could you elaborate on the things the bug you?
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Maui-intoxicated, could you post an update how things are going with your move. Were you approved to work remotely? We also live in the the Twin Cities in Minnesota. My wife and I are looking to retire somewhere warm in a few years, Hawaii is included, although it might not be too practical for a number of reasons. The climate is great, the cost of living is a downer, but not a deal killer. We plan on vacationing there this fall or winter to check it out. In a few years, perhaps some extended stays renting in the winter. Maybe you'll be moved over there by then.
No updates yet. I still need to talk with the boss man. We needed to give this some thorough thought but the plan is still the plan.
Just a quick update for all those following my thread... I am finally relocating to Maui. I will attempt to update this thread with as much useful relevant information that I have learned during this process.
Thank you to all that have contributed to CD as well. A lot of the information on here was highly relevant.
Job: Find a job before you move to Maui, get an official contract and begin the fun process of moving. If you can find a job where the company offers relocation assistance like I did, that will probably cut down on your stress level and make your move more of a reality. BONUS, if your SPOUSE can also find employment with a relocation package that might help financially as well. My package only allows for 1 vehicle transport.
Housing: I found a room rental on Craigslist. Your credit union can run fraud checks on any name prior to issuing you a cashiers check. Do your due diligence. I am renting a room from someone for 3months which will allow me time to find more permanent long-term housing. I will be paying $1250 for the room, cleaning service, and my portion of the utilities. This includes a fairly private pool which was a requirement of mine, my own private entrance and a little kitchenette with a larger shared kitchen. I may have been able to find a room cheaper, but I didn't want to look too hard and the situation felt right after speaking with the landlord. Don't forget most places require first month rent and a damage deposit.
I am now looking at just buying a home, but beware I think the entry point in Maui is around $500k right now for purchasing a home. Can you find cheaper, certainly but I do feel the business professionals on the island are buying in the 400-600k range based on some conversations I've had. The reason I am buying is because of my dog... it's constantly been a hassle for me to find rental property with a large breed dog which me and my wife will always own, so it's just easier to purchase outside of an association that will allow this. Plus I know I will be in Maui for longer than 2 years so that puts me in range for investing in real estate with a potential for an equity gain.
Dog: Start the FAVN test with your VET the day you know you are moving. If you can, which I could not because I did not know what I did not know, start it 3-4months prior to knowing if you are moving. There is tons of info on what needs to happen for Direct Release which allows you to get your dog right away at the airport. Just search the forum or IM me. I would plan on $1,000 to get your dog over there.
Vehicle Transport: I contacted a broker in MN, and also put out a UBID auction to get my Extended Cab Pickup to the Long Beach Port. I also contacted a local MN Broker. In the end the MN broker lined up the transport to LongBeach port from MN for 1,000 and I was able to contact a vehicle shipping co in Hawaii Moving and they assisted me in scheduling MATSON shipping to Maui. NOTE you need to pay MATSON prior to them accepting your vehicle, this almost burned me but I was able to make a payment with a MATSON agent after a LONG Monday morning hold. It was about $900 to MATSON and $100 to the HI moving company for a total of $2,000 to ship a truck.
Household Shipping: I used the minimalist approach. After being on Maui myself I know 1. it's an island and 2. everyone is and should be conscious of the land fill. With that said I didn't want to be the guy abusing the land fill. Plus why be wasteful. I will be bringing a super lightweight suitcase and 2 18gal bins no heavier than 50lb on USAirways utilizing my USAirways Platinum card which allows for 3 free checked bags. I am bringing my 2 40lb carry-ons as well. I am bringing the bare essentials, just enough clothes, personal needs, and a couple laptops. I will also be filling these bins with some of my wife's clothes even though she isn't moving for 3months due to the DOG. She will do the same thing on USAirways when she makes the trip over. I may double back with her so we ensure the dog makes it safe. I haven't had much time to plan the dog and her flight.
Time Management: Knowing the timing and scheduling is very important for any move. Always confirm dates and try and make the best use of your time up to your relocation. Otherwise you will get stressed and become anti-productive. Make to-do lists and keep them up to date.
Sell-Off process: Use your friends, craigslist, facebook garage sales and moving sales. I had to sell off a lot of stuff, for the bigger items like boat, motorcycle and cars I put them on CL right away. Throw anything you cant sell or donate, but donate anything you cannot sell. Use Salvation Army and charities as well to get rid of your stuff. I put a sign in the yard for Free stuff and the past week my neighbors have been cleaning me out. I had 3 garage sales and will have 1 final moving sale. I put up maybe 40 Craigslist ads. I've received roughly 4-5k for my "stuff" after selling it, well plus the boats and cars and stuff. Use the philosophy you want to sell the bigger items for as close to what you paid as possible, for the rest expect to get less than 1/2 what you paid for it originally if you are lucky.
Miscellaneous: Know that what you are doing is what you want to be doing. If you are getting all stressed or bent out of shape about relocating, it probably isn't something you should be doing. I would advise you are financially responsible as well. This move will end up costing me $10,000 for me, my wife, a dog and a truck. I will post the final $$ when the move is completed but it's not simply a trip across the country. Plus you better expect to earn MORE than you do with your Mainland job to continue living the quality of life you want. I would make sure I paid off all of my debt and went over there with little to no monthly bills like a car note or a student loan unless you are comfortable paying those with a higher cost of living.
I had to rent a car for a week because I booked my truck shipping a few days too late. If you do it right you might be able to get away without renting a car during the shipping gap, but I doubt it because mother nature and the seas control the pace of the ship. I arrive on a Sunday, and my truck arrives the following Saturday or Sunday.
Clearly as I stated above I rented a place "site unseen" but I did however have lengthy conversations with the landlord. I had her send pictures of the place I was renting...and then I had her send MORE pictures of the place I was renting. She asked for references, and I confirmed she contacted them.
There is also a member on the forum helping me try to find a rental for my dog which is proving to be more challenging than both of us thought it would be. We are both kind of busy as well though.
One note on dogs: You must start the process at least 4 months in advance (not 3-4 months). The requirements from the HI Dept of Agriculture is to get the FAVN test completed not less than 120 days before coming over. This is clearly stated on their web site: FAQ for Five-Day-or-Less Program | Animal Industry Division
OMG, Maui Intoxicated! That was the BEST post I've seen in a l-o-n-g time!
PLEASE keep posting on the C-D forums and give people a realistic view of what it costs to move. So many people come on here and ask the same questions or don't believe the answers. I'm going to refer them all to this post in the future.
Congrats on making the move to Hawaii. I'm sure you are going to love it here.
One note on dogs: You must start the process at least 4 months in advance (not 3-4 months). The requirements from the HI Dept of Agriculture is to get the FAVN test completed not less than 120 days before coming over. This is clearly stated on their web site: FAQ for Five-Day-or-Less Program | Animal Industry Division
You are correct. Specifically 120days. I wish I could go back and edit my post but I'm not too sure that is possible.
The 120 day waiting period starts the DAY AFTER KSU receives the results. That date is poseted as the Receive Date. Try not to send your sample on a friday or it will be sitting over the weekend which is not good. Send it on a Monday.
I'm glad you found a way to make it work. However, I am wondering if the following items will help or hinder you:
Quote:
Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated
if your SPOUSE can also find employment with a relocation package that might help financially as well. My package only allows for 1 vehicle transport.
Two adults, one dog, and you need 2 cars so badly it sounds like you won't even consider having one car? Cars are just an added expense (insurance, gas, maintenance). If you can consider and figure out a way to live with one car, you should try it. Sure, you could live far from work, and each person has their own car, many people live like that, but your first post said "We eat and live healthy and simple and are minimalists at heart..."
Quote:
Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated
This includes a fairly private pool which was a requirement of mine
Again, not a minimalist thing. And pools add lots more expense if you're looking to buy a house with one. You didn't give us your new budget, but if you're still around 70-80K with potential 20-30K from the spouse, a pool is a luxury.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated
The reason I am buying is because of my dog... it's constantly been a hassle for me to find rental property with a large breed dog which me and my wife will always own
3rd luxury. Yes I know, lots of people have cars, pools, AND dogs on the mainland. They are all more expensive on Maui. I don't see you making any minimalist compromises yet (OK, I see that you did sell your boat).
Quote:
Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated
Extended Cab Pickup
. This can either be a positive or negative. That's a big vehicle for Hawaii, but Hawaii is also truck country so you'll fit right in (especially if it's a Tundra). Plus trucks have good resale value here unless they are the huge gas guzzlers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated
Plus I know I will be in Maui for longer than 2 years so that puts me in range for investing in real estate with a potential for an equity gain.
Holding on to mainland luxuries is not an indicator of long tenure in Hawaii. But maybe you will have the income to cover them and everything will work out.
As for home equity, yes and no: market is starting to turn up here, so if you buy in the next 6-12 months, you will get in on the "low" end. Then prices will keep going higher and higher like last time, and it will feel like you have equity. But unless you downgrade or fix-and-flip, you won't be able get that equity out and buy a different house because they will have gone up (inflated) in the meantime. Unless you have an investment property, you gotta live somewhere.
To be positive, your shipping strategy using the airlines is very sound, and the islands appreciate someone who understands the landfills are limited.
Quote:
Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated
This move will end up costing me $10,000 for me, my wife, a dog and a truck.
That sounds about right, same for us. We came from the west coast (CA), but we had more household good (20' container) and 2 cats.
All in all, I wish you luck with the move and hope you can adapt to life in Hawaii.
One note on dogs: You must start the process at least 4 months in advance (not 3-4 months). The requirements from the HI Dept of Agriculture is to get the FAVN test completed not less than 120 days before coming over. This is clearly stated on their web site: FAQ for Five-Day-or-Less Program | Animal Industry Division
Quote:
Originally Posted by KauaiHiker
I'm glad you found a way to make it work. However, I am wondering if the following items will help or hinder you:
Two adults, one dog, and you need 2 cars so badly it sounds like you won't even consider having one car? Cars are just an added expense (insurance, gas, maintenance). If you can consider and figure out a way to live with one car, you should try it. Sure, you could live far from work, and each person has their own car, many people live like that, but your first post said "We eat and live healthy and simple and are minimalists at heart..."
Again, not a minimalist thing. And pools add lots more expense if you're looking to buy a house with one. You didn't give us your new budget, but if you're still around 70-80K with potential 20-30K from the spouse, a pool is a luxury.
3rd luxury. Yes I know, lots of people have cars, pools, AND dogs on the mainland. They are all more expensive on Maui. I don't see you making any minimalist compromises yet (OK, I see that you did sell your boat).
. This can either be a positive or negative. That's a big vehicle for Hawaii, but Hawaii is also truck country so you'll fit right in (especially if it's a Tundra). Plus trucks have good resale value here unless they are the huge gas guzzlers.
Holding on to mainland luxuries is not an indicator of long tenure in Hawaii. But maybe you will have the income to cover them and everything will work out.
As for home equity, yes and no: market is starting to turn up here, so if you buy in the next 6-12 months, you will get in on the "low" end. Then prices will keep going higher and higher like last time, and it will feel like you have equity. But unless you downgrade or fix-and-flip, you won't be able get that equity out and buy a different house because they will have gone up (inflated) in the meantime. Unless you have an investment property, you gotta live somewhere.
To be positive, your shipping strategy using the airlines is very sound, and the islands appreciate someone who understands the landfills are limited.
That sounds about right, same for us. We came from the west coast (CA), but we had more household good (20' container) and 2 cats.
All in all, I wish you luck with the move and hope you can adapt to life in Hawaii.
I am shipping 1 vehicle, a truck. Does a truck burn more fuel, certainly, but it also has functionality that other vehicles simply cannot offer me. As far as choices for vehicles I am not sure why people wouldn't buy a pickup truck as its the most versatile , as I have to commute from Wailuki to Kihei. Now I could and may very well find a carpool when I get there. I am almost certain I am not the only one making this commute based on the traffic I saw on Kula Hwy.
A pool is not a necessity for us if/when it comes time to purchase our home on Maui.
As far as owning a dog, it is expensive for sure. I don't want to get too personal but I don't consider my dog a luxury but he certainly has costs associated with his care. I could foresee some added expenses for doggy day-care and potentially an increase in medicine costs at the Maui Vet since supplies and everything is imported.
The problem with a buyers market is usually the lack of inventory because everyone is "WAITING" to sell there house. The reality is there are ALWAYS homes on the market...its finding the home that is right for me that usually takes a while. I am giving myself 6months to buy but if it takes a year, it takes a year.
I have no problem buying a home that's been sold 4x in the past 10years...in fact I might prefer it. Some look at this as a problem house, I look at it as the investment house. You've seen it in your neighborhood, that house that people seem to keep selling...
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No updates yet. I still need to talk with the boss man. We needed to give this some thorough thought but the plan is still the plan.
UPDATE! Officially moving to Maui this week!
