Finding rentals in Honolulu/Waikiki (for sale, apartments, condos)

[hailtiki]

I'm thinking of making the "big move", much like everyone else here. Been to Oahu a couple times and, in fact, I'm currently here at the beginning of week 3 of a month long (5 week) "trial run". As a side note, to those of you who have the ability to do so, a month long trial run is an excellent idea. I agree with others that it's hard to get a real idea of living in Hawaii when you're only here for week long vacations. This trip has put things into perspective for me (but, obviously, hasn't changed my mind about making the move!).

Anyway, to my question: what are some good resources for finding apartments to rent? I think I must have found every website that exists, but I find some of this information to be misleading. For starters, searching for rental units in such a touristy place gets you plenty of results for vacation rentals. It's hard to separate those results from the long-term results I'm looking for. Then there are the condos... Condos keep appearing in my search results and I'm a little weary of them. I think some of them may be a "lie". Let me give you an example:

I found a beautiful place... Huge, floor to ceiling windows along the entire length of the condo, 1.5 story ceilings, marble everywhere, furnished, etc. Monthly price on the website was comparable to the other 2-bedroom places. Except, it turns out that listed monthly price was actually just the condo fees. The condo itself was for sale for $1.8M.

But some of these condos seem to actually be for rent at rates comparable to apartments. The condos seem to generally be nicer then the apartments, though - larger, newer, etc. So what's the catch?

A friend of mine has lived in several places (not Hawaii, but several places on the mainland). He suggested I find an agent. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!