Post #258191 by tikiyaki on Sun, Oct 1, 2006 9:06 AM

Mike,

I don't live in Hawaii, I live in Cali too, but if you want a good place to ask these questions, you'll get alot of people willing to anwer you at http://www.hawaiithreads.com . The moving to Oahu and Hawaii question is posted almost daily by a different newcomer.

Judging by what I've read there, here's what I can tell you...$65K a year and 30K in the bank, is a good start, but you could possibly expect to make less for your job living in Hawaii. Housing ? Like bifcozz said....I think it may be worse than SO Cal in some spots, like Hawaii Kai, where you can't get a house for under $650K.

As far as people go, Hawaii boasts having more diversity per capita than almost anywhere else in the US. That being said, not everyone will be welcoming, and some locals just plain don't like haoles. Worse is even trying to "assimilate" too fast, and ACT local, ie" trying to speak pidgin - Stongly frowned upon. Also, the "this is how we do it in the mainland" attitude will get you no friends. So the the peeps over at Hawaii Threads will tell you, just be respectful of the culture, leave the mainland ego at home, and just be humble, nice and open to the learning to do things "the island way", and let your localness nurture as you live there.

I have to tell you, I look at Hawaii Real Estate listings all the time, and you can still get something in Kailua for in the 3's, but it's a one, maybe 2 bedroom condo, and you have to commute to Honolulu, but Kailua is really nice.

Spend a good 3 - 6 months resarching, reading the forums and other stuff and you'll get a good idea, and not go blindly. Also, a cheaper option is to live on the Big Island, but there is less work, and people there. Check out http://www.punaweb.org and visit the messageboards there. There are plenty of people who LOVE living in Puna, tho, it's very much like living in the country, actually it's a rainforest next to an active volcano :)

Wenikitiki can tell you more.

Good luck.