This is a short note from a woman I’ll call “Sandy”. I’ll respond below her email.

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Hi my name is Sandy. My husband and I are looking to move to Hawaii in the next year or two. My husband went to college working with computers and I want to go to school to be a mortuary beautician. Would I be able to find work easy in this field? We would like to move to North shore. How is the rate for renting a one bedroom in North Shore? I lived in California and Florida for most of my life. Unfortunately for my husband he has lived in Alabama all of his life. He is having a hard time being ok with the high cost of living. But he does want to move to Hawaii. So I am looking into the cheapest way to go for now. Thank you for your time.

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Vern’s response…

Aloha Sandy, thanks for writing. I love the North Shore of Oahu, and I know it fairly well. There are very few one bedroom apartments on the North Shore, but there are rooms in houses that owners rent-out, usually to surfers. Many of the rooms are reserved for the same surfers each year, as the family gets used to them staying and wants to keep them coming back. Some even offer the rooms free for them. What a life – right?

Over in Waialua, just west of Haleiwa, there is a condo I know about. It’s the Mokuleia Sands Condo. I knew a couple people living there, it wasn’t bad for them – but I think they got a break on the rent. Today you can find something in there for about $250,000 if you’re buying. It’s a one bedroom, one bath. Rent might be around $2,000 per month. You can always have a look at Craigslist Hawaii to see if there are rooms available for when you decide to move. The rooms today are in the $650 to $750 range and are just that, a room. You’d have limited (negotiated) use of other parts of the house.

I have to say that there are VERY few jobs on the North Shore. Computer skills won’t be enough. Mortuary beautician won’t be needed much, and probably there is one in the area. There are very few businesses on the North Shore. There are places to eat, there are t-shirt shops and other souvenir shops, but really there is no thriving business that might support a computer technician, or anything else to do with computers.

You’d have a better chance of making it in the Waikiki area.

To me, it sounds like you’re probably in the first stages of considering a move. If you haven’t yet, you should get my $5 book on Moving to Hawaii 2012 – Is Living in Paradise for YOU? – on the right side column of this site. It’s also at Amazon, Apple, Sony, Barnes, etc.

Make sure you have a lot of money saved and a backup plan if you do decide to move.

Best of luck to you both.

Aloha,

Peter Kay