[Greenbuilding] Green real estate market

[Jason Holstine]

If you're not going after a jumbo loan, try for a Fannie Mae energy
efficient mortgage (EEM). A variety of local and national lenders are now
offering them. The program basically counts expected energy savings as
income, thus improving your risk score and allowing you better terms.

 

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Chris Green
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 11:17 PM
To: Greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Green real estate market


Steve Tripp wrote:
> (I) am wondering what kind of
> uphill battle I may have with the bank if I cannot show that we are 
> adding more to the value of the home.
>   
Explain to the loans officer that because you will be spending less money on
heating and cooling, you will have more 'discretionary capital' 
to pay the mortgage with. Of course you will have to have some $ figures on
paper to back this statement up.
 Lenders are in the business of lending money and earning a return on it. If
your credit history merits a loan for something like a new car or a
snowmobile, there's no reason they would refuse you one for home
improvements of any kind, especially if you have some equity in the house
and will be adding more via the 'sweat equity' route.. If you can show that
the improvements will be the equivalent of getting a salary raise ("A penny
saved is a penny earned". said Old Ben ) they should be less hesitant to
fork over the $.
If not, the next step is: find a new bank or mortgage broker.

Regular home construction starts in the US have dropped by something like
13%, and today's Province newspaper, it appears the expectation is that they
will drop off a further 11%.
The article was talking about this as a sign thee will be a drop in the
market for softwood lumber, but the unwritten "other part" of that market
change is that there will be more mortgage money floating around looking for
some place to go to work.

You asked: Do green homes sell?

Almost any home will sell eventually, but local market conditions determine
when and at what price. However, with the internet changing the world into
one big market which individuals can play in, the selling of a green house
might best be done on line to reach a market more interested in such things.

Here is a link to the archetypal site featuring Green Homes For Sale.
http://www.greenhomesforsale.com/

In closing, the more of the work on the renovation that you can do yourself,
the less money you will need to borrow. That's not always possible, but even
just doing the site clean-up and doing things like sorting, de-nailing and
cleaning up lumber so it can be used again or recycled elsewhere, and
perhaps part of the landscaping work, will save you some money.

Cheers,

Chris Green.







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