RE Career - Moving to Honolulu / Or other Hawaii Islands
Fellas - I'm sure a few of those who've been have there have comtemplated this thought of seriously relocating there.
How does one begin to figure out what to do in RE in Hawaii? I have zero network there and searching on job boards ain't yielding too many options.
From my experience, very small market with a big emphasis on who you know - even moreso than generally in real estate. Most people there are from there and have been there for a while, with a lot of people having generational experience in their family. Lots of old money. Everyone kinda knows each other, which I think is the main reason you won’t find much success on job boards - the companies there don’t recruit a ton and definitely don’t do so on the mainland. That’s a downside and a plus - can be hard to initially get in coming from the mainland but on the flip side, the people you’re competing with respectfully are by no means the sharpest in the industry.
If you’re able to break in... can be a great place as the market there is incredibly unsophisticated and very mom-and-pop. Despite the tourism industry there, just not a ton of institutional capital especially when you step outside the biggest deals. Some guys I knew there were running very basic levels of sophistication/depth in their underwriting/mkt analysis by mainland standards and they were head and shoulders above the competition doing just that.
Plus, getting off work early (nobody grinds in HI) and chilling on the beach is fucking sick. Just enjoy having to shell out private school tuition for your kids because the public education system there is complete garbage. Anecdotally, I have yet to meet someone on the mainland that didn’t go to Punahou/Iolani.
Grew up on Oahu and can agree with most of the above. Pretty much 95% of the people working in CRE at an executive or desirable (in terms of income) level are either locals, have some type of family connection, or are poached from a mainland company at the C-suite level. Main players in CRE are Alexander & Baldwin and Bishop Estate (Goodluck even trying). Ofc pretty much everyone who has visited has contemplated the idea of moving there. But the logistics are very unfavorable, especially for someone from the outside. You’re moving to one of the HCOL states that have the lowest pay. Expect to take a massive pay cut to your base, make a fraction of any bonus, have higher living expenses ($900k 3 bdrm/ $5-6 gas/ $9 for a dozen eggs/ etc), pay $25k+yr for your kids private school, etc. not to mention Honolulu has the highest homelessness and traffic per capita and some of the lowest quality schooling. And also hate to say it, but the locals won’t be the most welcoming.
Lastly, how much more room do you think the RE sector can grow in HI? All of the zoning land is used. Companies build up, not out, leading to perpetually inflated prices. And don’t even get me started with the politics.
But hey, that’s the price of paradise I guess.
Really great insight here - I neglected to mention the entire pay vs. COL aspect which is a whole nother animal.
OP, I totally understand why haoles (like you and I) would think moving to Hawaii would be dope on all fronts, but the Oahu we see when we visit and stay in Waikiki or some shit like that is veeerrryyyy different from the actual Oahu most people live on. Go a few miles inland and you’ll see real Hawaii, and probably also why native Hawaiians hate us. Not saying they’re right/wrong, basically just saying that unless you are VERY well off and willing to shell out a pretty insane amount of dough for what you get, your lifestyle FT here will be noticeably different (and probably quite disappointing) compared to what you saw when you vacationed here, came for a property tour on Ala Moana, etc especially when you inevitably have to step outside the few nice areas and sling some crappy multi property in Wahiawa. Then you’ll see real Hawaii haha! Note - respect the locals! They won’t like you, but show respect and people will leave you alone.
I’ll stop talking so much now. Dude above ^ knows more than me!
Not much help, but Brookfield has a development team out there.
Howard Hughes
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