Today was a holiday, but even though Cameron didn't have to go to work, we still had some stuff to do...first and foremost, look for and hopefully find a house.
We decided to look at houses for sale and found a little fixer-upper. We figured that if we could find a place near the ocean, even if we had to fix it up, in the end, with the improvements we'd make, we could get much more in return afterwards by renting it out at the rates that rentals are going for around here!
Well...when we got to the place we found, we realized that the neighborhood alone was not very welcoming. Then we got to the actual house...and...it was beyond horrible. We didn't even want to go in. The pictures of just the outside of it were deceiving...we didn't even want to see what the inside would be like. I KNEW there was a reason that out of the 11 pictures posted of the property, over half of them were of the ocean view...which was NOT the immediate view from the place...you'd have to cross over the two-lane highway to get to the beach.
Oh well!!!
Next stop...our friend's house. :)
Joy and her family decided to buy a home, but they had been living at an old military housing installation which was renting out homes for cheaper rates than anywhere else, so we went to check out their 4-bedroom house. It reminded us of Fort Benning housing, though a little nicer, AND the rooms all had ceiling fans in them...a BIG plus!!! Also, because it's military housing, there's a gate guard that you have to show an ID to in order to get in (hear: "safer"), and the neighborhoods were all really well kept up. There's a fitness center RIGHT down the street from their house...AND a daycare/preschool AND a tennis court AND a playground AND a small lake!!! What else could you ask for?! :) Joy gave us a little tour, and then she also took us to the new house that they've bought and are in the process of moving into. Their new house is exactly that...new and gorgeous.
After a tour of their new house, we went to check out the model homes. The girls were good sports and we had fun looking at all of the different houses. There were so many beautiful options! Unfortunately, when we spoke to a lender, they told us that it would be difficult for us to purchase a home if we already own a home in Texas (that we're renting out)...which we were afraid of.
But...it's ok! By renting at this military installation, we'll be able to save up a lot of money during our three years here in Hawaii!!! :) So we decided to go back to the place we were at earlier to speak to the housing manager that would be there later that day to check our friends out of their old home so that we could speak to her about renting there.
We went to get lunch and then we went back to Joy's place, where we waited and visited with Billy while Alegria and Odette played with some neighborhood kids. Cameron even took a walk to the beach...at VERY close walking distance from their house!!! :)
The lady never came (Billy mentioned something about Hawaiian standard time...)...so we headed on home after getting the number to the leasing office to call them in the morning.
On the way back to our hotel, the girls had their windows down and the wind was blowing through their hair and making it all crazy-like! Hahaha!
And then they were too tired from all the excitement:
Hopefully tomorrow we can talk to someone about renting a home. :)
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