By Shane Myers Photography @ Shutterstock.com
You can’t enjoy life with wildfires, high taxes, crippling regulation, unchecked rioting in the streets, and a pandemic working through your overcrowded city. Yet, that’s the situation many Californians face every day.
That’s why so many Golden Staters are looking to escape the city, and instead, live the island life. Many are looking to Hawaii as a refuge from California. Trevor Boyer of the Daily Mail reports “From January to June 2020, Californians have bought $587.6 million worth of Hawaii real estate, or 41 percent of the total from U.S. buyers.” He writes:
Beset by fire and a pandemic, Californians are buying up houses in Hawaii at a fearsome clip – often without even having set foot on the islands.
Golden State residents, representing 41 percent of Hawaii home buyers from the U.S., plunked down $587.6 million on Hawaiian real estate between January and June this year.
As COVID fatigue set in and smoke from wildfires clouded the sky, California residents were calling Hawaii real estate agents.
Catherine Pennell, a real-estate agent with KW Kauai Keller Williams who sells homes on the island of Kauai, told SFGate.com that since March, she’s been taking two or three calls a day from U.S. mainlanders wanting to buy a house on the islands.
‘I think people are saying, “Life is short.” It’s a lot of talk because they’re not here yet and they can’t get here yet, but I’ve done more sight-unseen sales than I’ve ever done during the pandemic,’ she said.
Realtor Jeanna Rimmer of the Hawai’i Life agency said since March, she’s sold 15 houses to buyers who had not set foot inside their new abodes.
‘I’ve had clients since April been trying to get over here. Those that are OK with taking a little risk are buying sight unseen,’ she told the Daily Mail.
Buyers are looking for single-family homes, not condos, which are often used for Airbnb tourists and are thus moldering on the market, according to SFGate. New condos listings in Maui are up 97 percent this August vs. August 2019.
Overall, however, the market is tight, evidenced by the fact that inventory across the islands from April to August 2020 is down over 15 percent compared to the same period last year.
Whether you move to an actual island, or simply build a virtual island for yourself, the benefits can be immense. Separating yourself from the hustle and bustle of the big city can do wonders for your finances, and your mental health. If you choose the right spot in America, you can live like a billionaire.
Action Line: Don’t get overwhelmed. Life can surround you with problems like taxes, disasters, sickness, and even violence. Build yourself an island to escape all that. Save money, prepare your family, escape the city, and get your gun and your training now. Live the island life.
E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy
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