Returning to Mainland and Surprises!

[2mike&jin]

We just left Hawaii to spend a few months in the mountains near Lake Tahoe - as well as take Jin to see all of California - prior to going to our house in Xiamen for fall golden week/month.

 

I was shocked at some things....during the trip and the first few days....I guess I shouldn't be....but maybe I just woke up!

 

1. Travelx at SOF sells RMB for 575 to 1...OMG what a ripoff!

2. Gasoline in Reno is about the same price as Hawaii - how can this be? (of course where XiaoFeiZhou lives it's more expensive that Waikiki)

3. Holy cow....Groceries are really cheap...even with the 7.75% sales tax!

4. How can 5lbs of Bluberries cost $4.99 at Sams Club...and Hawaii $3.00 for 8 oz in Hawaii? It can't cost that much to ship them there.

 

5. I should've waited another year to buy a mountain house. I think I could've saved another $50k-$100K. Some of the $1.4-$1.9 M places were hard over when we bought our place last year...(we just made offers until someone accepted our 46% of original price) and they wouldn't come down. Well, I see (1) of those places the owner moved back in, and 4 or 5 of them have dropped their prices down below $1M, (to be exact $999K)....but I'm wondering if it's a good time to buy "another one for investment"? I wonder with the economy doing what it's doing (or not doing) if next year/winter will be even better?

 

Thoughts..?

 

Hawaii doesn't have SALES TAX it has GET TAX. GET TAX is additive, just like a VAT tax is. Is it possible that adding 4.5% at EVERY STEP IN THE PROCESS is DRIVING THE PRICES OFF THE CHART in HAWAII?

 

Perhaps we don't need a VAT Tax in the US after all.

Edited July 12, 2010 by 2mike&jin (see edit history)

[xiaofeizhu]

LOL LOL LOL

 

Ahhh, the price we pay for living in "paradise".

 

I guess things are getting pretty desparate here, though. I just bought a new car and the original offer on my trade in was $7,000 (it had a huge dent on the side from where I was hit-and-run at UHH and according to the sales man, "the dog hair would be impossible to get out" hello, can you say vaccum cleaner). I told them I would not spend more than $10,500 on a new car and they ended up giving me over $9,000 for the trade in to satisfy my requirments. The blue book value on my car in excellent condition (i.e. no dog hair or hit-and-run evidence) is around $10,000. Now is a good time to buy whatever you can afford, IMHO. LOL.

 

As for the gas, we are at $3.43. It goes up and down a cent almost every other day, haha. When I was in Vegas last month, it was $2.8something.

 

The cost of fruit is out of hand here. Incidentally, my hubby just paid $8 for a white pineapple. He was completely ripped off by his "friend" in Kalapana. Haha. Reminds me of the time I paid 30 yuan for 1 jin of grapes in Beijing.

 

PS the GE tax sucks. I sometimes tell my customers who can take a joke, 'we don't have sales tax in Hawaii'. Oh well.

[knloregon]

I sometimes enjoy shopping at our several highly overpirced 'boutique' supermarkets here in Portland ---- Zupans, Four Seasons and Whole Foods (whole pay check).. because it reminds me of shopping in Hawaii... Brings back memories of the Trades on a cold cloudy, wet (summer day) here in Portland....

 

But the Big Island at least, is the way to go ---- sure, the supermarkets charge too much, but the island is just too damn big ---- plenty of roadside barter, and almost everyone has more bananas, papayas and avocados (four for a dollar) than they know what to do with. That plus the real estate market is--- no exaggeration---less than current prices in China.

 

Very easy to get an almost new house (modest, but nice--- stone countertops, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath) ---on an acre of land, good neighborhood for $125,000 now.