Hubby has spoke to someone from our union hall over there. This guy has been over there working for 5 years. He was very friendly and helpful. He offered to let hubby stay with him for a few weeks until he finds a temporary place to stay.
It's the aloha spirit, it's a great deal, and I strongly recommend you accept the hospitality. Your spouse will learn local culture at a very fast pace, and the union will also learn about him just as quickly. It's the fastest route to
learn how to surf become one of the guys. If he turns down this offer then the co-workers may leap to some mistaken conclusions.
I'm still looking at high schools. It looks like bc of the commute I have ruled out Mililani. The area I'm looking at now is in the Kalani or Moanalua High School District and McKinley being third option.
Anyone know where the boundaries are for these high schools or anything about them? I'm just going off of what I've found online and test scores etc.
I hear you, but keep it in your back pocket in case other locations don't work out. The drive up H-2 from the H-1/H-2 merge is a lot faster than the drive out to Ewa Beach or down Fort Weaver Road.
I know Mililani well, but I don't know much about the others. You really need to ask the schools questions on HawaiiThreads.com. One of the members, Scrivener, teaches at a private school and will be familiar with all the public school locations, reputations, & issues. The owner of HT, Ryan Ozawa, is a local media/tech personality who's also in touch with the schools.
I do have a question about rentals.
In my head I'm thinking that when we get close to having enough saved to bring me and the kids over...I'll hopefully find a rental online, hubby will go and check it out. When we find one we like he'll make the deposits and handle whatever they need to verify like rental agreement, employment, deposits, credit check etc. Will that work? Without me actually being there? I don't work so I don't need to verify any income or anything.
I feel much better with the helpful replies I have got. Thank you so much. :)
I think that'll work. His name will be on the lease and the credit check, not yours, so the landlord shouldn't have an issue. You can add your name when you arrive if there's questions about keys or access to neighborhood recreation centers or other permissions.
You can probably do any signatures by e-mailing PDFs or using a fax, but it's also very convenient to give each other a general power of attorney for the period that you'll be apart. For example you might need his signature on the van shipping forms if his name is also on the title or if the vehicle loan has his name as well as yours.
hhmmm. before you pay to have a minivan shipped across the world to a state with the highest gas prices in the country, I would reread the articles on this site about commuting/car ownership costs.
A couple comments on that generality.
I've been stationed all over the U.S., and the region with the cheapest monthly gas consumption has been... Hawaii. Gas prices may be the highest in the nation, but Oahu is a 30x40 mile island and we drive far fewer miles here than San Diego, DC, or Texas. Her spouse is looking at a bus or a carpool, so commuting costs are low. During my working days I was also able to commute by bicycle every day of the year without having to be even the slightest bit badass, although some days combined the workout with a shower.
She's mentioned that she's making payments on the van. It's possible that it's upside down so it could cost her money to sell it. If she's making payments then she also does not hold the title, so a buyer would have to trust her to clear the lien and deliver the title after the sale. Faced with the uncertainty of relocating to a new state, I'd try to simplify a few areas of my life to reduce the decision fatigue. Shipping the van may be expensive but it may be less overall hassle. Selling the van before returning to the Mainland will be a lot easier because she'll presumably have title and a family-friendly vehicle. Oahu has plenty of used cars but the family-friendly ones tend to be more along the lines of SUVs or pickups than vans. Besides, a van might hold a standup paddleboard more easily than an SUV.