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Do NOT sell your house. You can look it up, but I think HI is like 50% more expensive than AZ. You may not enjoy that after awhile.
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A bunch off in this post, but primarily someone is ripping you off for gas.
studephan is also getting ripped off at fast food and 5-star restaurants paying a 30-60% premium. Last checked the $1.00 menu at McDonald's is the same here as it is in AZ. And high end restaurants are not any more expensive here than they are anywhere in the west coast. I think studephan may be eating out exclusively in Waikiki.
Last checked the $1.00 menu at McDonald's is the same here as it is in AZ.
The Morton's menu at Ala Moana and most mainland locations are nearly dollar for dollar the same.......
Kendall Jackson runs a whopping $1 a bottle more compared to west coast (Safeway).....
Same for a 12 pack of Heineken......
And for the milk lovers since many overstate the cost, the safeway price in SF for Lucerne Chocolate milk is $3.99 club price (plus the very high sales tax) vs. $4.99 on Oahu - both for a gallon
Thank you everyone for the quick replies! My wife and I are not opposed to apartment/condo living as it appears that that is all we will be able to afford in Honolulu. We are also somewhat looking forward to it because living in an apartment requires a lot less time for cleaning and maintenance than a house. Although we have our dream house in Arizona it is not our dream location. We have considered renting it out but we are very concerned that we will not be able to rent it out for as much as our mortgage or that we won't be able to find renters or that renters will damage the house or not take care of the house/pool/hot tub/plants. I don't think we'll have any problem selling the house since we've seen other houses in our neighborhood sell in 2-3 weeks. However, we have seen houses in our area that are for rent sit vacant for many months. Also we don't plan on ever going back to Arizona for work and my wife has terrible allergies in Arizona. She is allergic to the grasses in Arizona, mesquite trees, Arizona oak trees, pecan trees, and dust mites. We went to Kauai for our honeymoon and she had zero issues with allergies. If we end up not liking Honolulu after a year or two we will likely be able to transfer to a different location back on the mainland so it's not like we'll be trapped on Oahu. And yes we're both saving about 20% of our income for retirement.
Apartment living is nice especially if there's amenities at your condo such as a nice pool area. Pick one which comes with enough parking, that can be a problem sometimes. Also see if you can get an apartment with cross ventilation so it will be cooler. Electricity costs area very high in Hawaii, so unless it is covered by your lease, you'll probably prefer not to run an air conditioner if you can help it.
Clothing will be more casual and although you may already have a hot weather wardrobe, being from Arizona and all, natural fibers are much more comfortable than synthetics.
Yes. I would almost make, it unanimous. Try to rent out your Dream House. Check Aiea, Pearl City, Salt Lake are good places to live close to the airport. Best of luck in your move.
Wow I'd be living pretty good on $100k with no car payment here.
I'm originally from Phoenix, and made the move here and haven't regretted it. I think the neighborhood design, housing age, sizes and pricing will be the biggest adjustment. If my hours weren't 9-5, I'd be living in Waikele or Mililani and making the drive in, but the H1 is clogged M-F during commute hours. I just really like those areas.
If you have any pets, check Hawaii pet import policies immediately!
Yes most apartments and condos seem to have either no parking or just one parking spot. We're hoping to find a complex with two spots since we don't know yet if we'll be working the same shift. How high are the electric bills in the summer in Honolulu? In Arizona ours run around $300/month because the AC runs constantly.
We are still very apprehensive about renting out the house. We would have to pay a rental agency to look after the house since we will be so far away. Plus we would still be responsible for the monthly HOA payment. In addition, we would probably still have to pay a pool guy to look after the pool and hot tub if we don't want them to turn into a cesspool of black algae because I'm sure renters won't take care of the pool or hot tub. All of those costs would add up and I'm sure we wouldn't make any money renting the house.
We have a cat and a dog but we will probably leave them at my in-laws house in LA for the time being since we will have to do the blood test for rabies and wait 120 days afterwards to bring them to Hawaii. Most of the rentals in Honolulu seem to not allow pets too.
What are the laws for bringing guns to Hawaii? From what I've read you have to register the guns with HPD within 72 hours of arrival? That sounds crazy coming from Arizona!
If you run AC regularly in the summer I would budget roughly $500/month. Will depend on how often you run, number of rooms, and the energy efficiency of the AC unit(s)
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