Yes, you read that correctly.  Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto is renting out his Kahala homes to low income Native Hawaiians for FREE.  Originally, he was going to rent out his million dollar houses for $150 a month, but when the tentants moved in this past weekend, Kawamoto announced to them that the rent will be free for the next 10 years, and the residents would only have to pay for the utilities.

It was also reported that Kawamoto gave each family a sum of money to get settled in, and various reports stated that the amount was ten $100 bills, or $1000.  Not much to start with, but FREE rent with FREE money.  Pretty hard to beat.

Yes, I agree that Kawamoto is doing a good thing to help these low income Native Hawaiians live in a place they would never have dreamt of living in for probably the rest of their lives.  But let’s think about the facts here.  I’m quite worried because to live in an area such as Kahala means expensive maintanence.  To upkeep the lawn and the outer appearance of the house will cost the tenants way more than they bargained for, unless they do it themselves.  In an area like Kahala, I’m sure most of the upkeeping of the house and lawn is paid to professionals to take care of, which costs hundreds of dollars.

Then, you have to factor in the cost of normal utilities.  Air condition, electricity, TV, telephone, etc…it’s going to add up.  And with a house that’s between 4000-6000 square feet, the a/c bill will bring the cost of electricity higher than they can handle.  I would bet that the utilities will cost over $500.  Keep in mind, some of these families were in homeless shelters before they moved in.  Paying $500 in utilities, plus having to buy food to feed their family of 4 or more, will definitely bring up the costs close to $1000 in total.

Now I’m not saying that Kawamoto is doing a bad thing by putting these families in upscale houses, because that’s great…these families deserve to live in a place like that.  But I’m hoping that they can afford the living costs, even with the luxury of no rent.  As exciting as it is for the families who moved in, it might not be a fairytale ending after all.

• Kawamoto Chooses the Next Five Families
• Japanese Billionaire Rents Million Dollar Homes for $150/month
• Hawaii Well Below National Average in Pay

               
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