Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
ZIETZ: Living in Hawaii may seem like a fantasy,
but over a million people call this paradise home,
and you can, too.
You're in the jungle up here.
Sweet little spot.
At Hawai'i Life, our brokers do more than find bedrooms and baths.
Here's this gorgeous view again.
They connect clients with the aloha spirit.
That's nice.
This is what you've been waiting for.
With more than 30,000 properties,
Hawaii has something for every budget.
Love these views.
This is great.
This is your sunset every night.
No.
This is "Hawaii Life."
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
GAIL: You know what would be a nice ritual?
Get a lunch and come and have it right on the beach.
What do you think?
Sounds good to me, as long as you're making the lunch.
I'm Gail. And we are the Rustins.
Don't go too far.
Okay.
We're from Riverside, California.
We have a large family.
We have taken great care of the kids and the grandkids,
and now it's time for us
to start a new chapter in our lives.
I want to become a writer.
I think Hawaii offers the enchantment I need
for my imagination to flourish.
You know, it's like nature and you become one.
I've served in the military,
and I've lived in some beautiful places around the world.
But something just pulls me to Hawaii.
The first visit on Oahu -- oh, my goodness.
We were just, you know, blown away with that.
We felt the island spirit.
What they call the "aloha" spirit.
Yes.
And here we are.
Yes, we're ready to live the Hawaii life.
Yes.
GAIL: Hi, Sandra.
Jerry and Gail are meeting up with Hawai'i Life agent
Sandra Sagisi Moser
to describe their perfect home for their new life.
Well, good. So, tell me, what are you looking for in a house?
Mm-hmm.
And Gail would be looking for some outdoor space
for some gardening.
Just a little something for a few plants.
And if any kind of family room was available,
You want a man cave.
[ Both laugh ]
Yep. I guess we could say that's a must.
And as far as budget is concerned, what is your budget?
Our budget is $450,000 to about $550,000.
We'd like to stay closer to the lower end of it.
That shouldn't be very difficult to find.
With that budget, we're looking more on the leeward side,
because that is where we have a lot of affordable homes.
Yes.
All right, so, I will do my research,
and then I'll give you a call in a couple of days
and we'll take a look at these homes.
All right. Thank you, Sandra.
Are you excited to live the Hawaii life?
GAIL: Oh, yes!
We're ready.
ZIETZ: Hawaii consists of four main islands --
Big Island, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai.
Oahu is known as the gathering place,
and is home to the majority of Hawaii's residents.
The Rustins are looking for a home on the leeward coast,
just west of Pearl Harbor.
This sunny and dry region
is home to some of the fastest-growing towns on Oahu,
like Makakilo and Ewa Beach.
This area's a short drive
to all the great shops and restaurants in Waikiki,
but has more of a small-town feel.
The first house that I'm showing the Rustins is in Makaha.
It is 22 miles west of Honolulu
and two blocks away from the beach.
Aloha! Welcome to Makaha.
It certainly is.
It's one acre, which is unusual for the island of Oahu.
Got majestic mountains wrapping around your beautiful lot.
It is, isn't it?
Love it.
JERRY: Wow. This is really awesome.
Wow.
I'm just looking at all this land.
Okay.
As you can see, it's two stories.
Upstairs, four bedrooms, four baths,
with three extra rooms downstairs.
It's listed for $525,000.
I think you're gonna like it.
GAIL: All right.
SAGISI MOSER: All right, Rustins,
please take a tour of the house.
GAIL: Thank you.
Well, the first thing I notice about this place
is the breeze coming through the windows.
That's great.
And the mountains -- they're gorgeous.
It feels like Hawaii.
Yes. Okay.
Let's check out the kitchen.
Yes. Let's see what's happening in the kitchen, here.
It looks pretty nice.
I love the white cabinets.
But definitely light fixtures need upgrades.
Yes.
It'll take some upgrades, but it's liveable.
Well, I like it okay.
Here's the bathroom.
I guess this is the main bathroom for the household.
I would upgrade the whole thing.
Okay.
Oh, lookit here. Twin-sized bed.
I think it could even take a queen bed, you know?
More beautiful mountain views.
Yes.
Oh, man.
Wow, that's nice.
Nice.
Wow, A master bedroom with a fridge.
[ Chuckles ] Yeah.
Well, that shows it's big enough to have that.
Maybe with the closet, we could place some mirrored doors.
Make the room even look larger.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Wow. This is quite a nice view, here.
It is nice.
Well, let's check the bathroom out.
Well...
I'm so used to a double sink.
Yeah, yeah.
To get it just like we like it,
Yes.
...you know, we have to be cautious with our budget.
Yeah, we don't want to really blow the budget by too much.
I think we should go downstairs.
There's more rooms down there, okay?
After you.
Wow.
Oh, it's kind of nice down here.
It is.
This is quite a surprise.
It is, it is.
It sure is.
I could see family coming down here.
Yeah.
Yes.
Look at the kitchen, Jerry.
Yeah, this has a kitchen and everything.
Look at the tile on the kitchen counters.
I know.
It's workable. It's in great shape.
Now, look how they've done this bathroom.
I'm surprised.
Wow.
I see they've done nice tile work.
Yeah. Lovely tile work. It's nice. It's nice.
Let's check out one of the bedrooms around here.
Where would people sleep?
[ Both chuckle ]
Ah, look at this nice bedroom.
They have a twin bed, but I'm sure it'd take a king.
Whoa. Yes, it will.
Oh, here's another room.
The beams just go throughout the whole house.
Yeah, it's a nice accent all through the house.
Right.
Wow.
This is nice.
Well, I think all of our family members could fit in this place.
Wow, a lot of space.
Lot of space.
Well, I could see a man cave,
you know, big-screen TV, you know,
kitchen, fridge, all of that.
No, no. You gonna go out in the yard
and help me till the land, okay?
I told you I'd be out there at half time.
Wow.
GAIL: Hey there.
Big place.
JERRY: Huge place.
It was quite a surprise.
Was it?
Yeah, I was surprised that you had so many rooms downstairs.
Looked like they had started to renovate.
But, you know. it's kind of at the top of our budget.
We could probably make it work.
The house is at the top of our budget, or just about,
but we did say we can go up to $550,000,
so I think we could do the renovations.
You know, I want to give it consideration.
I think this house could work for us.
Well, we have a lot more options for you.
Let's go to our next location, and we'll meet you there.
All right?
All right. Thank you.
No, I don't think --
Big-screen TV right there, you know?
No, no. Don't get carried away, Jerry.
Please, don't get carried away.
Let's see what else we have.
The next house that I'm showing the Rustins
is a house in Makakilo.
Makakilo is about five to seven minutes to the beach.
It is high on a ridge,
so the Rustins are gonna enjoy beautiful views
and also a great community.
JERRY: Going uphill, baby. Makakilo.
Yes, it's nice.
This is quite different from the community we left.
Yeah.
This is more like what we're used to.
I like to walk and everything.
I think I would enjoy it better here.
Houses on the hillside, baby.
Yeah, you got a beautiful view up here.
You can see the ocean and the city.
Yep.
Pretty awesome.
The house in Makakilo is listed for $550,000.
It is at the top of their price range, but it has 3 bedrooms,
2½ baths, more than 1,800 square feet.
How do you like it?
Oh, I like the area.
And this is a beautiful home.
It's listed for $550,000.
Well, that's up there at the top of our budget there,
you know, but we may be able to work with it, you know?
Why don't we check it out?
Let's do that.
Wow, look at this.
SAGISI MOSER: You like it?
GAIL: Oh, yeah. This is a nice place.
Please, take your time, roam around,
I'm gonna meet you out back, okay?
All right.
It is.
Nice place to write.
You have plenty of light from the windows.
Flooring is nice.
Yeah, I like it.
The wood just flows through.
Let's see what we have here.
Yeah.
Nice countertops.
Yeah, I like it.
Here's the powder room for downstairs.
Ooh, I love the hunter green.
Deep green.
Okay.
Hey, sure.
Whoa! Extra bonus room.
Family room. This is really great.
So, what kind of view do we have from here?
I see ocean.
I see ocean.
Oh, my goodness!
Well, I think this would make a nice man cave, you know?
Big-screen TV right there, you know?
No, no.
Okay, okay.
Don't get carried away. No man cave.
Let's see what else we have.
Okay.
Deep colors.
Must be a boy's room.
Yes, it is.
Let's check out the next bedroom.
Let's see.
This is nice.
This is where their little princess sleeps.
JERRY: Huh. This is a good-sized room, too.
Uh-huh, she has a big bed.
You could put a king-sized bed in here.
Probably. Uh-huh.
And still have room to kind of walk around.
Right here, we have the bathroom off of the master bedroom.
GAIL: Oh, this is nice.
It's got the double sink, okay.
That's great.
Can you figure out how to get in there?
GAIL: Oh, one thing it doesn't have!
I like taking tub baths.
I would miss that.
Well, even if we changed out the shower stall here,
you still don't have enough room to place a bathtub.
You'd have to get rid of the closet.
Yeah.
Well, let's check out the master bedroom.
And this is not as large as the other master bedrooms
that we've had,
but, of course, this is Hawaii.
Well, it's all about the lifestyle here in Hawaii.
Yes.
So we're not gonna be at home very much.
I'll probably be on the beach, writing my book.
[ Chuckles ]
Oh, look at the lenai.
JERRY: Wow.
It's really nice. I love the patio space.
It's private enough.
There's enough room for me, I'll tell you.
Look over there.
You see where I could plant a few tomato plants
and a few things back here?
You can have your garden.
Oh, hey, look.
What kind of tree is it?
It's a lime tree.
Wow.
And it's loaded. It has a lot of limes.
Nice, nice. Wonderful.
How was your experience with this house?
I like the size of the rooms. They were pretty nice-sized.
Master bedroom upstairs is on the small side, for me.
I really love the man cave.
I could really do some things with that.
Right.
It's still a little at the top of our budget,
but there's not a lot of renovations.
Well, great.
I've got a few more houses to show you,
so let's get there.
All right. Let's do that.
GAIL: Jerry and I, we enjoy being out.
Cheers.
We use our house to sleep and rest, so we can get out again.
They know what to do with the calamari.
GAIL: Yeah, it tastes really good.
We're very active people.
There's so much to do here, any day of the week.
One end of the island, you've got your big city --
Honolulu, Waikiki area.
Go to the movies, the theater, restaurants,
even nightlife things.
Let's go down a little closer to the water.
JERRY: In the evenings, watching the sun set out over the ocean.
Just magnificent.
You think we picked the right island, baby?
GAIL: [ Chuckles ] I think so.
I just love living in Hawaii.
It's just the perfect place to be.
Postcard-perfect paradise.
The next house that I'm showing the Rustins is located in Ewa.
Ewa Beach is a perfect community for the Rustins.
It has a lot of shops, restaurants nearby.
You have golf courses here, you've got parks,
it's near the beach --
one of the most breathtaking on the island,
where you can see Diamond Head --
and it has white, beautiful sand.
SANDRA: Hello, you two.
GAIL: Hi, Sandra.
JERRY: Okay.
Part of the West Loch Estates.
So, this is a 3-bedroom, 2½-baths.
It is listed for $472,000.
Would you like to see it?
Well, let's go.
Starting off, it looks pretty good.
At least I like the wood floors.
JERRY: Yeah, plenty of room.
Oh, this is spacious.
Nice, large area.
How do you like these counters?
Yeah, this is real granite countertop.
There's plenty of cabinet space.
And where did you say your dishwasher was?
Well, I don't know. [ Chuckles ]
I don't know either, so...
There! My dish washer.
You! Ha!
Okay. All right, then.
Yeah, let's see what else is here.
Oh. What's that?
This is a dryer, and there's a hookup for hot and cold.
I see the hot-water tank is in here, too.
Perhaps some of these things could be moved to the garage.
You want to go upstairs?
Let's see what's up here.
Oh, look. They have wood on the stairs.
Yeah.
Whoa. Talk about colors.
GAIL: Pretty nice, except for the colors.
Yeah.
Wow. And this was the master bedroom.
Yes.
But one thing I was hoping it would have had a double sink.
JERRY: Double sink, yeah.
But the flooring is very nice.
Look, Jerry -- a tub.
Got your bathtub.
So, that part's a plus.
Oh, here's the next bathroom.
Paint is in great shape. Okay.
The bathtub, that's good, too.
Oh, look at this room.
Wow. Oh.
You know, you can't help but to see the colors on the wall.
[ Chuckling ] They just...
The colors just jump out at you.
But as far as size,
I think this would accommodate a queen-sized bed.
That's a good size, and it has access to the lenai, also.
Oh, that part's great.
Let's see what we got here.
Oh, this is really nice.
Ahh!
Feel the breeze.
Oh, yeah. Nice neighborhood.
Well, Jerry, you know, you could put a little table
and chair out here.
Yes.
I can see myself just relaxing, writing,
thinking about my next novel.
Yeah.
Let's step into this room over here.
Yeah, let's see what we have here.
GAIL: I think this room is a little bit small.
Yeah, this would be perfect for an office.
Okay.
Too bad that lenai wasn't on the master bedroom.
I want to do a little gardening.
I really didn't want to do it right in the front.
But, let's see.
JERRY: Oh, yeah.
BOTH: There's plenty of space.
Yeah, we could put a few vegetables in the back, there.
Yes, we can.
So, how did it go? Was it a good experience for you?
Yeah, you know, except for the colors, it was fantastic.
[ Laughter ]
But, you know, paint can fix that up.
Right.
Well, it's been a great day.
Yes.
Why don't you think about it and meet up again.
Thank you so much.
Hey, look who's here.
I love this place.
It's a really nice place.
This is where a lot of local artists showcase their work.
And that's my favorite, right there.
GAIL: Really nice.
I take it you're gonna be hanging one of these pieces in your new home?
So, tell me.
Yeah, we have decided on one of the properties.
First of all, the house in Makaha was pretty nice.
Although it had nice views --
the wonderful mountain views and everything,
it sort of felt like that one acre
was a lot for us to maintain.
So, right away, you're telling me
we're gonna rule out the house in Makaha?
Yeah.
That would leave us with Ewa Beach and Makakilo.
Yes. Makakilo, it was very spacious and open.
There was some really nice features that I liked --
the wood floors, and there was a lot of natural light,
and the bonus room -- that was a real plus.
And it's perfect for Jerry's man cave.
Thank you. Thank you, Sandra.
No, you cannot agree with him.
We're on the same page.
But anyway, the master bedroom,
it wasn't as large as normally we like,
but in the bathroom, there was no tub.
And I like tub baths, but we can kind of work with that.
And this place was at the top of our budget.
Yes, yes, it is.
But again, it is a compromise,
because it's just 20 minutes away from town.
All right, so that was the Makakilo house.
What did you think about the Ewa Beach home?
The nice lanai that you see as you approach the house,
I think that was a big plus.
And even downstairs, you've got all of your glass doors,
everything is wide open.
The lanai in the kitchen is really nice.
The wood floors you liked, I'm sure.
The wood floors I did like, but when you get upstairs,
I saw all these different color walls.
Fruity colors -- lime green.
Very colorful.
But it's just paint.
Yeah, it's just paint.
And you can do the work, so, yeah.
I really didn't particularly care
for the bathroom downstairs.
I guess it could get a little expensive,
rewiring, for plumbing, you know?
It is the lowest one for our budget,
so there is a little wiggle room.
Little wiggle room.
Yeah, for some renovations.
Okay, so it's definitely between the house in Ewa Beach
or Makakilo.
So, which one are you leaning to?
Makakilo.
[ Laughs ] Makakilo.
Yep. She's right.
Fantastic.
That is a very good choice.
Now, it's listed for $550,000.
So, you know how the market is. What do you want to offer?
It's a real tight market for the buyers,
and sellers have the advantage at this point.
And even though it'll be a little stretch for us,
we will go $555,000.
I'll go ahead and write up $555,000.
And congratulations.
This is worth a celebration.
Welcome to Hawaii, neighbor.
Yeah. Yes, yes, yes.
Go ahead. I'll get started, but you get in front.
Whee!
ZIETZ: Unfortunately for Gail and Jerry,
the owners of the Makakilo home decided
to take their property off the market.
Jerry, you back there?
Well, you lead, Jerry.
Okay. Just don't get too close, baby.
A few weeks later, the Rustins decided to purchase an empty lot
for $459,000
and build their own 3-bedroom, 2-bath dream home
in Ewa Beach.
Right now we have Gail on the construction site.
Everything should be ready in January.
We're really happy that we moved here.
I mean, every day is an adventure.
I feel I'm becoming a part of Hawaii.