We had a meeting at work the other day and they told us in 2 years we will be flying to Hawaii. They will be putting mechanics over there and I should have enough seniority to make the cut So I talk to the wife about it and she thinks that may be OK so we go on line to see homes. I found a nice one and it has a shop She brings me down to earth and said it is a little out of our price range But it is a nice place.


http://www.trulia.com/property/3005342598-...aianae-HI-96792

Give her the cars saleman's pitch. Don't worry about the price, I think we can get you the payment you want.

I hope they double your salary based on my experience as to costs of things in Hawaii.

Boat or air ..... it's a long way to swim.

I agree with Slits, better look into the cost of living there. Maybe look at the weekly food ads for a few weeks. $5 for a half gallon of milk? Yup.

Oh, BTW, you've never seen things REALLY rust until you've lived there.

The Cap'n

who are you a mechanic for? Is it possibly a company whose planes are painted blue/orange?

The saving grace on food there is Costco.

Go ahead and buy it, after all it's just money. And you would be the only person I

know to live in a Executive House. A garage ( shop) with 5 bays. You will have

to make the last 2 of them into the " Official 914 Club Cabana " we can all come

over and stay there. American plan !!!!

At near 1.5 mil. if you can aford it go for it, but offer them 1 million , times are

hard !!!! Good luck Dave

If we had a chance to go live there for work we would be gone tomorrow!

Sure housing prices are higher, but I feel food cost and such are not that much different than most major cities (LA, NY, Chicago....) We have time share in Maui and go over as often as we can. I know some (not all) companies will give an extra cost of living wage. Motorola did it for all employees that lived & worked in CA. While the 1.5 million house might be out of price range you still can find a nice 1500 sqft home in the $400K range, which seems to be in line with I have seen housing in CA going for.

Anyway good luck!

Go for it, and enjoy the experience.

Rich

ever been there? if so and you liked it, go for it!

i lived on the big island from '79 thru '91. never spent much time on oahu. kind of found it to be like the bay area but, in a tropical setting. waianae had a reputation as a tough town. that being said, some haoles have a tough time with the locals, others fit right in. being a 914 owner, i suspect you'd be in the later group?

wouldn't worry too much about the increased cost of living, as a senior mechanic you're already doing ok. getting used to the slower pace of things over there could take getting used to. don't get flustered as you're getting used to that. take cues from the locals. be patient and mellow.

totally agree w/ the cap'n about rust. back in the days before galvinized bodies, cars got replaced regularly. i remember strategic foot placement in my dad's datsun p/u when driving through puddles...

nice lookin' place you found!

.....if you can handle the COL

Aloha Spare Time Toys,

Your Employer is sending you to live and work in Hawaii?
That's like winning the lottery!

I suggest you not consider Waianae. There are more reasons
negative than positive.

Single family homes in the 4 to 700,000 range are in short supply.
Properties valued at 800 to 1 mil don't have much wiggle room to negotiate and most asking prices are met or exceeded.

Happy house hunting. Let me know if you need anything.

So Southwest reenters Hawaii - this time directly & no BS "code shares"!

ya , you can't go over there and expect to "get things done" you'll get stone walled.

my family had a house there for a while [maui] and it just take a nice humble demeanor to fit in and get respected.

and a family friend lived up in that area, not so nice as was said already. pretty much what is called a "local" hood and that was 20-30 years ago.

"Some haoles have a tough time with the locals."

Our friends encountered much prejudice.

FYI.

The cost of living out here is high, depending on where you've been. I live in Honolulu currently, and I've lived in CA and NYC. It's roughly what you'd pay in the bay area, and cheaper than in NY. The biggest issue with COL is that salaries out here are generally 20-40% lower than their mainland counterparts - they call it the "paradise tax". If your salary is competitive nationally you'll have no problem.

My advice would be to live here for a year before you decide to sell. It's an island, 3000 miles in the middle of the ocean, and after a year in one place you'll really get a feel for what that means. You may love it - I came out here 6 years ago and it's home.

Not many roads to drive fast on though - I'd be surprised if the whole island is more than 100 miles round trip...

I have a relative that lives there. She said the time change and being so far from the main land takes a long time to get used to. The weather is so good it's boring.