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No, but really all guidance and/or advice will be much appreciated. A friend (Age:27) and myself (Age:24) are looking to move to Hawaii, particularly near Honolulu (We are however considering Kona / Hilo). However we will be on a budget, each of us will have between $5,000-$6,000 in savings. Both of us have an array of job experience but initially have agreed to take any job and several jobs if necessary to support Island living. However, between the amount we have saved up and the fact neither of us are transitioning into an assured position on the Island, I of course have some concerns.
I'd like first to ask, with these circumstances would the Honolulu area be the best choice? I know the real estate is quite a bit more pricey but the job opportunities seem better and I will essentially be reliant on finding a job(s) fairly quickly to avoid expending all my funds. If not, where would you recommend? It seems the real estate is extremely affordable in Hilo but between having less jobs, jobs being less prosperous, and 200 inches of rainfall a year, it wasn't the first choice. Kona on the other hand was still affordable but also had less jobs available.
Next, I were wondering if anyone had knowledge of known affordable sublets that my friend and I could stay while securing jobs and searching for more permanent residence. The idea is to apply for multiple jobs several weeks before the move, have interviews set-up upon arrival (Because most Hawaiian businesses don't strike me as hiring employees from Skype interviews) and stay in temporary housing until I have proof of employment for a leased apartment.
Now, before I receive animosity from Natives or wise words of admonishment, know this: I'm going to move to Hawaii, period. And please save your heedful warnings of homelessness, Thanks.
I was offered a job there (and took it) without an interview, resulting in a promotion for me. We never would have moved there if we didn't have a job lined up.
We paid our own relocation expenses.
It took over a month for my partner to find work. (which I think is pretty fast)
We started with over twice the savings you both have.
We had fun but didn't do a lot of spending.
We knew we wouldn't live there forever so we kept a good cushion for the move back, which we paid for when I got another job offer.
I'm not sure my post has a point except maybe you should have more cash saved to fall back on.
If four jobs is what's required then that's what I will do and I'm fully prepared to eat fish, mangoes, and ramen for months on end. See, I may not have a extremely sought after skill set but for 7 years I've held two jobs and within those two jobs moved up and around the companies. I've done switch gear operations, sales, retail management, customer service, quality assurance, pharmacy technician, warehouse clerk, distributions, and heavy equipment operations. My friend shares a similar resume but also has military experience, residential electrical work, was a journeyman meat cutter, and has done security work. Like I had said, I plan to have interviews inline on arrival, several per-person, I have been told however that Hawaii and Island life in general is much more paced, my concern being that even if I interviewed within the first week and am successful I might not necessarily get a immediate call back. And I keep hearing the scarcity of jobs but between February to May, two large scale job fairs occurred in or near Honolulu alone with several hundred positions opening up, Craigslist has 20-50 New positions posted daily in that area (Many FT & Entry Level), Indeed.com has many job postings daily, Individual retail chains I've looked into are hiring FT and even if we each landed jobs at $10-$13 dollars respectively (40 Hour work week) then at 40% net monthly income could afford a decent place. Now I know some people are going to say landlords look for 1/3 monthly income but I've already found several 1/2's.
And about Kona, I'm not looking for a particular busy or socially active place. I'm just looking for decently affordable living and a job market. If there's any other location recommendations I'd like to hear them, these are just the places I've found from doing research. Thanks.
A friend (Age:27) and myself (Age:24) are looking to move to Hawaii, particularly near Honolulu (We are however considering Kona / Hilo). However we will be on a budget, each of us will have between $5,000-$6,000 in savings.
I'd like first to ask, with these circumstances would the Honolulu area be the best choice? If not, where would you recommend? It seems the real estate is extremely affordable in Hilo but between having less jobs, jobs being less prosperous, and 200 inches of rainfall a year, it wasn't the first choice.
Next, I were wondering if anyone had knowledge of known affordable sublets that my friend and I could stay while securing jobs and searching for more permanent residence.
Stick to Hilo or Kona - and only 1 of you should go, that way only 1 of you flames out. In the unlikely event 1 person makes a go of it, then send for the other.
Sublets can be found on craigslist. But I doubt you'll have many takers with no job or such meager savings.
If you're looking for inexpensive places to start out, you may be able to find a WWOOFing spot. You'd have to work several hours a day doing agricultural work of some type to pay for your sleeping space. And your sleeping space may be nothing more than just that, it depends on your location. Usually folks who WWOOF are either truly interested in learning organic farming or are just looking for a cheap several month long Hawaii vacation.
I don't know, there's more jobs on Oahu, but there's more job applicants, too. And that goes for just about everything else on Oahu these days. Lines at the movie theaters, lines of traffic, lines at the cash register, lines pretty much everywhere these days. Whatever it is over there, there's more folks who want it than is available it seems like. However, the public transportation is much better on Oahu. I've not heard any mention of a car or shipping a car in your posts, so Oahu might be better on that point.
On Oahu, you could look into hostels or the YMCA for temporary housing. It's also harder to find housing to share when there's two of you than when there's one of you, but check Craig's List.
So, I guess YMCA/hostel on Oahu and just jump in feet first and paddle furiously to stay afloat (note: keep enough $$$ to get back to the mainland just in case) or WWOOFing on the Big Island where your funds won't be decimated as quickly and look around for a more permanent or better work option/location.
@ohhboy, Yeah, you're right, I may have to work in concessions or hospitality but that's alright, I'm not too good for that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by whtviper1
Stick to Hilo or Kona - and only 1 of you should go, that way only 1 of you flames out. In the unlikely event 1 person makes a go of it, then send for the other.
Sublets can be found on craigslist. But I doubt you'll have many takers with no job or such meager savings.
Hilo has 126 inches of rain a year, not 200.
-Well considering the expenses will be primarily housing and we obviously could share housing, I must disagree with going alone.
-I've found several private sublets on Craigslist that would suffice and would range from $45-$60 each night, or $900 a person per month. Considering I'd be paying for a predetermined amount of time I don't see how approval would be an issue. I was asking if anyone had personal knowledge about more affordable, reputable sublets.
-Also if you wanted to be critical of a exaggerated figure I posted to show a general dissatisfaction with Hilo's climate then know your precise statistic is taken from Hilo International Airport only, and several parts of upper Hilo has over 200 inches of rainfall a year on average.
Save your pessimism and seemly pretentious attitude, I'm looking for advice constructive to my venture.
If you're looking for inexpensive places to start out, you may be able to find a WWOOFing spot. You'd have to work several hours a day doing agricultural work of some type to pay for your sleeping space. And your sleeping space may be nothing more than just that, it depends on your location. Usually folks who WWOOF are either truly interested in learning organic farming or are just looking for a cheap several month long Hawaii vacation.
I don't know, there's more jobs on Oahu, but there's more job applicants, too. And that goes for just about everything else on Oahu these days. Lines at the movie theaters, lines of traffic, lines at the cash register, lines pretty much everywhere these days. Whatever it is over there, there's more folks who want it than is available it seems like. However, the public transportation is much better on Oahu. I've not heard any mention of a car or shipping a car in your posts, so Oahu might be better on that point.
On Oahu, you could look into hostels or the YMCA for temporary housing. It's also harder to find housing to share when there's two of you than when there's one of you, but check Craig's List.
So, I guess YMCA/hostel on Oahu and just jump in feet first and paddle furiously to stay afloat (note: keep enough $$$ to get back to the mainland just in case) or WWOOFing on the Big Island where your funds won't be decimated as quickly and look around for a more permanent or better work option/location.
Hey thanks, Hotzcatz. Yeah, I forgot to mention public transportation will be vital. I haven't looked too much into WWOOF'ing or the YMCA but those do seem like more secure options. The unemployment rate where I live is several percent higher than Hawaii and I nor my friends have ever taken issue with finding jobs. I'm completely comfortable with a competitive job market, I'm however not comfortable with virtually no job market. And I'm alright with waiting too, It's extremely rare for me to be upset, and I'm virtually never impatient. Thanks for the advice.
No, but really all guidance and/or advice will be much appreciated.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CheshuR
Save your pessimism and seemly pretentious attitude, I'm looking for advice constructive to my venture.
Hmmmm, so all advice - unless it is some thing you don't want to hear.
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