This summer I toured a couple of 6,000 to 7,000 square foot mansion in the Kahala neighborhood of Honolulu, all in preparation for a potential move in two or three years. We plan to move back for either 6th or 7th grade for our son and 3rd or 4th grade for our daughter, so we figured why not scope out some sweet properties ahead of time.
The main conclusion I came away with is that these homes aren’t just too expensive at $8 million to $10 million. They’re also too big. Maintenance plus the utility bill to cool the place and run the waterfalls alone would run $3,000 to $5,000 a month.
The Middle Of The Market Isn’t Great Value
We then toured a 2,050 square foot house listed at $3.25 million, and a really outdated 3,200 square foot house at $2.95 million in the same neighborhood, Waialae Iki. The 2,050 sqft house sat across from a park, so its views of the ocean and the Waialae golf course were unobstructed. It’s much smaller than our current house, but we liked it.
Unfortunately, at $3.25 million, it felt priced at least $750,000 too high. There’s no way I’m paying $1,600 per square foot for a home in this neighborhood. I’m not sure I’d pay $1,600 per square foot for any home in Honolulu. There simply aren’t enough high-paying jobs to easily sell the place down the road if we need to…