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Can someone give me a good idea of what the Kalihi neighborhoods are really like? My family will probably be relocating to Oahu sometime in the next 6 months, and I have never visited the island (or any of them for that matter). I've been looking for housing as we'd like to buy, and it seems like there are quite a few "inexpensive" homes in that area that seem to have decent neighborhoods from what we can see in the photos and Google Maps. A real estate agent told me they have slightly higher crime rates and suggested we look in Salt Lake and Monoalua areas. It seems those areas are quite a bit more pricey... I'm wondering just how bad the Kalihi areas are.
We have three little kids (5, 3, and 7 months), and we're pretty paranoid. I'm very concerned about a safe neighborhood but would like someone's opinion who isn't going to make money off me buying in a more expensive neighborhood, if you know what I mean...
Or, are there other safe but less expensive areas (less than $500,000) you might suggest that would be within a 25 minute commute to Tripler?
Kalihi isn't one of the neighborhoods that I would voluntarily move to but then again I prefer the Windward side of Oahu to any other area. Kalihi is a mixed bag. The commute is pretty good from the area however there are some rough rundown areas, public housing units, crime. There are some ok areas like Kalihi Valley with nice views and ok neighborhoods. The homes in Kalihi are pretty old. If you're looking for a newer home you might want to check out Kapolei or Ewa.
Your five year old will be going to kindergarten, right? I would be concerned about the quality of the public schools in the Kalihi area. Kalihi isn't known for its good schools. My impression is that the Moanalua area has better public schools. Of course this is assuming you will send your child to a public school.
Are you a military family? Kapolei and Ewa have more Mainland transplants and military families. There are new homes for a reasonable price. The only drawback is the commute to Tripler may take a bit longer compared to Kalihi. However, Kapolei is a new town, and I would consider it safer than Kalihi.
Salt Lake is mixed bag as well. I work in the Salt Lake area so I'm pretty familiar with it. It's dry, hot, and not much to look at honestly.
If I had to pick between Kalihi, Salt Lake, and Moanalua, I would choose Moanalua hands down.
Is Kapolei near Makakilo? And do you know how far it would be to Tripler from there?
Thank you so much for your help! Your description of Salt Lake was exactly what I had been feeling from all the pics and houses I've seen. I was a little confused the agent recommended it for us. And Moanalua looks beautiful...probably out of our price range on a $90,000 annual salary, though.
Have you looked at homes in Aiea or Pearl City? The commute to Tripler isn't bad at all from those areas. It should be a good commute.
Kapolei is in the general area as Makakilo. Makakilo is nice. It's up on a hill. It's quite cool in temperature because of the elevation. You can have a home with a nice view. The commute is the only drawback.
Don't even think about buying a house sight unseen. Especially in Hawaii. Move to the area you think you'd like to buy a house in and rent for at least six months. At the end of that time, you will be able to make a much better decision. There are no big areas of homogenized housing like the mainland has. There will be a fancy house directly next to a "not so fancy" house, to put it politely. Are you willing to risk your family on making a decision without all the data? Would you buy a used car without looking at it? Aren't houses a LOT more expensive?
Even if you are able to find a "suitable" house online, you will find a much better one by looking at them in person. I doubt you could find a perfect house without being there in person.
If you are even asking the question about buying a house in Kalihi in the same breath as looking for a "safe" neighborhood there is a great likelihood of trouble in your future given the chance you may make a decision without sufficient data. Do not make any decisions until you see the house AND NEIGHBORHOOD in person. Find a vacation rental for several weeks while all your stuff is shipped over and use that time to locate a rental near where the employment is. Then, after renting in the area for several months, look around at areas to buy. Yes, this does mean you will have to move twice in one year (providing you find a house you want to buy) BUT it is a lot easier to do that than to try to sell a house you bought and then changed your mind. Also, there is a huge chance you will be moving back to the mainland within a year or two, so you may not even want to buy a house at all.
But, this is just my opinion, you can do as you please.
what times during the day will the person working at tripler be traveling? if it's not during rush hour in the morning and the dreadful early evening hours, then a neighborhood such as makakilo and/or kapolei would likely be around 30-45 minutes. now, if there's an accident on the freeway, you might as well forget it.
Ouch, Hotzcatz, do you deal with a lot of unintelligent people on a daily basis? I have no intention of purchasing a home without seeing it first. We DO plan to move over and rent for a couple months before purchasing. We'd like to have the home purchased and moved in before our oldest starts school next year. I need a starting place or some way of narrowing down my search, so we know where to look for rentals and so we have a good idea of the kind of budget we will be looking at. The internet is the best resource I have available to me right now, so I'm trying to utilize it to the best of my ability.
We will be there for a minimum of 5 years, so purchasing is a wise option for us. We are fairly easy-going people (albeit paranoid about the safety of our children), and I'm hoping we love island life and might want to call it a more permanent home.
what times during the day will the person working at tripler be traveling? if it's not during rush hour in the morning and the dreadful early evening hours, then a neighborhood such as makakilo and/or kapolei would likely be around 30-45 minutes. now, if there's an accident on the freeway, you might as well forget it.
My husband will be doing residency at Tripler and will have to be there by 5:00 every morning. He'll probably leave each evening around 6:00 or 7:00 pm. Are there any alternative routes if traffic is bad?
If he's at work at 5:00 am and leaves work at 6 pm or 7 pm, he really shouldn't have a problem with traffic from Makakilo or Ewa. Of the two, I like Makakilo better.
Unfortunately there aren't too many alternative routes on that side of the island.
If he's doing his residency at Tripler - is he in the military? If so, you could find a home in the newly privatized military homes in the area. The Army and Navy have both privatized their inventory of military homes on the island. Some of the homes, especially at the officer level, look quite good.
if those are the hours that he will be leaving/going home, then there should be no problems. there is an alternate route: farrington hwy.
you might just enjoy the kapolei/makakilo areas. i still have a home there that is rented to family. the schools are decent and lots of new shopping being added.
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