Moving to Oahu this Year - Looking for Advice (Honolulu: real estate, sublet)

[jburke77]

Hi,

My GF and I are planning on moving to Oahu later this year (late summer, early fall) from Boston area. We have a couple of friends out there that will help us but we still have some questions and are wondering about people's experiences with the following:

1. Pets - we have a couple of cats that we want to bring and hear the process is pretty involved and expensive.
2. "Affordable" areas to live - I have a job where I can work from home so we are more concerned with affordable spots instead of needing to be in Honolulu, etc.
3. Moving our stuff over - what is the cheapest way to move some electronics, clothes, personal items over. We plan on leaving all the funiture, etc.
4. Experience with Selling/Buying a house - we have a condo here and I'm torn between trying to sublet it and sell it. If so, when do I put it on the market? Has anyone sublet a place when the moved to HI? Etc...
5. Any other Surprises - we've been to Oahu a bunch of times and know the general area, know it can be expensive and that there is traffic, etc - but what other things do we need to prepare for?

If anyone has some information that they can share, we thank you in advance!

[Dthraco]

1. Pets – I have 3 cats, they fly in next week. Since you are looking 6-9 months out, you need to get started NOW on the process. The shortest time-frame is that of sending off the cat blood work to prove they don’t have rabies, and it has to be done a minimum of 180 days before the cats arrival. Also, having 3 cats narrowed the options on rentals even more. Missed out ona GORGEOUS place because they had a 1 cat limit.

2. Further away from downtown you get, the less expensive it is. Craigslist is your friend, but as others will note, don’t give money ahead of time. I had 4-5 places to look at when I arrived, signed papers the next day and moved in. Really glad I did that because sight unseen the top pick I had was not a place I want to live.

3. We put the stuff we couldn’t part with in plastic bins and duct taped them for the flight. 4 total. The rest was baggage. The small heavy stuff we shipped in USPS flat rate boxes. They all arrived no problem.

4. We sold our house about 7 months before we moved. Once the house sold, we moved into the smallest cheapest place we could so we could sock away as much $$ as possible. Personally, I am not in the landlord business and never really want to be. If it’s for you great, but I would rather just sell and move on.

5. It’s hard to find any internet speed over 11mbps. Costco is invaluable. Sunscreen, even if it’s 3 in the afternoon. It’s warm here, so 90% of your winter clothes will be useless. I wore shoes the first day, but haven’t since (when not at work).

PM if you have any more questions. Best of luck!!!

[OpenD]

I'll add that you should spend time reading through the archives here, because there is already a wealth of material posted about everything you asked. In particular read Sticky Thread #2 at the top of the page to get a good start, then use the search function to pull up specifics.

Good luck.

[hotzcatz]

1. Start the pet paperwork immediately. There is a website put out by the State of Hawaii about it. Follow all the rules precisely.

2. The further you get from Honolulu the more affordable things are. Have you considered some island other than Oahu? Some areas of the Big Island are quite affordable.

3. For moving personal stuff, see how much the airlines would allow you to bring and then see about shipping US Parcel Post for the rest. UPS and FedEX are quite expensive. Media Rate is the cheapest post office rate but it must be only media. Parcel post will take a month to a month and a half to arrive.

When choosing which clothing to bring, choose natural fabrics over synthetics and you will be much more comfortable. Silk, cotton, linen all breathe and synthetics don't. Also things with a loose fit are more comfortable. Folks are much less formal in their clothing choices, too. And brand name recognition is extremely low around here. Forget your Manolos and Guccis just wear rubber slippers.

4. Ask your local real estate broker his opinion on how long it would take your condo to sell. I suspect the price you ask will have a lot to do with that time frame. As for buying something in Hawaii, rent in the area you like for about six months before buying anything. You'd be amazed at how much better your final choice will be once you've lived in the area.

5. There will be surprises although you won't know what they are until they surprise you. Many folks are amazed at little things we just assume are normal.

[KAILANI]

1. Cats- ah, jus get new ones when u get here!! Plenty cats here!
2. How cheap??
3 Bring one bag, boardshorts, undies and socks for a couple days then get new stuff cheap at Aloha
Flea Market!
4. Sell it!!
5. Get some mopeds to get around da traffic and hit da side streets!!!!

[jburke77]

Thanks so much to all of you for the advice...can't wait to get there!