neighborhoods

[alicia123]

my husband and I plan to buy a condo in honolulu this summer. are there any areas of honolulu that you would caution against? there appear to be reasonably priced condos for sale, for example on Date St, Makiki st, Ala Moana, etc. any tips?

[Miulang]

Re: neighborhoods

my husband and I plan to buy a condo in honolulu this summer. are there any areas of honolulu that you would caution against? there appear to be reasonably priced condos for sale, for example on Date St, Makiki st, Ala Moana, etc. any tips?

"Reasonably priced" is a very relative term ($450k for a one-bedroom?). You also didn't specify what size condo for which you were looking. Are you planning to live in the condo, or just rent it out?

Miulang

[pzarquon]

Re: neighborhoods

Both Date Street and Ala Moana Boulevard are long streets that reach into different neighborhoods, so you'd have to be more specific. For example, a condo on Date Street could be a quiet residential neighborhood of mostly single-family homes, a dense urban area with lots of high-rises and a nearby freeway, or a relatively nice spot overlooking a golf course.

Makiki Street is shorter, and basically Makiki, which is a good neighborhood conveniently located near downtown. But again, you could be up in the mountains, or right next to a freeway viaduct.

All three streets qualify as urban, not suburban. I would guess that the "nicest" places would be on Ala Moana, but also probably the most expensive.

[Supercub]

Re: neighborhoods

Can I live in your condo? Can I have a pet please?

[alicia123]

Re: neighborhoods

actually, the more I investigate, the more unaffordable our prospective move appears. we would like to go to UH because its graduate program I'm interested in is one-of-a-kind! there's really nothing else like it on the mainland. the condos listed on Realtor.com seem promising, but everything I've read on here indicates that they probably aren't what I'm looking for.

so, sorry supercub, we may not even make it there, but I do wish you luck finding a place that allows pets! a perpetual problem for us as well! that's why our next move we plan to buy!

[Supercub]

Re: neighborhoods

If you're seriously interested in moving here, I recommend renting for a bit and buying later. 1) You can investigate where you want to live 2) Real estate prices are supposed to go down over the next year or so.

[alicia123]

Re: neighborhoods

well, we considered it, but we have a dog and cat and it seems like rentals are outrageous (Ive heard $1500 per mo for a one-bed; we pay 500 now) and I have no idea what we would pay for a pet friendly place! we could probably spend 80-120K on a condo (the first condo we bought in the midwest was 62K! and very big and nice!), but on graduate assistant salaries.... I dont know if we can afford to rent!

like I said earlier in the thread, there are some affordable places listed, but you can never tell from the small pix on the net how decent they really are... where do you rent, supercub? you probably dont have any tips on affordable places that allow pets or you wouldnt be asking to live in my hypothetical condo, right?!

are there any GAs or poor students who would have any insight? (we absolutely would not move without our pets so thats not an option)

[Supercub]

Re: neighborhoods

I live in Makiki, which is close to some of the units you've looked at. The UH area is nice, and there are some more affordable student apartments around there. I imagine you could find a pet friendly one-bedroom for around $1200. A lot of the cheap apartments in Honolulu are also pet friendly, because the unit is already a little weathered, if you know what I mean.

There are pet friendly apts out there, but you have to look for them and be willing to compromise on other things. However, you're not going to find a decent one bedroom apartment anywhere near UH for under $1000. That's based on my experiences apartment hunting a few months ago. In general, throw away any expectations based on the mid-west. I recommend living in Tokyo and New York prior to coming to Honolulu (as I did), and the rents won't seem so bad at all.

[Supercub]

Re: neighborhoods

What about UH dorms?

[alicia123]

Re: neighborhoods

so, you went to the realtor link? what were your initial reactions to those places/addresses? are they worth pursuing? alternatively, what source would you reccommend to find rentals?


do you go to UH? if so, how do you like it?

[alicia123]

Re: neighborhoods

i'm almost certain that the dorms would not allow pets; I've never heard of a university facility allowing pets anyway or else we would. I'll check the site now , just in case

[damontucker]

Re: neighborhoods

...we could probably spend 80-120K on a condo (the first condo we bought in the midwest was 62K! and very big and nice!), but on graduate assistant salaries.... I dont know if we can afford to rent!

If you can find a condo for that price.... please let us in Hawaii know where!

The condo's on Ala Moana Blvd start about 450,000 for a simple unit.

[alicia123]

Re: neighborhoods

well, check out the link above and tell me how these places rate. I imagine, as you all have been indicating about the market there, that they are probably very scary places and we better resolve to rent for $$$/mo!

[Supercub]

Re: neighborhoods

i'm almost certain that the dorms would not allow pets; I've never heard of a university facility allowing pets anyway or else we would. I'll check the site now , just in case

My grad school dorms did. I don't know if that is unusual or what.

No, I don't go to UH. I know the surrounding neighborhoods a little though.

As for those apartments, the price is a reflection of something not good. One possibility is that the land lease for those buildings is about to expire. So by paying $60,000 you're basically buying the place for only a few years.

leasehold is complicated and an unusual aspect of the real estate market in Hawaii. Someone else should probably explain it, because I only sort of get it myself.

[damontucker]

Re: neighborhoods

well, check out the link above and tell me how these places rate. I imagine, as you all have been indicating about the market there, that they are probably very scary places and we better resolve to rent for $$$/mo!

Alicia I checked out the link you suggested and there must be some catch.

Otherwise they look like good buys on paper... but who knows what the trick is... However, they do look good on paper... but I just think their must be a catch to those prices listed.