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BRITT: Living in Hawaii may seem like a dream,
but over a million people call these islands home.
Hawai'i Life is a homegrown real-estate brokerage
We help people turn paradise into reality.
Namaste.
[ Chuckles ]
MAN: We got bananas, avocados growing there.
[ Laughter ]
BRITT: With properties ranging from vacant lots...
Wow. Is that Maui?
...to town homes to million-dollar bungalows...
This is absolutely fantastic.
It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
...there's something here for everyone.
This is "Hawaii Life."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
JEANNIE: Show me how to do it.
Look at the rainbow! Look at the rainbow.
Oh, wow. It's a rainbow.
My name is Linda. This is my mother, Jeannie.
I'm the proud mother of two sons --
Luke, who is 11, and Austin, who is 9.
We live in Tampa, Florida.
Well, we came to Maui back in 2007.
We stepped off the plane,
and we just absolutely fell in love with Maui.
I just felt this connection to it
like I had been here before or this was the place for me.
And when we left, all I thought about was,
how was I gonna get back to Hawaii?
And everybody thinks you're crazy.
We kind of team up, Linda and I,
but I thought it would be a good idea
if I sold my house, moved in with Linda,
and we came down here and looked for options.
Oh!
JEANNIE: Oh, I like this. That's beautiful.
I retired at the age of 49.
And I'm a nurse practitioner.
I work for
a major continuing-education company for nurses.
I do have the leisure of coming and going as I please,
as long as I have the ability to answer phone calls.
So working from home has its advantages.
Luke and Austin
spend way too much time inside on the computer,
but when we come here, they're out more.
They're in the water.
So I'm hoping that the move to Maui
will help facilitate them getting outside.
We spend more time in the outdoors
doing things together as a family.
That's one of the best parts about Maui.
It's just such a different culture.
You know, I feel the Hawaiian vibe.
The friendship, the love -- It never gets old.
I'm hoping that the boys will start to enjoy
what Hawaii has to offer.
I love this.
Yeah, I know.
Today, Linda, Jeannie, and the boys
are meeting with Hawai'i Life broker Tobi Fisher
at her shave-ice stand in Paia
to begin their search for their island home.
You guys want to come in and get some shave ice -- cool off?
Shaved ice.
Guys, you're gonna sit over there
while we talk to Tobi.
I'm so glad you guys finally made it out.
It's been a long time coming.
Counting the days.
Well, tell me a little bit
about what you guys are looking for.
Well, we're looking for 2 bedrooms.
1 bath would be fine.
In Maui, we don't need as much room.
I'd like something with an ocean view.
A nice view.
Definitely have to see the ocean.
It's just a part of the Hawaiian life
to look out there and see the waves,
see the surfers, and say,
"This is what it's about."
I like it nicely maintained.
I don't want to have to move in and make a lot of repairs.
[ Chuckles ]
We'd like to kind of stay within 20 minutes of the beach,
'cause we do really like to do that.
Okay.
We usually look for low tide to find the shells and the glass.
I'm gonna be out there competing with you.
That's all right. There's plenty.
And do you have any areas
that you kind of fell in love with?
You know, the North Shore area.
Okay, something breezy, cool.
Yeah, where, you know, among the locals
and, you know, learn the lifestyle.
Okay. What's the price range that you'd like to work with?
Between $400,000 and $500,000.
Okay, so $500,000 tops.
Okay.
I have some great properties in mind.
All right, well, I'm excited to look.
Yeah, I can't wait.
It'll be fun.
BRITT: Whether you're looking to relax in the sand
or get out on the water, Maui is the perfect place
with miles of beaches to explore.
On the North Shore, the more adventurous
can hit the waves at Kahana and Ho'okipa,
known for it's world-class kite and windsurfing
and absolute beauty.
Linda and Jeannie are focusing their search on the North Shore
in the towns of Makawao, Kula, and Wailuku.
Close to schools and shopping,
and with views of the West Maui Mountain Range and ocean,
they'll have plenty of opportunity
to get their boys outside.
The first house I will be showing Linda and Jeannie
is located in up-country Maui in the town of Kula.
It's higher elevation, right about 3,000 feet,
so it has a very temperate climate.
There's a lot of agriculture
and just beautiful panoramic ocean views.
Yeah.
This is Kulalani Circle.
It's 2-bedroom, 1-bath, 690 square feet.
So a little bit smaller for you, but you can add on to it.
The yard is completely fenced for the dogs and the kids,
and it's $465,000.
So kind of towards the top of our budget.
I love, like, the Hawaiian charm of the house.
Good. Let's go take a look.
BOTH: Okay.
Nice solid wood door. Check this out.
FISHER: Little French door with some light.
JEANNIE: Ah, pretty kitchen.
Really nice.
You got a little pantry here.
Yeah, this is nice.
That's big.
One thing it does not have is a dishwasher,
but that's why you have kids.
We got one right here. [ Chuckles ]
So it's big enough, you know, you can put a sectional.
I love the wood on the ceiling and the beams.
That's really what I think of when I think of Hawaii.
I love that picture window.
That's beautiful.
It brings the outdoors in.
It's really cool.
And then right down the hall, we have the guest bedroom.
Do you think it's big enough for the boys there?
Yeah, you could put the two boys in here.
LINDA: Yeah, yeah. This is nice.
All right, this is a good size.
FISHER: Got a nice breeze, too.
Yeah. Oh, it's pretty. I like it.
Wow.
Well, the other one does, too, right?
'Cause then I might have to squeeze in this one.
FISHER: Right around the corner, we have the master bedroom.
Oh, this is a nice size.
It has a great ocean view, too.
Yeah, that's really pretty.
And then we've got a sliding glass door.
It goes right out onto the lanais.
This is gonna be my room, right?
Our room.
Our room? Oh, no.
We'll have bunk beds.
Our needs here in Maui differ a lot
from what we would want in Tampa.
We would bunk together,
'cause we know that that room would go wasted,
because we wouldn't utilize two separate rooms.
So even though it's small, it really fits our needs.
Come out here and check this view out.
Wow. Check out that view.
Oh, my goodness. What a view.
That's absolutely beautiful.
Absolutely gorgeous.
That's actually Moloka'i.
Oh, wow.
So, yeah, you get to see west Maui,
part of the North Shore, and Moloka'i.
That's a beautiful view.
Wow. It's breathtaking.
I could get used to this, right?
Yeah, this is really nice-sized, too.
Look, a little eating area out here.
It's about 250 square feet.
You got two nice seating areas.
LINDA: Look that yard.
FISHER: I know. It's nice and big -- quarter acre.
Wow.
Got a little garden.
One thing I like about this is that all of the houses
are already built in around it,
so you know exactly what your view is going to be.
Your view is not gonna change.
So, there's a great garden space here.
It has some drip irrigation in it.
LINDA: Oh, nice.
Yeah.
Teach the kids a little bit of outdoor activity,
a little horticulture.
Yeah, it's definitely set up for outdoor living.
So, what's your overall impression of it?
Well, I thought it was beautiful.
I love the yard. I love the location.
I mean, it is a little small.
And, you know, it is a little bit
high price for our budget.
I do think this house is kind of worth it.
And you're about 25 minutes from the beach.
A little bit farther away.
You could see it in a second, so that's okay.
Definitely a contender.
We're gonna hop in the car, and we're gonna go see
another neighborhood and another property.
You're gonna make it tough for us, huh?
[ Laughing ] I know. Come on.
The next property I'll be showing Linda and Jeannie
is located in Wailuku Town in central Maui,
and this is on the foothills of the West Mauis.
So it's a nice, cooler environment.
You get the breeze.
You also have a great view of the North Shore of Maui.
This view up here -- I love Makawao.
I love the mountains.
My favorite beaches are on the North Shore over here,
without a doubt.
I'd love for the boys to learn how to surf.
I know.
I want to try that paddle boards.
Oh, look at that. Look at that.
Oh, my goodness.
♪ Ahhhhhh ♪
They call it "God's Country."
Yes.
I can't wait to see what she has for us.
The Iliahi town house -- it's a condominium complex,
and it was recently built in 2005.
So it's newer and it has less maintenance for them.
FISHER: So this complex -- it's a tongue-twister.
It's called Iliahi at Kehalani.
Yes.
They're all town homes, and they're real nice.
They're spread out over almost 14 acres.
Wow.
And they're all 3-bedroom, 2½-bath.
Oh, that's nice.
And they're all just over 1,200 square feet.
The property's currently listed at $399,000.
Oh, wow.
How far from the beach?
It's about 10 minutes from the beach,
and the closest beach would be down in Kahului.
Okay, great.
Come on in.
Oh, wow.
FISHER: So, great open floor plan.
Yeah.
The nine-foot ceilings, they do a lot for it.
Very nice.
You guys can go ahead and take a look at the kitchen.
This is nice and modern for me.
It's a little tight.
You've got the Corian,
and you have a nice little bar for the boys to eat breakfast.
I like it. It's turnkey.
I mean, you could just move in here and put your stuff away.
Yeah, it's great. It's nice and clean.
You know, as you get a little older, you get a little lazy.
[ Laughter ]
LINDA: I think this is a good-size space.
You know, my first impression was,
"Wow, that's a really tiny living room."
But if I just rearrange this furniture,
I think it would open the place up and give us more living area.
Oh, that's a pretty lanai.
I could sit out here and relax.
FISHER: So, come on up here.
This is where the great views are.
Got the master bedroom off on this side.
This is what I'm talking about.
[ Laughs ]
Yeah.
You walk right past the window.
Beautiful.
You get the whole view of the North Shore.
You can see all the way.
And it's a nice-size room, too.
The master bath is off to your right there.
Wow.
It has a nice window.
Yes.
And then one of the additional bedrooms.
This is nice.
LINDA: Oh, this is a nice size. Nice size.
FISHER: And a great view up to the mountain.
It does. This would make a nice room for the boys.
You know, they could share. It's big enough.
Yes, I think so.
The town home in Wailuku has three bedrooms.
We would still bunk the boys up together,
so it would leave us another room.
It would work for us.
And here's the downstairs half bath for your guests.
Oh. Oh, wow.
Look, a nice pedestal sink.
And what about the laundry?
The laundry is actually right here.
You come in from the beach,
you can just throw the stuff right in here.
That's a relief.
'Cause we do a lot of laundry.
You do a lot of beach towels?
Yes.
I know condos weren't on your list,
so I'm glad you kept an open mind and came and looked.
Yes.
Very, very nice.
It had a nice flow. You know, the layout was great.
I really liked it.
I thought the views were beautiful.
Yeah, I was very pleased with it.
Well, great. I have another property to show you --
completely different neighborhood.
And so we'll head out and take a look at that.
Oh, great. I'm excited.
Okay.
On your mark... get set...go!
Go swim to Austin.
No, I think he had enough.
LINDA: When I see my boys splashing around in that waterfall,
swimming there, racing each other to get under there,
you know, it solidifies the choice I'm making.
That's what I want to see.
It all comes down to that moment.
The last house I'm showing Linda and Jeannie
is Burns Place, and it's located in Makawao Town.
Makawao is considered up-country Maui.
It's an old rodeo town.
We used to have horses and cowboys.
It's very quaint and just a nice, peaceful neighborhood.
So, how was your drive up?
Oh, it was so beautiful, so scenic.
Nice and green, a little breezy.
Oh, gorgeous. Everything's a picture.
Yeah.
So, this is Burns Place.
LINDA: Okay.
Wow.
Just over 1,800 square feet.
And it was built in the late '70s,
and then they did some remodeling in 2005.
I like the porches.
Yeah, the porches face up to the sunrise at Haleakala.
Yeah, it's East-facing.
So, you get a lot of morning light,
so that would be nice.
It's a little bit bigger than what you were looking at.
Oh, absolutely.
It's twice as much as we were asking for.
So, come on in.
Okay, thank you.
Hey, Nice to see you.
Nice to see you, too.
Hi, I'm Kathy Ross.
Hi. Nice to meet you, Kathy.
Linda.
Hi, Kathy. Nice to meet you.
ROSS: We're here in the original part of the home,
and the original part is a two-bedroom, one-bath home.
And you can see that the kitchen's
in pretty original condition.
[ Laughter ]
Yeah.
When you're in Hawaii,
you don't need as much as you on the mainland.
Put a barbecue pit.
[ Laughter ]
So, let me take you into the living room,
and you can see where they have started to put in
a large glass door.
LINDA: Wow. It does really open up the view of that.
Look at that mountain.
JEANNIE: That mountain is beautiful.
Burns Place needs some renovations,
and that's something
that we're gonna have to take into consideration.
This is the first bedroom in the original part of the home.
It's the larger of the two.
Well, this, you know, is gonna be mine, right, Lin?
Sure. Anything for you.
[ Laughs ]
Yeah, this is a nice size.
And look, you've got the nice view.
Oh, yeah, the view. I love the view.
Right.
ROSS: From this point forward is the new part of the home.
It's all new. Oh, wow.
Oh, look at this.
It was built in 2005.
Wow. This is nice.
And it has the projector and the pull-down screen.
Very nice.
And you can check out the lava-rock wall there.
Oh, wow. Is this real lava rock?
Wow.
The entertainment room at Burns Place,
it would be a plus for my mom,
but I am looking to get my children out of the house.
It would just enable them, but it was a nice option.
JEANNIE: Oh, wait a minute.
I think I'm having a change of heart.
Well, let me show you the big master bedroom.
Oh, wow.
Goodness. Look at the ceiling.
I love that. That's the Hawaiian charm.
Smell it. It's the cedar that you smell.
Wow.
That's a beautiful cedar ceiling.
So, this -- You could have the one downstairs.
No?
[ Laughs ]
You called it downstairs.
This is a great-sized room.
I mean, you can fit a king-sized bed.
Absolutely.
Oh, my goodness.
The master bathroom? It's nice.
It's very, very nice.
And look at that big, huge tub.
Beautiful.
Here's the lanai off the master bedroom.
JEANNIE: Look at the mountains.
Beautiful.
So, what do you guys think?
More than I expected.
It's more than I actually, you know, think I would need.
Yeah, it's just, like, my concern would just be
the amount of work just because the two of us, you know?
But I love the view.
I'm glad you liked it.
I think we have a really tough decision ahead of us.
Well, keep an open mind, and you guys take a couple days.
And you can give me a call when you're ready.
Okay, there you go.
So, what did you think of Burns Place?
Right.
But I did love the fact that it was four bedrooms,
and I liked that it was close enough to the beach.
Yeah.
You know, the one thing that we'd have to consider
I know.
Yeah, it did need a little work.
I think it needed a little bit more than a little,
but there's enough room
Right.
I wasn't expecting to see that much for your money.
And what about Iliahi at Kehalani?
Well, I thought that was very nice.
The townhouse, at the bottom of our budget there,
which gave us extra money.
It would give us extra money.
Yeah.
Yeah, it did. It did.
It wouldn't be any work. It would kind of be turnkey.
Yeah, it was turnkey. Enough bedrooms.
It had just enough space.
I kind of, you know, was seeing us
at a single-family house,
but it did open up a nice option for us.
Okay, what do you think about Kulalani Circle?
That was really nice. It was a little small.
We would be sharing a bedroom
for a lot longer than I would have hoped.
Right, right.
But it was quaint. I did love the property.
The property was beautiful.
The property with the groves and stuff.
More than 20 minutes from the beach.
But very Hawaiian.
The views.
The views were outrageous.
It is over the distance
Right.
...but it's a tough one
because we have to make some compromises.
But I think we're both on the same page in what we'd like.
I think so, too.
Want to go find Tobi?
Yeah, let's go. Let's go tell her.
I'm excited, too.
Glad to see you.
How was your walk on the beach?
Beautiful.
Oh. [ Laughs ]
That breeze -- I need that breeze.
Yeah.
Great. So, have you thought things over?
Yes. Yes.
What do you think?
Well, Burns Place is really nice.
It's more than we expected to have.
I think we just -- We didn't want to do any work,
and the kitchen and the living room does need work.
Yeah, it needs a little remodeling.
Yeah, so, that's one we're gonna cross off our lists.
Okay. Understandable.
The Iliahi town home -- We really liked that one.
I was very impressed with that.
That one's ready to go.
Yes, very spacious.
And then, Kulalani Circle, it's very pretty.
It's beautiful.
And it's quite small but very Hawaiian.
So, you said that you'd made a decision.
Yes.
And I can't wait to hear.
The decision is...
Kulalani Circle.
I loved it.
It was so Hawaiian to me.
It's a little small,
but I think we could make it work for a time.
I think so, too.
Yeah.
And if we want to build on later on, that would be fine.
You know, and that view, the view was just killer for us.
Oh, I love it up there.
It's beautiful.
So, it's currently listed at $465,000.
Do you have any idea of what kind of offer
you want to put in?
We were going to offer $440,000.
Okay, that sounds great.
Yeah, it gives us some wiggle room.
I'll head back to the office,
and we'll write that up
and see what the seller has to say.
Okay, great. Can't wait.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Talk to you soon.
Okay. Let's head up.
All right.
Linda and Jeannie are excited
about the life that they can live here in Hawaii,
and their move from Florida to Maui
is currently in the works.
JEANNIE: Wow.
Come on, Luke!
Oh, no. Whoa! [ Laughs ]
Who wants to try it now?
Yeah.
That's a cool kite. Good job.
I'm hoping that the boys will start to enjoy
what Hawaii has to offer.
People don't come here once in their lifetime.
And for them to be able to move here,
that's really a privilege that I'm so glad
that we're able to extend to them.
This it the Hawaii life, right, Lin?
AUSTIN: That is so fun!
I never thought moving here would happen to me.
But we're firm believers --
If something is meant to be, it will happen.
[ Laughs ]