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Most of the military folks I knew on Oahu either lived in base housing or rented. The base houses had just been renovated and were quite nice. Also theft and such on base was much lower. The military paid a portion of their rent if not the whole thing and the cost of houses was so much that most of them rented instead of buying. Also, as a renter, they didn't have to do house maintenance and had more time to go to the beach.
Hi, I was reading this post. We are also a miltiary family stationed in San Diego. Do you find that most military buy/rent or live in housing? I know BAH is a lot there, but honestly it doesn't seem like enough to buy a home? Rent maybe..
which branch? we are renting because there wasn't anything available for us in navy housing. if you're with the navy, most navy housing here is actually off base. i don't know the statistics, but there are a good amount of us renting for one reason or another. BAH covers rent and utilities for us. we were actually shocked at how low our electric bill was (averaged $4.37/day) - we don't have central A/C though so that might have helped. a perk to living in military housing is if your unit has central a/c, you can run it all day and not have to worry about a bill, haha.
Most military families live on base. The housing is the best I've seen in any duty station we've been at. Maybe only about 30% live off base, and maybe only about 10% of those buy homes. Usually the people that buy homes, are planning on retiring there. It's terribly expensive even to retire in Hawaii though. There are some people who bought homes pre-boom around 2002/2003. They are the ones that made out like bandits, when you could buy a house for around $300,000. Those houses would sell now for over 800,000. We are now stationed in Corpus Christi where we bought a nice, very affordable home. I still miss Hawaii, but it sure is nice to own you own home!
I did two tours in Hawaii, the second one with a family.
I would move back there TOMORROW if they let me.
Came this >< close to buying in 2000, and I still wish I had done it. I (and then we) ALWAYS rented off post. If you're willing to drive and take some time looking to get a safe neighborhood (in our case, the landlord lived across the street and we were surrounded by locals who essentially adopted us because we were respectful and polite and never tried to pretend they had to adapt to mainland ways. Never had an issue with theft, violence, or even stinkeye), the BAH far exceeds the rent and these days you can pocket the difference. It can make up for a lot of the inconvenience.
Love it here! We are renting. Remember the 5 year rule. In a normal market you are taking a huge risk if you plan on owning the home for less than 5 years. Unless you have no problem holding on to the house even if you get transferred it is better financially to rent, especially in this market.
I've known many military families in Hawaii, and I agree with an earlier sentiment: the ones that hated it the most were the ones that were far from their extended families and wanted to be closer to them. The other ones that hated it just got bored and confined by the smallness of the island. They are small islands. But, if you get into the ocean lifestyle, i.e. surfing, kayaking, sailing, etc... you'll like it more. It's also hard to find good jobs out there. Really tough. And, like I said, it's a SMALL Island.
Oh yeah, nurses make BANK out there. All of my family work in health care, and I think Hawaii ranks second only to the SF Bay Area for nursing salaries. Hawaii just recently renegotiated nursing salaries, and I think it's now $45/hr.
We are retired military. We purchased a condo while we were here in 2001 and have just moved back. If you don't insist on living in a "house" you should be able to find something to either rent or buy. Although it is true that island living is expensive e.g. 1/2 gallon of skim milk was $6.30, the commissaries charge the same prices we paid at Ft. Gordon, a 1/2 gallon for $2.50. The island being small can work to your advantage though with 3 commissaries, PXs, gas stations, etc. within a short drive. The Navy and AF facilities are super! Schofield Barracks redid their PX and commissary since our last visit.
People who find the island boring may not have tried to explore what options they may have had here for fun beyond what the local military bases have to offer. Honolulu has a number of attractions such as the ballet, concerts etc. We live within sight of Aloha Stadium where the Hula Bowl is played. The University of Hawaii football team uses this stadium for its games. Each Sat, Sun and Wed the stadium's parking lot turns into an unbelievably large market. Most of the vendors from Waikiki sell their wares here at a wonderfully lower price than they ask at the beach.
Although the island is small compared to Texas, it offers so much more than a 200 mile radius around Ft. Gordon, Georgia. A drive from where we live overlooking Pearl Harbor to the North Shore can take almost an hour. Gas here is now about $3.25 gallon, but at Costco or on post you get it for under $3.
When we first came to Oahu shopping was pretty much limited to on post. Things have changed dramatically since then. Now in addition to the military facilities there is a Costco, Walmart (4 of them), Sam's Club, Home Depot, Lowes, K mart. . . Smart shopping can help keep expenses down.
About health care. . . we are just now establishing our medical care network. Just about all of the physicians here accept Tricare. You would not be required to use the limited military health care facilities here if you did not wish. But remember I speak from the perspective of a retired family member. Active duty dependents may be required to use the military health care system. You would have to check into that.
I hope this helps give another view of the picture of island living, at least on Oahu for military families.
Last edited by Aiea Nana; 09-05-2009 at 04:48 PM..
Oh yeah, nurses make BANK out there. All of my family work in health care, and I think Hawaii ranks second only to the SF Bay Area for nursing salaries. Hawaii just recently renegotiated nursing salaries, and I think it's now $45/hr.
I've got a cousin who came really close to staying in Hawaii post-Army. Him and his wife bought house there pre-boom, both in their early 40s, Army paid for both of their nursing degress, and their family could have been comfortable there. But after a lot of thought, they decided it made more sense for them to sell the house and pay cash for a new place near Orlando with the profits. They feel like it left them with a better long-term financial set-up, and also let him spend a long stretch as a stay-at-home Dad after a couple long deployments.
I don't live in Oahu, I live on Kaua`i, but I am Active Duty. I was here for 6 months before I ever stepped foot on Oahu, and my first thought when I got off the plane in Honolulu was, "Hey, I didn't fly long enough to be in LA!!"
Honolulu is the anti-Hawai`i. I get stressed just getting off the plane. However, to be fair, it's just as bad in San Diego and Norfolk, both of which I have been stationed at.
Compared to Kaua`i, Oahu residents have it MADE!
Oahu gets a large COLA, which isn't really required since you have at least 3 large commissaries which have very cheap food, along with a couple enormous Exchanges. Compare this with Kaua`i: almost identical COLA, no commissary at all, shoppette NEX.
However, Oahu has lots of traffic, lots of stress, many ridiculous rules that are unthinkable on the outer islands (no fires on the beach, no dogs on the beach, no driving on the beach, no alcohol on the beach, etc), militant cops, motorcycle cop-Nazis, etc. I wouldn't live there if you paid me, unless the only alternatives were San Diego/Norfolk. Those places are far worse.
Take it for what it's worth. I would take a small out-of-the-way base in ANY location over any of the Fleet Concentration Areas.
I wanted to add, especially after reading some of the other posts, that while Oahu is very urban there is some thing for everyone here. New subdivisions, older suburbs, country living, big city life, and base living. We have lived in some really fantastic places and you can bet there are always people who are miserable but I really think they would be miserable anyplace. Here in Oahu you get many if the benifits of living overseas while still bing in the US and I would
be surprise if even the miserable ones regret their tour in paradise.
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