Michelle, who is from Seattle, has decided to live the Hawaii Life and is moving to Oahu. She lived in Seattle her whole life, but moved to Hawaii when she was 18 for college. Now she’s graduating college and has decided that she is staying in Hawaii. She believes that’s just where she was always meant to be.
“This is where I absolutely have to be,” Michelle explains.
She has already found a job in the accounting field, and does some stand-up comedy on the side. So the only thing left for her to do is find a place to call home.
Suvin, her real estate agent, gets to work on finding Michelle what she’s looking for. And what is she looking for exactly? She’s thinking of a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom condo. She does want to have a lanai with a scenic view also. Her other needs are a large kitchen and a place close to the beach. She’d also love a pet-friendly place. Suvin needs to find all those things with a $300-350,000 budget in mind.
The first place Suvin takes her to check out is the Parkview Condo. The 1 bedroom, 1 bath unit is listed at $335,000 and is 515 sq feet. And it looks a lot like a hotel. The kitchen is a decent size, but it’s really outdated. The living room isn’t huge, and has popcorn ceilings. Anyone who watches HGTV knows a popcorn ceiling is one of the HGTV deadly sins.
It does have a really large lanai, however. But the view is compromised by a really busy street. This is pretty much a nightmare condo in my opinion. I can’t imagine her taking this place.
The next place Suvin takes Michelle to is Diamond Head. At $362,000 it’s over her budget but it has 2 bedroms and 1 bathroom and is 709 sq feet. Even though it’s over budget, Suvin tells her it’s worth considering because it’s something she can grow into and it has a great view.
Inside, the kitchen and the living room are open and airy, but again the kitchen is outdated. The living room is larger than the last place, and it has an exposed concrete wall that ads a trendy touch to the room. The lanai is really small, but there’s a great view of mountains and the skyline. There are even some slight views of the ocean.
This is a step up from the previous place, but it’s still not a place I’d want to wake up in every morning. What’s next, Suvin?
Next is The Makiki. It’s dog-friendly and is 2 bedrooms and one bath listed at $315,000. Inside they find a huge living room, but the kitchen isn’t that large. And once again, it’s outdated. She’s clearly not getting an updated kitchen in her price point. This place looks like a dorm to me. But she really likes the price and the living room, so it seems to me like she’s maybe leaning toward this one at the moment.
But the next place, the Punchbowl Studio, is renovated and listed for $315,000. But it’s a studio and only 402 sq feet. That means the bedroom is also the living room. But it does have a washer and dryer inside the unit. The bathroom is also pretty nice. It’s a decent size and has been upgraded. The kitchen is also upgraded but it’s tiny. The apartment does have the best view of all the places she’s seen.
So this place is nice and has nice views, BUT IT’S A STUDIO. No way I could do it. She doesn’t seem to be ruling it out, however.
I’d pick none of these places, but she has to pick one. She decides to go with the first place, Parkview Condo. I find that surprising, but compared to the other places she saw, it probably was one of the better ones.
She seems really happy with her new home, though, so that’s all that matter. She’s also pretty happy that she got the place for $330,000. Hopefully she uses that $5,000 she saved for some updated kitchen appliances.
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