Housing Update

So we spent a lot of time driving around Oahu in the last ten days. It was a rollercoaster of emotion for me. I loved a place online and it was horrid in person. I saw what was readily available and worried that we were going to have a project house. I wouldn't mind a project house, but since we're here a short time and not looking toward this being our forever home, it just didn't make too much sense (or cents).

So we looked at a couple of new developments. They are the only ones that aren't short-sales and those are touchy with VA lending. We found a place that we really loved. It was a bit more than we wanted to spend, but an awesome house. Look here at the second house down called Marina. The pictures really don't do it justice. It is a weird house (two separate one car garages) but we loved it. A lot.

Then the next day, we were out looking and the agent took us to this other development. When they showed us the brochure, there were a few places within our budget and we were surprised. So we went marching through the model homes. There were two we liked, but, unfortunately, one had a weird upstairs and one had a weird downstairs. We were torn. We made an appointment to come back the next day so that she could show us the facilities. Essentially she wanted to show us the country club and marina that adjoin the property. The map linked shows you the overhead (if you choose the satellite option on google maps) of the area. It is WAAAAAAAAAAAAY more advanced now, but the project is not complete.

So, back to the house. Later we found out that the house with the weird upstairs could be changed much more to our liking. It wouldn't be perfect but better. The community is currently being built, and like most new communities, they don't put all the houses up at once. The developer builds some, sells some, builds some, sells some.

We have pretty much decided to buy this house. It won't be ready until December, but we are ok with that. Since we're staying in this little rental house, we can sock some money away. Unfortunately, we are going to close too late for the first time buyer's credit (8k) unless they extend it to 2010, but we're spending about 40k less than we had budgeted, so I guess it's a wash...


This picture is from a house just down the street (note the service flag in the window). It is NOT our house, but it is just like ours will be. We are not sure what exterior colors we will get just yet, though.



Oh and that deck you see on the front of the house, that's right off the master suite and at the proposed Flach house, that deck will be facing the south with a dog park right across the street. We should get some nice sunset views.

Life so far...

So, as prompted by one of my dear friends, I have not done much more than just post one line updates on Facebook. I should tell yall some more, eh?


OK, so this is only our 5th day here. The first two days were spent exploring the Leeward side of the island. We had thought we wanted to live in the area called Ewa Beach. After driving around down there, we were a bit discouraged. There are some nice houses but they are almost all stacked RIGHT ON TOP of each other. I mean you could stand between the two houses and touch each one. It was a let down.

The next day, we decided to head out to another little community called Kapolei. It's near Barber's Point which is a Naval Air Station that is being re-utilized. So, there is a commissary out there. We thought that was a plus. Tom pointed out a neighborhood on the hill that looked waaaaaaaaaaaaay out of our price range. I finally caved and we drove through it. Well there were a few (less than 10) houses for sale in the neighborhood and they should almost all have SPECTACULAR views of the ocean. They are south facing, so not much of a sunset view, but still! So we looked up some basics on our phones and wrote down a lot of addresses.

When we got home, I explored a bit online and the houses we liked were a bit more expensive than we had planned on spending, but they were not unattainable. Then Tom started doing a bit of research on the area. It's really kind of fascinating. It is 16 miles from downtown Honolulu, but it is part of Honolulu and all of the city/county government is moving out there. There is already a decent infrastructure in place and once they improve the freeway out there, it will be good to grow for a while. There is a Marriott resort out there and Disney is building a resort, too. So, theoretically, it should be a good place to invest. It's also a much nicer area than Ewa. So, we asked for more money and we're going to go hunt tomorrow.

Tom is still off work and will probably not report until September first. Austen is liking it thus far and the animals are all content here. Hershey ate a bug the other night and his lips became swollen to twice their normal size. The boys are going off to the groomer today. We have learned that with all wood floors, their nails have to be MUCH shorter or you have to listen to clickety clackety all night long.

So, that is about it. Love exploring thus far. It's nice having vacation first and having the time to get used to an area before choosing where we want to be.

Our First Tropical Adventure in Food

Ok, well actually it was our second. Last night we ordered the 'house special' pho which was full of things we could not identify. One was some sort of cephalopod. One was some sort of organ meat. Then there was some veal, that was easy to recognize. The other thing though... umm... I think it was jelly fish. I really do.

Anyway, onto today's adventure: Dragon Fruit

This is the outside of the fruit. It's pretty, huh?





and a couple of the inside:




The pink is so vibrant. I guess it also comes in white. So, onto the review. Texture like kiwi fruit but no flavor. None, really. It was quite a let down, but it sure is neat to look at!