Many home owners put off making energy-efficient upgrades because of cost and believe there is no way they can afford it.  Well, maybe you can do those improvement you have been dreaming of.  It may be time to "stop" the stop.  Energy-efficient mortgage program (EEM) and new tax credit for upgrades could help you out.

EEM lets home buyers or owners the ability to finance cost of adding energy-efficient features to new or exiting homes as par tof the FHA-insured purchase or re-fi mortgage.  EEM has been around since the 1980's but under used.

This could be the best time for home owners to think seriously about upgrades that will help lower the utility bills and increase value of your home.  The maximum the FHA allowed was $8000 and that was recently modified.  Now the maxium amount of portion of the EEM for improvements is to be lesser of 5% of the value of the property or 115% of the median area price of a single family dwelling or 150% of the conforming Freddie Mac limit.  Also, under the stimulus plan, upgrades are eligible for tax credit of 30% of qualifying costs up to $1500 but this is only through 2010.

EEM are sponsored by federaly insured mortgage program and conventional secondary mortgage market.  To get started, you need to have a CHEERS rater (called CHEERS which is California Home Energy Efficiency Rating Services) or another approved rater to give you an analysis, and get a report.  The report will be submitted to the lender.  The report will show the current condition of the home, and savings after upgrades.

Energy Auditor Sites:

The California Building Performance Contractors Assn. www.cbpca.org/homeowners/index.html

CHEERS - California Home Energy Efficiency Rating Services www.cheers.org

CalCERTS, Inc  www.calcerts.com/index.cfm

Other useful sites for more info:

Energy Star www.energystar.gov

Find out about the FHA and EEM http://portal.hud.gov/

FHA lender list  www.hud.gov/ll/code/llslcrit.cfm