Possible move to Oahu (Honolulu, Kaneohe: real estate, buying a house, find job)

[bkmom9903]

My brother-n-law is currently in the Army and will be stationed in Oahu in December. He has asked us to move there with our 2 children and 2 dogs.
He will be deployed to Afghanistan in May of 2010.
It sounds really exciting but really scary at the same time. We currently live in Vancouver WA and are struggling financial... (Just like most everyone else).
We understand that we would need to sell everything..that freaks us out. [/font]

Questions?

How expensive is it to live on Oahu? My bro-n-law will be getting $2000 mth for housing.

What are some of the good area's to live in ?

Good schools?

Jobs? I am currently a Chemical Dependency Counselor working the Co-Occurring (substance abuse/mental health)

Cost of living, have read that utilities are high, food, gas, and clothing.

My concerns are leaving all my friends (which are family to me) and getting there and not liking it and being stuck because I can’t afford to move back to the mainland.

Any thoughts....just looking for some feed back. Any experiences you may have...good or bad....
What to expect...whatever

Thanks in advance

[whynot?]

Most -- or all -- of these questions (schools, neighborhoods, cost-of-living, etc.) have been answered in earlier posts. While you're waiting for direct responses, you can gather a lot of helpful information by using the search menu at the top of the page.

Getting your dogs' vaccinations and tests to avoid quarantine takes a few months, so you might want to get started on that right away. Here is a link to the Dept. of Agriculture's general information page for quarantine rules, FAQs, checklists, etc.: Animal Quarantine Information — Hawaii Department of Agriculture This process must be followed precisely and documented by your vet in Vancouver. (There are lots of previous threads about this, too, that you can search for.)

I am on Maui, not Oahu, but in addition to the high cost-of-living in Hawaii, we are suffering significantly from the recession, and unemployment is very high statewide. If your move will require a significant part of your savings, you might want to consider the risks of moving without a job at this time. The general consensus on this forum seems to be that unless you are recruited or hired before you move, it's very hard to find a job in Hawaii from the mainland. I do not want to discourage you, but you might want to carefully research the prospects for jobs in your field before you commit.

Best of luck.

[Afishwithabike]

I don't mean to discourage you but unless you have a confirmed job offer for a job that pays you enough to live here, you're going to have a difficult time of it here. Jobs here are very scarce. If Target advertises 500 jobs then several thousand people show up for those jobs. The State is cutting back. Many places aren't hiring right now. Coming here and then trying to find a job isn't a good plan. You may find a job that pays barely enough for you to cover your rent.

As to your other questions...


How expensive is it to live on Oahu? My bro-n-law will be getting $2000 mth for housing. Housing is very expensive. The median single family home price is around $569,000 but in "good" areas the price is even higher.
Hawaii Real Estate Central - Honolulu Board of REALTORS (http://www.hicentral.com/hbr-stat.asp - broken link)

What are some of the good area's to live in ? That's a really broad question. It depends on what you're looking for, where you intend to work, what kind of a commute you want, whether your children will be attending the neighborhood public schools or not. In general, the Windward side of the island (Kailua, Kaneohe) is ok. Hawaii Kai is ok. Manoa is ok. Moanalua is ok. Kaimuki is fine. Aina Haina is ok.

Good schools? Do you mean public or private? Where are you going to live?

Jobs? I am currently a Chemical Dependency Counselor working the Co-Occurring (substance abuse/mental health) I'm not familiar enough with that profession to speak intelligently on whether there are jobs in that field. However, jobs are hard to come by in most professions.

Cost of living, have read that utilities are high, food, gas, and clothing. Yep, very high for food, gas, utilities. There are a lot of threads here about it. Most things have to be shipped to Hawaii so it adds to the cost. I don't think clothing is expensive though. The price of clothing seems much the same as other cities.

My concerns are leaving all my friends (which are family to me) and getting there and not liking it and being stuck because I can’t afford to move back to the mainland. This should be a big red flag to you. Hawaii has many lovely things, great scenery, kind and friendly people, lots of diversity, etc. However, it is most definitely not like any other state in the USA. It is very isolated. You can't get in the car to drive to your relatives in another state. If you feel homesick, you have to pay for an expensive plane ticket back to the Mainland. The culture here is unique. The local way of doing things is different. You may not like that. Everyone is different after all. What I like here you may not. It's better to come here and see if you like it rather than moving here only to find out you hate it here, but now you have no way to get back and you're stuck.

I recommend reading the many other threads in this forum. As you can imagine, this topic comes up quite often.
Also read the Moving to Hawaii Top Ten Tips thread.

[mdand3boys]

Oahu is not a very large piece of rock. After a couple trips around, you have been about everywhere. Honolulu is simply another big city with typical big city costs. Honolulu is ranked 2nd in the US for cost of living, right after NYC. However, $2000 month for housing should be OK, since you are not going to be buying. Ignore posts about the costs of buying a house since you won't be. Just be wary of utility costs - electricity is 3-4 times more expensive than on the mainland.

[lootie]

Jobs? I am currently a Chemical Dependency Counselor working the Co-Occurring (substance abuse/mental health)

There are quite a few "case manager/mental health/counselor" type positions in Oahu. There is a large homeless population and numerous programs to assist veterans. The issue with these jobs is that they are low paying unless you are a LCSW or MSW, MFT ect. If you have other sources of income coming in and are willing to take a huge pay cut, you may be ok.

Go on Craigslist to get a feel of the types of jobs that are out there, consider waiting to apply until you arrive because hiring managers will not typically contact you if you are on the mainland.

[hotzcatz]

If you are moving in with your sister and brother in law and will be splitting the house with them and they will have access to the military PX to buy things, then you will probably be able to do okay. If he wants you to move over and keep a separate house, then you won't be able to afford it.

You'd probably be living in either base housing (base housing can be quite nice) or in an off base housing area predominantly occupied by the military. This is a good thing since they have a lot of support for folks arriving and departing all the time. The nearby schools would have a lot of military influence and would be used to new students from many places. This would be a good way to integrate into Hawaii although a drawback would be most of the folks you'd meet would also be temporary people. If you were just moving here for the duration of your brother in law's deployment, that would work, if you intended to stay, then you'd want to make an effort to meet non-military people.

It can be a fun thing as well as scary, but you'd have family to help.

[Afishwithabike]

Military housing in Hawaii is so much better than it was in the past. I know the Navy and Army have privatized their housing units. I think the Navy has privatized all their housing inventory in Hawaii. Many of the homes are now comparable to what you would find in nice areas of Oahu. A thought just occured to me. Is it possible for you to live on base with your brother because your family would need military IDs, and those are only given to his dependents, right? However, you don't need a military ID to access all the housing areas. The Navy has some housing areas that don't require any military ID for entrance. Maybe the Army has some areas like that too.

If your bro is in the Army I think they call it "on post" instead of "on base".

[timbo31958]

I am not real sure on this but from past experience and from what I have read on some of the posts on here if brother in law will not arrive until Dec and will deploy in May 6 mos later chances are he wont have housing yet it can take quite some time to get assigned housing. You didnt mention his marital status? If he is not married he wont be eligable for on base housing and if he is lucky enough to live off base (on the economy) and would be getting housing allowance if he is not married with authorized dependents he will loose his housing allowence when deployed because the govt would be providing his "housing while deployed but if he is married he wouldnt loose it. Also alot of wifes and families move back to the mainland when husband deploys and I am really not sure why since there is a really good support system in place for the dependents who are living here while spouse is deployed. Do weigh all options before making a move so far away, as should the brother in law. If he has a family does he really want to move them to Hawaii and then 6 months later deploy and leave them "alone" after only being there for such a short time? Another thing to think about is his rank, if he is a lower ranking soldier this could pose a greater problem for the family he leaves on the island when deployed money wise. If higher ranking more money would help family members for sure. Sometimes newer service members dont take time to really think about what is going to happen next after a move such as this. The excitement of moving to Hawaii is all they can think about and only try to think of living in Hawaii (what a dream huh?) Went through it 35 years ago myself. Still loving every minute of it as a civilian now. But whatever he decides to do please everyone think it over and discuss all possibilities, there might be a better support system with family on the mainland while he is deployed but then again if he has been in the military for a number of years then they know what to expect and how it all works and all my 2 finger typing and 35 year old advise would be rendered useless. When you talk to brother in law please thank him for his service to our country and good luck to you all.

[10,000Lakes]

Sorry but I think your better of staying put. 2000k a month doesn't go that far in Hawaii. And he can't live in base housing unless he's married and if he were that would be such a tight fit for all of you. If you didn't have kids I'd say yea go for it, but why woold you want to relocate young kids when your brother in law will probably onle be stationed in Hawaii for 3 years or so, then what after that? Sorry, not trying to be a buzz kill I just don't think it's a realistic plan.

[melaniej65]

If your BIL moves on Post unless you receive specific permission to live there with him (given by Post Commander) he may be tossed out of housing AND asked to repay a significant amount of his housing allowance. Guests may stay up to 30 days without permission. Do not count on your neighbors on Post to cover for you- they will probably be the ones to report you to the garrison.

I really and truly hate when people use Military connections (whether family or close friends) to do their shopping at the PX/Commissaries. My mom & Sis do not even ask to use this privilege because frankly they have not had to actually either fight nor have they had to sacrifice as the Military family has had to. Just a personal belief.