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Thanks Dreaming of Hawaii for your thoughts. Is the reason for the hot market linked somehow with the Pandemic? Is it mostly Californians that can work remotely and are moving out of CA? I've seen a bunch of posts on this board about the 1 year residents that think it will be their paradise but don't love the reality when they get there. Would the speculation be that many of these people buying houses now may be selling in a year?
Yes, I believe that people are moving here because it is safer from COVID than most places on the mainland. Especially in our rural area that is isolated and has seen very few cases.
Not just people from California. While we do normally see more people here from California/Oregon/Washington/Alaska, people from all over the country are now working remotely. To live in this rural area, people need to work remotely or be retired. In fact, there are probably more retired people here than those still working. There are some in the neighborhood that do the drive to jobs in Kona or Hilo, but not many are willing to have a 3 hour daily commute.
The comment about people leaving after one year is a broad generalization. People do leave because of either health reasons or missing family or maybe even work related. And some people just can't make the adjustment to living in a small rock in the middle of a big ocean. But there is no set time that I've seen this happen, could be one year could be ten. So there's no sense in speculating on what the housing market will be in a year.
Location: Southernmost tip of the southernmost island in the southernmost state
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Would the speculation be that many of these people buying houses now may be selling in a year?
I have read that statistically, about 70% of the people that willingly move to Hawai'i, leave within the first year. I have hired and transferred over from the mainland, a number of employees for the company I work for, and I would say that percentage seems accurate.
I have read that statistically, about 70% of the people that willingly move to Hawai'i, leave within the first year. I have hired and transferred over from the mainland, a number of employees for the company I work for, and I would say that percentage seems accurate.
On Oahu - where I have hired over 100+ people - I'd peg the 1st year leavers at roughly 50% - it could be closer to the 70% number - but Honolulu probably has an easier adjustment than the outer islands. By the end of year 2, roughly 90% overall don't make it and leave. With that said - in my experience, if you can make it 2 full years - most of the remaining tend to stay long term.
One way to look at those numbers is that if I don't like anything currently on the market, I could just wait a little while because houses turn relatively often. I have plenty of time right now to wait, but I also don't want to feel rushed if I choose to go the building route. It is interesting to me that the biggest complaint I have seen from people that have moved over and then moved away quickly is that they didn't feel accepted or part of the community. But if 90% are leaving in 2 years I can see why the people that are happy and live there are reluctant to build relationships.
It is interesting to me that the biggest complaint I have seen from people that have moved over and then moved away quickly is that they didn't feel accepted or part of the community.
Out of all the people I've seen leave and dozens of exit interviews - I've never heard anyone cite not feeling accepted or part of the community as a reason for leaving - but that is Oahu.
Between not finding friends/fitting in and the islands being to small are the two biggest reasons I've heard from people when they have left. Interestingly to me, I usually am hearing a 3rd party perspective when my plan comes up. "I have a friend that tried that, they didn't like it because..."
I think community and fitting in is typically proportional to the effort you put in. If you are sitting around waiting for people to notice you and invite you to become part of their lives - you likely won't get what you are looking for.
Sparky, you asked specifically about Discovery Harbour, so my responses pertain to my experiences in that subdivision.
Of the 300 houses here I know, or know about, at least half of the people. A very small percentage of them (less than 10%) leave after one year. And most of them are due to a health issue that the medical system here just can't handle.
Another factor that you haven't considered is that a lot of us are snowbirds, spending part of the year here and part of the year back on the mainland. We can do that because we're retired (and now more can do that because they work remotely). So we don't suffer from the problem of being stuck on a small island.
It all depends on what someone is looking for and how realistic their expectations were before moving. You make an excellent point: "I think community and fitting in is typically proportional to the effort you put in." Especially here in our small rural community where we do rely more on each other. There is an abundance of activities (during non-COVID times) to those who want things to do and plenty of volunteer opportunities that bring people together.
On Oahu - where I have hired over 100+ people - I'd peg the 1st year leavers at roughly 50% - it could be closer to the 70% number - but Honolulu probably has an easier adjustment than the outer islands. By the end of year 2, roughly 90% overall don't make it and leave. With that said - in my experience, if you can make it 2 full years - most of the remaining tend to stay long term.
Do those percentages include military personnel who rotate in and out frequently?
Sparky, you asked specifically about Discovery Harbour, so my responses pertain to my experiences in that subdivision.
Of the 300 houses here I know, or know about, at least half of the people. A very small percentage of them (less than 10%) leave after one year. And most of them are due to a health issue that the medical system here just can't handle.
Another factor that you haven't considered is that a lot of us are snowbirds, spending part of the year here and part of the year back on the mainland. We can do that because we're retired (and now more can do that because they work remotely). So we don't suffer from the problem of being stuck on a small island.
It all depends on what someone is looking for and how realistic their expectations were before moving. You make an excellent point: "I think community and fitting in is typically proportional to the effort you put in." Especially here in our small rural community where we do rely more on each other. There is an abundance of activities (during non-COVID times) to those who want things to do and plenty of volunteer opportunities that bring people together.
That is great. My wife and I will also be snowbirding as we have 4 children that will be college age or beyond. We hope that living in Hawaii will give them incentive to come visit some and we hope to spend some time visiting them where they live (just not when it is cold).
It makes sense to me that retirees would have a lesser rate as I know that at least for me I don't have very specific expectations. I think many times that people make major life changes they are trying to get away from things that usually follow. With retirees, many are moving to something (warm weather, slower lifestyle, etc..).
I think the high % of retirees in DH is one thing that has drawn me to DH. It is nice that many of the people are snowbirds because you can share a bit of the load of keeping an eye out for each other.
My original post was about what I need to look out for when looking at property and the building process. Even if I buy an existing house I would imagine that there are things that I need to be aware of. What are those things?
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