Around the Island living

Are you looking to rent off base? If you are looking to buy please skip to the bottom of this page.

Most rentals are privately owned so it's hard to find a property manager that only shows rentals. Normally they are realtors of which a small percentage does rentals. So you'll have to do a lot of footwork yourself.

There are some things you should consider:

• CHECK IN. If you are Military, you might want to check in with your base housing first before you go off and sign a lease. It is mandatory to do this with some services.

• PETS. It's challenging when you read rental listings off base it seems like no one wants dogs over 25lbs or more than one dog in town. That is true in the condo's and apartments due to weight restrictions. You should have better luck renting a single family home outside of town. And on base housing you can have up to 2 dogs.

• COST. Renting off base may not be saving you a lot of money. Base housing is slightly more reasonable in size, space, and location.

  • Base housing may have discounts on electricity since it's very expensive here. If you see a rental with photovoltaic solar panels that is advantageous because it can reduce your electric bill to as low as $50 a month. It's on average around $150-$200 a month for electricity for a single family home.

• SIZE. It's normal for a 3bd, 2bath, single family home to be 1500-1600 sq ft.

• A/C. Most homes do not have A/C. They may have window units but rarely central air. Electricity is expensive most people open windows or buy fans. Some Base housing also offers solar where available to further reduce electric bills.

• PARKING. This is a bonus if you can park on your property or even on your street. In town, there may be a carport with tandem parking. Or there may only be street parking. In West or Central Oahu you may have a carport or new homes have garages.

• LOCATION. It's important to consider your commute time to your work place. Ewa to town is the worst commute in the state. 50,000 people live in Ewa/Kapolei. About 1 million people live in Honolulu county. Make sure you try out your commute during rush hour to see if that will work for you.

• PETTY CRIME is HIGH. And make sure you have ways to lock up your stuff because there is a lot of theft, people breaking into houses and stealing cars (5500 stolen a year). Here is the crime map around Oahu. You can also follow "Stolen Stuff" Facebook group about crime and lost items and crime in Oahu.

• FOOD. Food is very expensive so you'll find yourself shopping at the commissary regularly. Sometimes it's almost the same price to eat out as it is to buy.

If you want to ask other Hawaii Military Members about where to live please follow my Hawaii Military Life FB page and then “Join the Hawaii Military Life FB Group” to post your question or comment.

Are you interested in the popular town of Mililani? So are about 75% of all the Military families who move here that want to go to the top schools in the state. 

Both Schofield and Wheeler are located in Wahiawa, HI off the same road. Wahiawa is located in CENTRAL OAHU and is at a higher elevation. The weather is about 6 degrees cooler than town, nice! It rains 4-5 months of the year though and the closer you are to the mountain the more it rains. North Shore is about 20 min away.

The nearest off base housing area is Mililani (older side) and Mililani Mauka (newer). Mauka means “mountain” in Hawaiian. Mililani is one of my top 3 choices to live on the island. Both are located just 5 min away off the H2 on either side of the freeway and I know of at least 5 families that live on either side of Mililani and love it. It’s a very family oriented area with great amenities and nice residential neighborhoods. Here is a great write up about living in Mililani.

On Mililani side, Mililani High school is ranked the one of the top public schools in the state of Hawaii. It has the highest graduation average rate and scores well when compared to other Hawaii public schools. Also the star from Disney’s movie, “Moana”, Auli’I Cravalho, is a student there!

In Mililani Mauka side, many families have told me Mililani Ike and Mililani Mauka elementary are their favorites.  Also located in Mauka, is Mililani Middle school. I heard the only downside I was told is that the middle school is overcrowded so they have a track system, rotating schedule of 9 weeks on and 3 weeks off all year long. Please visit my Hawaii Public Schools page for more info.

MILILANI MAUKA BY DRONE. It is a lovely planned community. As a reminder if the you tube video loads in low resolution you can click on the dial icon? And raise it from 240p to 1080p

MILILANI TOWN CENTER, Genki Ramen and Napoleons bakery are there. Raising Cane’s just opened in June 2020.

Mililani Town Center 

Thinking of living within 15 min to Town (Honolulu)?

Koa Ridge in Waipio is the only new development within 15 min commute to Town. After 17 years of planning they are finally scheduled to release their first phase in Fall of 2020.

Thinking of living on the Windward side of Kaneohe and Kailua? The most beautiful beaches on the island? 

The blue blue water of Kailua, the beaches and the Sandbar in Kaneohe is worth the 30 min+ commute through the H3, Pali and Likelike tunnels. No where on the island can you get the spectacular Ko'olau mountains view. 

COMMUTE: The closer you live to the Ko'olau mountain range the rainier it gets. So if you are ok with rain then live on the Windard side. The trade off is the 30 min H3 commute from Kaneohe to Camp Smith and Pearl Harbor is very easy and light traffic. 

The homes in Kaneohe/Kailua are older and mostly single story built in 1960-70’s. The lots are much bigger than in town and it's a beach town so not always sidewalks or streetlights. There are amazing views of the Ko’olau mountains from most properties. You will NOT see any mountain views like that anywhere else on the island. It’s about 12 miles to Honolulu and population around 53,000. About 15,000 commute through the tunnels every day. That’s less than 1/3 of the commute from Ewa/Kapolei.

For shopping, there is a new Target and Whole foods that opened in Kailua and lots of small business owed shops and restaurants. 

The MCBH Kaneohe has boat rentals at MWR. You can also rent diving equipment, snorkeling gear, boogey boards, etc. and visit the Kaneohe sandbar which is one of the largest sandbars in the world. 

• MCBH Commissary will also be your only commissary on the Windward side and given the high cost of food, you may probably shop there every week.

Here’s a look at homes in Kaneohe. Note the Ko'olau mountains go straight up. You can't get that mountain view anywhere else on the island.

MCBH Exchange and Commissary

What is it like to live and commute in Ewa Beach or Kapolei? 

West Oahu and the Ewa Plain (Ewa, Kapolei, Makakilo, Royal Kunia, Ko Olina) ~ Ewa is pronounced "E' VA". Ewa/Kapolei is located on the West side of Oahu.

COMMUTE: Even if you don't drive very far, you are in your car a lot. There’s is 1 main road out of Ewa into Town, Fort Weaver road, that leads you to 5 miles of different communities. Commute to Schofield is 11-15 miles and up to 30 min during rush hour. The 15 mile commute from Ewa to Pearl Harbor is the worst commute in the state. It can take you 1+ hour between 0530-0700AM. Kapolei and Ko’olina are closer to the H1 freeway on ramps than Ewa so there are less lights. Kapolei is slightly farther but a better path to H1. That will change with the massive expansion of the new construction in the works. Here’s a little blog from someone who moved to Honolulu from Ewa. And you can get demographics and ask questions on city-data.

NEWER HOUSING: Ewa, Kapolei, Ko’olina and Makakilo are the newest developed cities in Oahu, which means the homes are newer, the buildings, most roads, and strip malls. So on an island where everything gets rusted and oxidized by the sea air, the new housing can be very appealing. They are going to build another 25,000 homes by 2031 in anticipation of the Honolulu Rail completion. So you can still buy new construction fairly easily for some time in the future. Also note that the closest commissary for you is Schofield or NEX at Pearl Harbor.

The average 3 bedroom 2 bath house from what I've seen, will run you 15-25% LESS in Ewa than in Town or East Oahu. That is why you might want to check it out. Spend the night in Ewa and drive into town, then drive back to Ewa at 5pm. The commute from the Airport is heavy so need to really research that.

This is a great drone video of Ewa Gentry and the Kamakana Ali'i mall that just opened in Nov 2016

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG8pR0aLtJI

Disney's Aulani Hotel. It's located in Ko'olina (Kapolei) about 35-45 min from Waikiki (non rush hour) and it is located in Lagoon beach 1 of Ko'olina. There’s a gorgeous walking path along the water that connects all the lagoons on this path. Aulani is a really a nice place to stay but pricey at over $300 a night. They couldn't really give me any military rates in person so better to call.

BEACHES - In Kapolei, you have White plains and Ewa beach. Leeward surfers go to White Plains to surf. Both these beaches have significant shore breaks and can be a risk for little kids. 

There are 4 lagoons in Ko’olina with minimal-no parking. There is a man made reef break that calms the shore break and is great for kids. It's located just behind the Ko'olina resorts and Marriott at Lagoon’s 1-3.  

KAMAKANA ALI'I MALL. Here's the new Mall in Kapolei. Recently opened in November 2016. Kapolei is opening new stores everyday and slated to be the second largest city after Honolulu.  

Kamakana Ali'i Mall in Kapolei, HI map.

Have you thought of living in the resort town of Ko’olina where Disney Aulani and the four seasons are? It’s located next to Kapolei in West Oahu. There are 6 gated communities with a walking path to 4 lagoons. Mostly condos and townhomes. Average size is between 1000-1600 sq ft.
Here is more info on the communities of Ko’olina.

Thinking of living in Hawaii Kai? Think about the Beauty and the commute.

From Hawaii Kai to town, it's a 6 mile drive of lights to the H1 freeway. There is only one way in and one way out on Kalanianaole Highway. The traffic starts at 6:30am, town bound, and is very heavy to University until 8:30am. Some people have sold their house in Hawaii Kai to move into town due to the congestion on Kalanianaole Hwy.

It is the only "harbor" residential marina on the island. It's water living in Hawaii Kai and people love it. Some Residents take their boats to Safeway and Costco across the water to shop and then out to sea. Also Hanauma bay and crater hike are 5 min away. Kaiser Highschool was ranked #1 in the state for 2020 by US News and World Report.

Kaimuki. If you want to go to a good public school, Kalani High school is one of the top in the state. Housing in Kaimuki is where the boundaries are for Kalani HS. It's about $1.2M+ for 1300 sq ft to buy in Kaimuki but the location to town in 7 min is amazing! It is an older neighborhood and sometimes "dumpy" double wall construction but you can get a classic Hawaiian Plantation type living space. Don’t be surprised rentals may be the upstairs of an attached home. It's called "Ohana" living or multigenerational. Kaimuki is a very popular area due to it's location to the city and it's next to Diamond Head and East Waikiki. 

According to a Hawaii report, there are 47% of renters in the state. Rentals are a big deal in Honolulu because affordability is moderate-low 😬 but you can find good deals, but they go really really fast.

Population in Kaimuki almost 20,000 in 2 square miles. 

Manoa or Makiki.
If you like living on top of each other then Makiki is the place for you! High rise apartment life. Best privates schools are in Manoa, with Punahou and Mid Pacific Institute. In Manoa, Hokulani elementary is a public school feeder into these private schools.

Also are you good with the rain? It rains quite a bit in Manoa especially closer to the mountain. It's about $1.2M and up to buy an older home with no real views. About $3000+ to rent a 1400 sq ft home. Lots of traffic though leading into Manoa from the University of Hawaii.

The pluses are you can be in town. So Location, location, location. Downtown 3 min drive. High end neighborhood.

Are you looking to buy a home?

Everyone has imagined this life on Hawaii with ocean views or living near the ocean. The reality is that it’s a very expensive option that most cannot afford. The average single family home price is in the $1M range as of 2022. An ocean view home like this photo is around $1.4M and this particular home is located in East Oahu where you live within a mile from the beach.

Reality is over 50%+ of all who settle on Oahu end up in West or Central Oahu due to price, value, age, size, and location to work. Most of those that work at Schofield end up in the Ewa/Kapolei area.

Here is the 2021 VA loan information for Hawaii from the Veterans Benefits Administration. The loan borrowing limits for 2021 are the same across all islands. The first number represents one unit, two units, 3 units and 4 units.

These are the 2021 #’s

BIG ISLAND $822.375  $930,300  $1,053,000  $1,272,750
HONOLULU $822.375  $930,300  $1,053,000  $1,272,750
KALAWAO $822.375  $930,300  $1,053,000  $1,272,750
KAUAI $822.375  $930,300  $1,053,000  $1,272,750
MAUI  $822.375  $930,300  $1,053,000  $1,272,750

If you’re a veteran planning to purchase a home in Hawaii, a termite inspection is required.

Here are the 5 top underwriters for homeowners insurance in the state. This site says the "best" however, not sure if what makes them the "best" but they do lay out some of the key advantages and differences of each.

Top 5 in Hawaii for Home owners insurance.

• Allstate

• State Farm

• First Insurance Company of Hawaii

• Heritage Insurance

• USAA

USAA was considerably higher because they are not a local company in our state. You may find more favorable home insurers that are established in the state.

Thanks for reading and please share your experiences with me on my FB group, HAWAII MILITARY LIFE, so we can help others. I mainly post Local Hawaii events and information in that group. And if you are retiring or transitioning, please join our HAWAII MILITARY RETIRED VETERANS LIFE Facebook group.

We just created our new INSTAGRAM account Hawaiimilitarylife808. We try to look for a lot of FREE events or discounts for Military. We also post PCS info, buying a car, pet info, BAH, and anything related to Military command events in Hawaii. You can search through our Facebook site in the Announcements section has all the reference information there. Mahalo and welcome to Hawaii!