We are contemplating selling our home and moving to Oahu Hawaii, maybe within the next 12-24 months. We would take a bath on our present home, but hope that it would be slightly offset with similarly depressed prices there.
Since retiring 2 months ago, I have now started to do internet research on cost of living, sales/prop/state taxes, tax breaks for seniors, etc.
There are many FIRE members now living in Hawaii - Nords, Greg Lee, Koolau ( and others I do not remember ). Can I ask you folks to drop me some words of wisdom and advice as I begin to delve into this "adventure".
Thanks so much in advance, I'm eagerly awaiting your input. You are welcome to PM me as well.
Nords knows the neighborhoods better than I do. My suggestion would be to rent for a while and get your bearings before purchasing property. It's also a good idea to see if you are susceptible to "rock fever". Never a big problem to us. Perhaps because we leave for up to 3 months each year.
Find a realtor you are comfortable with and let them know exactly what you are looking for. We did that 25 plus years ago and purchased a property that we rented out until moving. I could have stayed there indefinitely, but as you suggested, SOME properties took a hit in the recent downturn. Not what you might expect, though. As near as we can determine, our "old" property went down about 5% from its peak, but the property we bought went down almost 20% (which was RARE - not sure anyone ever was able to explain it to us. I suspect the new property had "spectacular view" premium at its peak. The premium could not be sustained during the down turn).
Hawaii property values have been much more stable than those in the "troubled spots" of the nation. First of all, there is relatively little new construction on the island because of push-back from several sources (fixed land availability, zoning, environmental, "Keep the Country, Country", etc.) Second, the practice of no-doc loans and "interest only", etc. financing was never big in the Islands for some reason. So defaults are relatively rare here. Our property value has actually risen by 5 to 10 % since purchase 2 years ago, based on recent sales.
By the way, regarding traffic, it drives me nuts, but when I lived in the heartland, I used to think my 15 minute commute to w*rk was a pain - especially on Friday PM when it took almost 20 minutes to get home!! Honolulu traffic is actually pretty predictable. You learn when are good/bad times to be out. Unless there is a wreck or stall (or unusual amount of road work) rush hour is manageable for those who must endure it. I hate it, but it's really NOT as bad as SF, LA or any of the "usual suspects". After all, the entire island only has about 1.1 to 1.2 million residents in 600 sq mi. It also has a very good bus system. Naturally, YMMV.