Hawaii is thousands of miles away from the North American mainland, so as you might suspect, buying real estate there often seems thousands of miles away from buying a Richmond home in Ontario. Most people would never dream of buying a home in Hawaii. They might visit for a week or two, but living there would never enter their minds because it seems like such an unattainable goal. For most people it is. But are you most people? I think not. So browse through our Honolulu real estate guide and learn how to make your dream a reality.

Before you get too excited, take stock of your personal financial situation and ask yourself: "Can I afford to live in Hawaii?" As a land of extreme beauty combined with extreme remoteness, real estate, like most things in Hawaii, is both sought after and in short supply. It's not like if you were to buy Toronto condos, where you can go down the street to the grocery store or the mall and pick up the things you need, which were grown in nearby Bradford or manufactured in nearby Mississauga. Things must be imported, which leads to a sky-high cost of living, nearly twice the national average.

This same supply problem leads to increases in the housing prices as well. Most cities with high real estate costs have earned them through small land areas and high populations. Honolulu, meanwhile, has just over 375,000 people but an area of over 85 square miles, giving it an average density. The high costs come from the fact that most people want a little private resort rather than a flat or condo. That detached home surrounded by palms you've been envisioning will cost you upwards of $790,000, and that's just the average. This is extremely dear to anyone who is used to Scarborough, Ontario real estate prices, but if you're coming from a city in Southern California, it may not seem that steep to you. It's all in the perception.

If you can afford the move, however, Honolulu offers not just an extraordinarily beautiful location but some elegant architectural styles that will do justice to the surroundings. The Hawaiian Renaissance style is unique to the islands and is exemplified by the Iolani Palace, a relic of the old Hawaiian kingdom. Missionaries and Europeans also brought their own architectural leanings with them, so some of the styles you may recognize from the Waterloo, Ontario real estate listings, while others arose from adapting European styles for the warm Hawaiian climate.

It seems like everyone in Honolulu wants to live near the beach, so if that's your goal you may find the neighborhood a little more crowded than you would if you were to buy a new home in Georgetown, Ontario. The Waikiki district, where the city's most famous beaches are located, is a tourist hot spot, crammed with hotels, resorts, and shops. There are, however, numerous middle and upper class purely residential communities that are largely overlooked by the waves of visitors where you can find yourself a little piece of paradise.