After growing up in Hawaii, moving away for college, and finally moving back to Hawaii, I wanted to start a blog and RU-vid channel about life in Hawaii. It's not all rainbows, beaches, and acai bowls. The beauty of Hawaii is also shadowed by some harsh realities that include a high cost of living, homelessness, and environmental issues. Through my videos, I hope to share some insight about Hawaii from someone who grew up here and who plans on living here for the rest of my life. So whether you're thinking about visiting Hawaii or moving here, I hope the topics I talk about are helpful and useful.
Chris…..when you move off island……you do get some sand, ocean……..but then SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST HAWAIIAN BEACHES!!!! Hawaii is for the rich tourist!!!
My ex wife and I bought a condo at the waipuna condominiums on Ena Road in the 70s. It was located on the outskirts of Waikiki and the Kaiser hospital was nearby so it was a good location. It had security and it was nice but the one problem was parking if you only had one assigned parking space but had two cars. Parking on the street sometimes was hard to find.
Being a fool to spend future earnings for today. I am 80 years old and once you realize that the real goal is to retire in comfort you will come to realize investing for maximum returns is an ongoing journey with proper revenue flow each month younhave a constant replacement of funding
Boomers neglected maintenance and then sold the properties to the next generation, leaving them with having fix the elevators. Fix the siding on the building. Repaint all of these projects costing millions of dollars
Pass the buck. The buck stops nowhere near your elected officials. The government you vote for is the government you deserve. Stop voting for these clowns. Start a petition to recall the mayor.
Too bad condo buildings can't have commercial space on the first three floors, if they could, the rent from those businesses could offset the HOA, and what fun it would be to have an inhouse restaurant!
we bought a 3bd 2ba thinking that would work even as we have kids but then we started working from home and my folks aka grandparents started visiting more... if it werent for the market rates we'd move asap
I think it is the same situation in a lot of other populous cities on the US Pacific Coast. There is no pipeline of new housing for homeowners to upgrade to. Essentially, no one can afford to move. And no one can afford to buy.
I want to comment on the choice of caption on the thumbnail image for the video - "THE HAWAII CONDO TRAP." I noticed you didn't touch on how houses (as you said in the video, "a big boy house or a big girl house") in town are mostly *not* located in places that would be walkable to places that people tend to work in town in the same way that many condo buildings are, which you said was an important factor in deciding to buy a condo. You said your condo is in downtown. Yes there are a few houses in town, in places relatively nearby such as in Moiliili and Kapahulu, but lower-priced homes (still highly priced) in town are, for the most part, quite a bit older, and may require significant work (note your comment about condo buildings needing to collect additional money from owners to pay for improvements to the building, such as to elevators that no longer run well; single-family homes require paying for upkeep too, just for different things). Going back to the concept of a "condo trap": it's not some exogenous system of condo buildings in Honolulu trapping people. The trap here is your mindset and indecision on what is more important to you--living in a walkable place (near work, activities, city amenities) to avoid commuting vs wanting more personal space in a newer build structure that isn't going to have immediate costly maintenance, which necessitates you to spend time and money commuting to your job. One question worth asking: if money were no object and you could buy a house in town, where would you buy it *and* would you still walk to work, or would you drive (even if it's a shorter commute than a place on the windward side or the west side)?
Refined carbs are a key factor in hypertension. Doctors are slowly starting to realize that hypertension is an early sign of insulin resistance. If reducing or eliminating them, you really do need to increase fat and protein (which won’t raise insulin levels). It’s vital. There aren’t really “healthier carbs” especially when it comes to starches. The body turns all carbs to glucose, which requires insulin. There’s just “less bad” carbs. But your body really needs the fats and protein (there is actually no nutritional requirement for carbs because our bodies can do without)
Sorry, but you obviously don’t understand real estate ownership and worse yet, you’re speculating about a future which may not even take place. Just be thankful you bought something. While you said you were hapoy in the video, it’s obvious you’re not otherwise you wouldn’t be making this video.
That #1 rule of taking off shoes indoors, is a commonplace custom all over Asia (China, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, etc.). Also, in India and Pakistan, so it's not unique to Japan. The custom likely spread with Buddhism. Both Buddhists and Muslims require removal of shoes inside houses, and places of worship (churches, mosques). For example, Russian households inherited that shoe removal custom after 350 years of wars/occupation with the Ottoman empire. Cheers!
We lived on Maui for first year then Oahu the second year and paid $2,500.00 for a 2br/2ba apartment and the housing purchase was out of reach at $600+ per sq/ft and rising. I moved to Pennsylvania and was able to buy a large house (1800 sq ft on 1/2 acre) in a great neighborhood for lower monthly payment. Yes, it isn't Hawaii but the fresh produce, food/variety and way lower gas and grocery prices make up for it. Road trips and mainland vacations give us plenty to see and do. Hawaii was awesome and the people we met were beautiful, proud and gracious. I can still vacation in Hawaii and still not be losing money by renting.
Don't buy a single family home. Buy a duplex or even better 3 to 4 units. You live in one and the rent from the other units will cover 80%+ of your mortgage. A single family unit does not put money in your pocket every month.
The only people who say there is a charm to loud mopeds are people who are trying to sell their condo and are trying to convince other people or have no choice but to stay in their condo and are trying to convince themselves.
Im almost quit at 6… my daughter had to tell me we almost there and we closer to the top than the bottom. Got to the top and so glad I didn’t give up. Oh by the way I did it in crocs (sports mode of course)😂😂😂. It was tough but worth it
Come windward, we’d love to have you. A suggestion, consider renting out your condo and then renting out your next home. Saves you all those closing costs, and you still own, even if you aren’t living in what you own.
It must have been wonderful not to have toms of strangers wandering around. 😊 I totally get what you’re saying. I’m not a native, but have been to the islands dozens of times. It used to be my “happy place” and I somehow felt at home there. But over the years, it has changed a lot, and the spirit of conflicting interests and poorly managed resources -and too many thoughtless tourists!- has taken away the sense of peace and calm. 😔 Plus, the ongoing hardships for the Lahaina fire survivors has just broken my heart. 💔🙏❤️🩹
Oh don't be ignorant... Condo... Is good for single and if you still paying the mortgage still is not yours lastly condo is not your only a unit what unit after 50 years. Then what
You make some good points and overlook the obvious. 80% of your state lives on your island and about 65% of those live in apartments of one kind or another either renting or own. With the conditions on the sale of your condo saying that you actually own it (and can make independent decisions) is a stretch by most Mainland standards. You live in 2024 urban Hawaii, a far different place than the 1960s and 70s were. And it isn't ever going back. You would honestly sell something at a loss to give somebody a break, well that's awfully benevolent and righteous of you but consider yourself in a very small minority with that mindset. Very small. Your walk video here sure doesn't "sell" living downtown very well either you could be in Phoenix or Ft Lauderdale not exactly anyone's idea of living in paradise (the Hawaii myth). A 3-4 hour commute one way perhaps which equates in most cases a 30 mile or less distance. How much is gas today a gallon there? Insane. And how long did your city planners take to finally finish your train? (the track distance already reduced). Fours hours drive from my driveway I'm 1/2 way to Anchorage (about 250 miles). If you can, and a big IF, find a comparable job living outer island (with a reasonable, acceptable salary cut and ideally a bump vs. a loss) then now is the time to move. Big Island perhaps. You are only 45 minutes away for ohana visits. Honolulu will only get bigger, real estate of all kinds more expensive, more people, more cars, less places to park, more crowded venues and it'll happen at warp speed now and not years like before. The best year of my Hawaii journey was living in Kona, the reality set in and life changed overnight the day I had to relocate to Oahu and that was 40 years ago.
Haha! ...generalizations? Grew up in a great metropolitan city, and lived in others . Been in Hawaii 54 years, and would live no where else. There's a price to be paid to matter where you live? I won't waste time addressing generalizations. Am in my 70's, and pretty much heard them all. You want the beauty of living here, with it's people, you'll figure it out? Hawaii no ka oi !
