“Hawaii was home my whole life.
“My parents met at BYUH in Laie and stayed. I met my husband at BYUH, and we stayed. When I got married, I was the only one in my family left on the island. By the time my husband and I were ready to buy a house, the market had started to rocket at an insane rate. We had saved $30K for a down payment and we could not find a house for less than $500K. We figured we would be house-poor for awhile, but we loved the island and wanted to raise our children there.
“After two years of being overbid and seeing every house we wanted turned into an Airbnb, we gave up. My husband transferred to a different company on the mainland and now we can afford a house. We left the island over a year ago, but every night my son still says he misses Hawaii — and gives me a list of why. We would move back in a heartbeat, if we could.”
Tailee Schrock
Vancouver, Washington
Former resident of Kahuku
