Thank you so much for all the tips!!
We were looking at mililani because it's close to his work.. I would LOVE to live at the beach, i'm a pisces, and the north shore seems like a reasonble drive...but trying to grow our stache and balance freakin Hawaii is a tough gig.. I don't love cookie cutter complexes..but they are usually cheaper and easier when house seaching via internet. We do not want to live on post.
And don't worry, we won't sign anything sight unseen. I think we get TDY (hotel/food paid for) for 60 days, which means we can live in a hotel for free.. But a 2.5 & 1yr old in a hotel for two months seems like ahhhh!!!
Pets are going to grandmas house.. Thank goodness!!
The biggest concern is money and housing..Duh.. Our budget is umm as cheap as we can get it..without missing out on island life. I want to visit all the islands, and even though we would go on a budget, it still costs something..
Thanks for your help..i'm just starting to get nervous about keeping in budget while enjoying our short time in paradise. We do get a good amount of military pay, which could easily go to beach side home and beer..or debt..sigh..
Thanks again!!
Mazzinator, I live about six miles south of Schofield, and that gulch between Kuahelani down to Waikalani Drive and back up to the top of Wheeler AAF (both directions) is a real killer. It's safe to bicycle during daylight hours but I swear that the Waikalani stoplight is set to turn red as soon as your bicycle reaches max downhill speed (both directions). If you go further south than Mililani then the bicycle commute involves Roosevelt Bridge on Kam Hwy, which I do not recommend under any conditions. It's also a steeper/deeper gulch than the one by Wheeler.
If you look at homes in Kunia then do not bicycle Kunia Road after dark. I'd hesitate to bicycle it even during daylight. It's not the road conditions as much as the inattentive drivers. A couple motorcyclists are killed on that road every year.
If you're confident that you don't want to live on base then I won't try to change your mind. However practically every neighborhood on Wheeler & Schofield has been demolished & rebuilt over the last decade, so it's much better than it used to be. It's also in better shape than many of the townhouses in Mililani and in almost all of the townhouses in Wahiawa or Whitmore. However I understand the other reasons to not live on base.
You might be thinking of TLA, not TDY, and you are able to stretch it out for 60 days provided that you're searching for housing or have a signed lease date (or until you're offered housing on post). While you may enjoy the Hale Koa with your kids, your spouse is going to get godawful tired of the drive between Waikiki and Schofield (both directions). You might want to consider the Inn at Schofield (
http://www.innatschofield.com/) or the Navy Lodge on Ford Island.
If you're seeking a townhouse then I recommend getting on AHRN.com now (before you come here!) and searching Mililani, Wahiawa, & Whitmore areas... in that order. (Mililani Mauka is a bicycle stretch but not too bad a commute.) Rental properties are starting to get expensive again (after a five-year slump). If you find something you like then send me an address and I'll do a driveby. I'm not familiar with all the townhouses but most of the Mililani ones are good. Nob Hill and Anania Circle are particularly good and within walking distance of groceries/shopping. I'd stay out of Waikalani Drive and Launani Valley unless you personally know someone who can vouch for a townhouse or home in those areas. If you get down into the Waipio Gentry or Waikele areas then your spouse is going to want to take the bus with a bicycle rack.
You're moving here during the peak of transfer season. The rental inventory is very tight. Heed Johnny Aloha's advice on taking a place as soon as you see something you like. If you do the typical Mainland "Well, we're going to look at a couple other places and call you back"... then the next time you call it'll be rented to someone else.
You should mentally kiss your king bed goodbye and be ready to unload it on Craigslist when it gets here. Maybe you'll find a place for it in your townhouse, but the odds aren't very good. (If you haven't already shipped your household goods, then I recommend that you write down all the dimensions of your major furniture pieces and bring a small tape measure with you when you look at rentals.) You can find plenty of Craigslist bargains on queen bedframes and even closeout sales on queen mattresses.
Good thing you don't need a car, but you should also be able to live without a garage as well. Most of the townhouses are open parking, although some of the pricey ones have garages. Used vehicles are plentiful and cheap here, so if you're planning to sell yours then you may get more for it on the Mainland.
If you live in Mililani then you're 30 minutes from White Plains Beach (my favorite) and 35 minutes from Haleiwa Alii Beach Park (kid friendly). The best reason to live in Mililani is that it's away from the storm surge, the tsunami inundation zones, and the cane fires. (We've done just fine with hurricanes and earthquakes, too, but they're relatively rare.) However if your spouse commutes by car then Makakilo and Ewa Beach may be in your price range. The commute sucks but you're closer to the beach.
Here's a Google Earth 3D tool to get you started on flying around the roads:
http://the-military-guide.com/2012/10/29/3d-hawaii-right-here-on-the-blog/Here's some advice and some cautions about Hawaii:
http://the-military-guide.com/2011/10/13/lifestyles-in-military-retirement-living-in-hawaii/http://the-military-guide.com/2012/08/27/good-reasons-not-to-live-in-hawaii/I strongly recommend that you read the books & blogs linked in those posts. You should also buy a paid subscription now to the Star-Advertiser website and read it frequently before you get here to gain an understanding of the culture and the geography and the neighborhoods.
Like Anner says, milk is $5/gallon here. (If you want to pay $10/gallon then you have to go to Lanai or Molokai.) Oahu struggles to keep a dairy open and I believe that these days most of our cow's milk is flown in from the Mainland. (I don't know the latest because I no longer drink milk.) Maybe your kids drink it faster than we used to, but we could barely keep a gallon in the fridge for a week before it turned bad. Soy milk or almond milk is not much of a better price but it doesn't go bad.
However you should be more worried about the cost of brand-name cereals! Costco has good prices on oatmeal & Cheerios.
Send me a PM or an e-mail if I can help with other questions.
Edited to add ... OMG that area has grown. It was Waipio Gentry where I lived, only it was just empty fields with one or two apartment/townhouse complexes at the time. Everything on the otherside of King Kam Highway was fields. They've got houses packed in tight now. :/
We still own a rental property in that area. Waipio Gentry has filled in and the neighborhood you're seeing on the "other side" of Kam Hwy is Waikele. It's been there for over 15 years now, but it also has good townhouses (with a killer bicycle commute to Schofield). The cane fields have been turned into Central Oahu Regional Park, which has become a great lifestyle magnet for the area. Plenty of sports fields, an Olympic swimming pool, tennis courts, walking paths, even an archery range. It really made a difference in our rental prices!
