Job opportunity in O'ahu - do I or don't I?

[MovingAloha]

OP,
Welcome to the forum. This is both exciting and terrifying; many of us have been in your shoes.
The good part is that you will have a job and the employer will pay for the relocation. It sounds like you don't have enough of a cushion in savings to get you back to the Mainland if it doesn't work out and that is worrying you. Will the employer help you?
As others have said $70K is okay, but you are going to have to use all your Mad Budgeting skills because housing, food, and utlilities will eat into your funds big time. It will probably take your Spouse a while to find something and that takes time, money, effort and mental toughness as well.
See if the employer will also assist with some funds towards security deposit on a rental, or even better some assistance for your Spouse in the job hunting arena, that definitely will help.
The good part is that some of the biggest stress diffusers is the beauty of the island and the ease of getting to a beach and Chillaxing!
I hope you do your research and make your decision with full understanding that Paradise definitely comes at a high cost.

[md7]

Originally Posted by CherryKoolaidDrinker

..

2. I've been looking at houses for rent (don't want an apartment) and I'm really terrified of the $2,000 - $3,000 monthly rent prices and we can't afford to buy. Is everything decent (not falling down around our ears, not in the middle of meth alley, etc) really that expensive? How do average folks afford to pay such high rent? What about the average cost of utilities? I know groceries are expensive. Will $70,000/yr be enough to live a comfortable, non-extravagant lifestyle? (We do like to eat out about once a week and go to the movies about once a month or so.)

3. What areas are good areas to live? I currently live in the suburbs of a large city and we like the small-town feel. I was researching Kaneohe and it looks nice. Are there other places you can suggest?


I love the idea of living in Hawai'i but I'm terrified. Right now all moving expenses will be paid for by the company, but if we don't like it or the job doesn't work out, unsure how we'd make it back to the mainland so this is a huge decision for us. I'm doing as much research and asking as many questions as possible, so any and all help you can give is greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much!
Annette

Check with your company and see if it can hook you up with a local relocation company. The relo company can supply you with rental and related information (they are similar to real estate agency).

Rental prices depends a lot on location; and since you are renting, I'd recommend (just based on my personal experience) somewhere close to work. If you supply your job location, then you can look that up on zillow/craigslist/etc.

Just based on my own research on rent, $3k/month is considered high for a 2bed/2bath condo/apt in Honolulu, i.e. you can get very nice units. $2k/mo should get you a decent 2bed/1bath in Honolulu fairly easily. What is your preferred rental budget?

As for schools, I think most people go to private schools there because the public schools aren't very good. Where in midwest are you from? You can look up test scores and compare schools that way.

See if house hunting is part of your company's relo package. It is very normal to fly and house your entire family for house hunting trip. You can then visit in person the places you intend to live and practice driving the commute, price the groceries, etc.

HI gas is kind of expensive, but it is not as bad as you may think because the island is very small. What I find to be really affecting the cost of living there is housing and food (decent food is way more expensive than the mainland, but fast food there is actually cheaper). Entertainment is nearly free in HI

[ramram55]

Md7,
For a person with fully paid house will definitely come out ahead, consider the food if local grown products will not be a budget buster ?

[md7]

ramram55,

I agree with your to some extent WRT a person with a fully-paid house, of course. But the money locked into the fully-paid house can do more when the house is cheaper (say in the midwest vs oahu), e.g. earning current income, diversified investment, etc. when that figures into the cost of living. I.e. a fully-paid is not entirely "free" from a financial/living cost point of view.

As for growing your own food, I've never tried it since I've only visited the islands on vacations about 20x. I'm only now at a point where I plan to buy a house within a few weeks.

I keep hearing that everything grows there, so I'm excited since I can't seem to make anything grow in CA. I'd love to live in the eastern parts of oahu where things seem to grow better, but decent houses there cost more money than I want to spend.

I sure hope somebody from Makakilo can comment on if papaya trees can grow there without irrigation since I'd like to plan a few.

[hunterseat]

Papaya trees are everywhere but that's the desert side, right? Irrigation might be a necessity during the dry spells.

I was there a year. We had a good cash reserve. We had no relocation expenses and showed up with 4 suitcases. Once the other (handsome) half got a job, with my income we were just into the 6 figure range. We lived paycheck to paycheck and, if it weren't for the cash reserve wouldn't have made it through any crisis. There were 3 of us and no one went to school. I barely ate (or slept) so food wasn't a huge expense. I accepted a job in Atlanta, again, no relocation expenses so we funded the move mostly by selling our cars and stuff. But that cash reserve was the padding we needed to secure housing and vehicles on this end.

There seems to be a constant thread throughout my post...hmmm... cash reserve? I don't know if you can make it on $70K or not. What happens when your second child comes along? How's your insurance? The thing that scares the heck out of me is you not knowing how you'd get back if the job fails. You're dragging a kid around. Don't go without a cash reserve. Why not let hubby go first and get settled and see how the job goes before you commit to this uncertaintly with your child in tow. I'd say don't go over there until you have enough squirreled away to make it back to the mainland. And don't touch the reserve fund. And DO settle for less because in Hawaii that's alot.