Buying An Older or Historic Oahu Home in East Oahu

Mainland home buyers are often a bit surprised at the quality and condition of real estate when they come to Hawaii to look for real estate. This is particularly true when you are looking at older homes, in the more popular areas of East Oahu (Metropolitan Honolulu, Diamondhead, & Kailua, under about $1M or even up to $2M, if within a block or so of the beach or with excellent views.

Older homes, when beautifully remodeled, are very desirable and people will pay a premium for them. I love old homes, having lived in San Francisco and Portland, OR for many years. The charm of these is unmatchable. However, even original or partially-remodeled older homes, depending upon the location, will be very expensive by most mainland standards. Here, most of the home’s value will be in the land and location will be key.

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Hawaii Legislature Overturns Special Requirements for Remodeling 50 Year Old Homes

Many Hawaii homeowners and realtors were dismayed last year when we heard about the new requirement for remodeling or tearing down properties 50 or more years old. Under this law, Act 228 of the 2008 Legislative Session, owners wishing to tear down or remodel such a structure, had to provide photographs of their property to the State Historic Preservation Division prior to being issued a building permit. There was no distinction made as to the condition or stuctural integrity of the building, or any other factor, other than age. On the East side of Oahu, this affected many, many people, as most homes here are at or rapidly approaching the age that would be covered under the law.

As you can imagine, many problems and criticisms arose from the law, including imposing an unfair burden on homeowners in getting and paying for these pictures and, of course, further delays in getting permits. This law was not meant to create a bottleneck, or even prevent destruction of historical properties, but rather just a way to preserve history through pictures. However, it made an already cumbersome permit process a bit more cumbersome.

Governor Lingle, has apparently agreed with the critics of Act 228, and effective April 14, 2009, repealed this law. She stated,” Act 228 further impeded the issuance of building permits at a time when we should be doing all we can to facilitate construction activity in order to stimulate the economy and create jobs.” Thank you, Governor Lingle, but I have to wonder — why do some of these laws get passed in the first place?