My Home: A series about the home buying process through the eyes of a first time home buyer.

If you recall, awhile back I posted that I my daily email updates on the Hawaii housing market was getting scarce…a few changes here and there, and then at the beginning of this week I received an update with 4 price changes…DOWN.  Well, yesterday I got another update…this time with 3 more price changes and one status change from ‘In Escrow’ to ‘Active’ meaning the sale didn’t go through.  One house was reduced 9.5% or $62,000!

I’m hoping this is just a blip, because I hope the slowdown is a gradual one…could this week just be an annomaly or a sign of what’s to come?  If the drop happens to quickly, our economy might take a major hit…

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This post has to deal mainly with the Island of Oahu, but some of it may be applicable to other islands as well.  I’ll try to point out some of the sights, sounds, and tastes you have to check out while in Oahu…on the cheap…for the most part anyway.

Shopping

• Swap Meet:  Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday @ the Aloha Stadium.  For the best deals, as long as you don’t care about brand names, this is the place to shop.  Never buy based on first price, haggling required!  You might even find a deal like 10 shirts for $10.  It can be a little hot on somedays, so bring water and drinks, unless you want to buy inflated drinks at the meet.
• Kahala Mall, Pearlridge, and Waikele Outlet:  Ala Moana and Waikiki shops get all the press, but there are other malls on Oahu.  Kahala is more of an upscale, laid back mall catered to locals.  Lots of small specialty shops.  Pearlridge, is a mixed crowd type of mall, lots of youngins choose Pearlridge because of games and movies.  Waikele outlet is great for good deals, just be prepared to deal with traffic.
• Costco for Macadamia Nuts:  Almost everyone brings back Macadamia Nuts from Hawaii…there’s no place cheaper than Costco.

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