On Bingham Street alone, three houses are currently being replaced. Bingham Tract was one of the first residential property developments of the Bishop Estate, with many homes built in the 1930s and 1940s. They are wooden, single-wall construction, and many have extensive settling and termite problems. He says people are discovering that to add onto or remodel an old home can cost as much as starting over from scratch. Many homes are in terrible shape in old neighborhoods such as Mo'ili'ili, St. Louis Heights and Kaimuki.
Gutters are askew, roofs are sagging and some houses look ready to collapse.
Owyang is currently replacing a home on Anuhea Street for an elderly couple. When homes are badly deteriorated, Owyang encourages homeowners to consider the pros and cons of replacement. I tell them that if they just rebuild the outside of the house, the inside will still be 50 years old. Besides the structural advantages of a new home, there are other incentives. In many cases there's no debt.