Anyone divide their time between Hawaii and the Mainland? (Honolulu: renters, condo)

[HonuMan]

As I've posted before, my wife and I live in Portland, Oregon. She's from Hilo and is terribly homesick. (She just got back from attending the Merrie Monarch Festival.) She's going to retire in eight years, but I'm younger and will have to work for another nine. I have a long-time, stable, well-paying job that I love, and my boss has told me that if I ever get the opportunity to live in Hawaii, I can telecommute. A lot can happen in eight years, of course, but my wife and I have long kicked around the idea of moving to Hawaii if and when it makes financial sense to do so. We also love Oregon and the PNW in general, and we're considering the possibility of dividing our time between Hawaii and Oregon when the time comes. I also think it's strategically safer to be physically present in my company's office for half of the year than it is to be potentially out of sight, out of mind most of the time. We also have a small, modest house here that we're fixing up the way we want, and that we'd be sort of sad to leave for good. I'm just curious as to whether anyone else here splits their time between Hawaii and the Mainland, and, if so, how you make it work.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

As I've posted before, my wife and I live in Portland, Oregon. She's from Hilo and is terribly homesick. (She just got back from attending the Merrie Monarch Festival.) She's going to retire in eight years, but I'm younger and will have to work for another nine. I have a long-time, stable, well-paying job that I love, and my boss has told me that if I ever get the opportunity to live in Hawaii, I can telecommute. A lot can happen in eight years, of course, but my wife and I have long kicked around the idea of moving to Hawaii if and when it makes financial sense to do so. We also love Oregon and the PNW in general, and we're considering the possibility of dividing our time between Hawaii and Oregon when the time comes. I also think it's strategically safer to be physically present in my company's office for half of the year than it is to be potentially out of sight, out of mind most of the time. We also have a small, modest house here that we're fixing up the way we want, and that we'd be sort of sad to leave for good. I'm just curious as to whether anyone else here splits their time between Hawaii and the Mainland, and, if so, how you make it work.

I used to split my time between San Francisco and Honolulu before I made the move permanently. I did it differently than 1/2 year split at a time between locations. I did 1 week telecommute at my home office in Honolulu then 1 week in the office in San Francisco. Prior to moving to Honolulu I had my compensation revised downward and the company agreed to pay for my airfare. My customer base and my employees were Northern California based so I had no choice but to make the trip. They didn't really care as long as I kept my numbers up (profit).

[terracore]

If you can afford two households and all that transportation cost, I think its a great idea if it works for you. My family began to try this and found the time on the island went by too quickly and the time in Alaska went by too slowly. Spend a day at work, come home and spend the evening shoveling snow, and then write out a $1000 check for a half tank of heating oil before going to bed exhausted, and the island seems very far away.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Lots of people here split their time. Our subdivision is filled with snowbirds who drift in around November and out again in April or May. We go back to Colorado for 3-4 months in the summer to see our kids and grandkids.

Part of a good moving plan is to realize that you ARE going to be a long way away from family and they may not have the money or time to come visit you. So you factor in a mainland trip or two into your yearly budget. Also some people get rock fever and just have to get away for a while.

We arrange to have a housesitter here rather than leave our house empty. For the Colorado house, we have been successful getting short term renters so that house doesn't stay empty for long.

[WaikikiBoy]

Hi HonoMan, I do not split time between Hawaii and the Mainland but I have prepared myself to do it in the event I choose to in the future.

I work in Portland, Oregon and have a home here as well. I'm also about 8 yrs out from retirement. I have the ability to telecommute (but for shorter periods of time, like 1 or 2 months at a time). I started preparing a couple years ago and here's the short version of what I did: First, I refinanced the mortgage on my existing home to a 15 yr mortgage so the balance would be paid off shortly after I retire. Then I began researching Honolulu to make a purchase there.

I specifically wanted a condo and I wanted a condo zoned to allow for short-term vacation rentals. This would allow me to use the unit whenever I want and then to rent it out when I'm not there. I researched and visited many buildings in Waikiki and settled on one building that I felt suited my needs and was in a location I liked. I then decided on what I wanted to pay and spent about 9 months waiting and making offers until I found a unit & seller that all worked within the parameters I set out.

That set myself up to split time between the two places if I want to. Ironically at this point, I decided to simply rent the unit to a long-term tenant and not split time. I decided I didn't want to spend my time in Honolulu working for 8 or 9 hours/days. When I'm there I want to relax and enjoy the things that have drawn me to Hawaii in the first place.

So for now, I rent the unit and I choose to simply visit a couple times per yr rather than telecommute. And my thinking now is that I'll just keep the unit rented long-term until I retire and then begin using it. But the way I set it up, I do have the option to split time if I choose to.

I would say if you really want to give it a try, you could simply put aside some $$ specifically for Hawaii, then find a house or condo and rent it for a couple months. Get your telecommute approved to allow you to telecommute for 3 moths per year and just rent a house or condo for that 3 month period. Just a thought.

Good luck to you with whatever you choose to do.

[HiloDiver]

I don't see why it wouldn't work out for you.

We will be doing a similar thing in that my spouse is a ship captain and is out to sea 30 days then home 30 days. I'll be on BI full-time, and his "residence" for half the year (every other month) will be captain's quarters. When you think about it, it's really similar to your situation.

Best wishes, it sounds like a great life for you two.

[whynot?]

We did it for years, staying a month on the east coast and then a month on Maui. It was great because we made friends on Maui and didn't lose touch with anybody in Virginia. We could take care of our aging parents, have family and friends come for extended visits to Maui, etc. We were mostly retired, but own some commercial property and had to deal with extra months of work (or parental health care) occasionally. If you don't mind doubling down on utilities and services you don't really "use" when you're at the other house, it's feasible. We really enjoyed still having four seasons in Virginia and the perfect tropical weather for the rest of the year.

Best of luck.

[nullgeo]

Sure. Me (and wife) too ... as others have pointed out: there's lots of us. I spend only about four months a year in Hawaii (sailing) and split the rest between the San Juan Islands in Washington, and in California. Yes, I'm retired now.

The split lifestyle sounds expensive but I don't find a $500 +/- round-trip airfare to be a big deal once a year ... it's the costs of staying in Hawaii and having to rent a car that leaves most people convinced only rich folks can afford the lifestyle. I live on boats and a friend keeps my old van parked safe.

If you are able to set up a modest place in Hilo / Puna or similar, and keep a car there -- bingo.

[HonuMan]

Thanks, everyone, for your feedback and good wishes! I re-read my post and realized I wasn't clear on one thing: I'll need to work for nine years beyond my wife's retirement, not for nine years from now. So that's long enough to plan for various options. All things being equal, it would be easier to maintain one home base and just make extended visits to the other place. We know we'd be able to stay in our Portland house and make one- to three-month visits to Hawaii. We also know we'd be able to sell our house, buy a house in the Hilo area, and live comfortably on my salary and my wife's retirement income. The risk is that, if I lost my job for some reason, I wouldn't be able to find work in my field on the BI, which is why a Portland home base makes more sense until I retire. However, I have the potential to move from a non-consulting to a consulting role with my company, which would mean more money, and which also would make Oahu a more logical place to live. If I lost my job while I was there, I'd be much more likely to be able to earn a living in my field on Oahu than on the outer islands. In any case, as my wife gets closer to retirement, our options will become more clear. As a friend of ours recently put it, "Hawaii is paradise, but Oregon is utopia." Either way, we'll be in a place we love.

[HankDfrmSD]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

I'm just curious as to whether anyone else here splits their time between Hawaii and the Mainland, and, if so, how you make it work.

We have done it for 22 years, and it works for us, but there are some special things about us that make it work. Without them, it might not:

1) I bought a house on Oahu in 1965. Couldn't afford it now.

2) We rent the Oahu house for six months a year, but we enlarged it so that we can lock off our master suite and my study, and can thus leave everything personal (except the laptops) behind locked doors for six months. We have all the everyday "stuff" (clothes, tools, cars, pots, pans, furniture, etc.) in both places.

3) We're retired military, so have commissary privileges.

4) On the mainland, we have a condo in a gated community, so we can just lock it up and leave.

Hank