Real Estate Blog - The Frustrations of Buying "Green" and An E-Book To Help

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The Frustrations of Buying "Green" and An E-Book To Help

Treasure hunt for a green home Just in the past year and a half we have gone from the majority of people not ever hearing about Green Building/Green Homes- To the majority of people wanting to go Green in their homes in one way or another. What I find fascinating about this movement is that it is truly a Consumer Driven market right now.

I mean, who would NOT want a more Energy Efficient, Healthier home right?

Now, I can't speak for all areas of the Nation, but in Houston, this has created some what of a...Frustration. There are more people looking for a 'Green' New Construction Home (key word New Construction) than there really are homes on the ground. We can find Energy Efficient, not a problem. But when we start adding in the Low/No VOC Paints, Caulks, Products- Recycled Content- Renewable Energy and so forth...it is few and far between sometimes.

Then if someone really wants to build, we take in to consideration the cost of New Construction for a TRUE 'Green' built home, LEED for example, this is right now in Houston- quite high compared to what most people are looking for when you take the size of home desired, features that they want IN the home...we are looking at about $200 per square foot NOT counting the cost of land vs. $80-$120 for resales or just Energy Efficient or minimally Green. That is a pretty big leap.

Not taking in to consideration the cost, part of this is a numbers game. How many buyers are there vs. New Construction Inventory homes right now? Probably quite a few more buyers.

But what if we change that scenario to How many buyers are there vs. Homes on the Market right now? Now we are talking!

On my other blog I have just finished a series called the 'Hypothetical Remodel' where myself and some of the Green Building Experts around town decided to put something together on how exactly Homebuyers can Purchase and existing Home with the Floorplan, Location and other features desired, use a Conventional 30 Year Fixed Renovation Loan to 'Green' up the house.

Remember how the cost difference was between $80 and $120 per sq ft? That is a lot of room in many cases to be able to Renovate about any home out there to YOUR desire. It would have the Cosmetic features such as tile, countertops, etc that you want in a home with everything else to fit the Buyers needs.

Here is a basic breakdown of how it works:

Make sure that you qualify for a Conventional Loan for a desired purchase amount
Find the home you want..with a great imagination of course of what the home COULD look like
Once we get the contract written, call out some contractors and designers!
An Energy Audit is Essential here also to get it more Energy Efficient
Get the bids for the work, the home will be appraised for AFTER Renovation Value
Once you close on the home, the work should be complete in no more than 60 Days

Personally, I forsee a lot of interest in these kind of loans over the next couple of years. I think we will start seeing more and more banks offering them. For now, I have only found ONE in the entire State of Texas. Why? Because this is still a 5% down Conventional Mortgage and you do not have to pay Home Improvement Loan like Interest Rates..5.5% as of last Friday!

This is all just another way to Go Green when buying a home. If you would like to read the Entire Series on how we went about doing this, Master Bathroom Designs and ALL- You can find it in the link below. I put all 7 parts of the Series in one PDF E-Book for Convenience. Just click below:

How To Buy a Home and Renovate it GREEN

Also, keep your eyes out for some exciting information about what is coming in 2009 through TurningHoustonGreen! An 8 Part Series of Webinars starting at the end of January with myself and Houston's very own Michael Strong with Brothers Strong going in to detail about how to Green up the Existing Home!

If you are thinking about Buying a home to Green Up, or just thinking about 'Greening UP' the home you already own, you may want to tune in!

Posted by Stephanie Edwards-Musa, Realtor ® Spring/Woodlands, TX Real Estate on 12/22/2008 08:26 AM

Comments (53)

Green Homes in the ActiveRain Channel

green up existing home, leed, regreen, conventional renovation loans, green homes, energy efficient homes, healthier homes

Originally posted at: Eco Friendly Real Estate Blog: The Frustrations of Buying "Green" and An E-Book To Help

This post has been included in Texas Information Harris County, TX Information Houston, TX Information
Post is included in group: ECO-All-Stars~ GREEN Resources, Trends & Friends

53 Comments on The Frustrations of Buying "Green" and An E-Book To Help

DEC

Stephanie,

As a proponent of Greening, I think the emphasis will be on green retrofitting of existing homes, and I think the impetus will come from government incentives to stimulate the greening of America!!! Thanks, Fran

This is a great e-book on retrofitting Stephanie.

I don't think the government will need to step in to stimulate more greening of homes. I think most of us WANT to do it and as more information becomes easier to obtain, it will be the "in" thing to do.

Hi Fran, It should be interesting to see how it goes over the next couple of years...whether or not we will see more incentives at a State level, not just Federal. But for sure, I also believe we will see a strong influence from a legislation level to green existing homes and buildings at a State level in Texas (Don't know about PA and NJ :)

Hi Debbie, Thanks. I think most of us want to green our homes, but I also think that the term Green has become muddied a little bit and many people don't totally get it. Lots of greenwashing out there. :) We'll see! Should be fun to watch it all evolve.

Well done Stephanie - I've been thinking about assembling my blog posts into an e-book myself! Kepp pestering me in 2009...

DEC

Stephanie!

You have outdone yourself with this post! I am going to send it to the numbers of loan officers we work with here in Asheville. THANKS..for all of it, and especially what follows. You wrote:

Here is a basic breakdown of how it works:

Make sure that you qualify for a Conventional Loan for a desired purchase amount
Find the home you want..with a great imagination of course of what the home COULD look like
Once we get the contract written, call out some contractors and designers!
An Energy Audit is Essential here also to get it more Energy Efficient
Get the bids for the work, the home will be appraised for AFTER Renovation Value
Once you close on the home, the work should be complete in no more than 60 Days

Stephanie~

I just finished reading your eBook! It is absolutely and completely and totally FINE. What a gift. Is it OK for me to share it with our team here at Eco-Steward Realty?? and how about our clients?

PS...I have just requested that this post be FEATURED...and will FEATURE it at the Eco-All-Stars Group. It is stellar.

Hi Jeff, I thought it was a good way to get them all compiled in to one easy reading place...so that folks wouldn't have to cruise around my site to find them. I'll probably do this with a lot of my series type posts..

Best wishes in 2009!

Steph - I really went green this year, no letter to Santa, I hope he gets my tweet. LOL~ I'm off to check out the eBook now. Thanks, Happy Holidays!

Thanks janeAnne, These kind of loans are like gold right now so I'm trying to spread the word about them. There is so much opportunity, especially in Houston, where there are homes that range from being built from 1920 and before until now. It's just opening up options for going green. :)

Of course you can share it with whom ever you would like. I would be thrilled! It is a great educational series.

And Thank You for the Feature. :) A wonderful Christmas Present.

Happy New Year and Best Wishes in 2009!

the biggest trouble is finding a builder that will "TRULY" build a green home -- great info in your post -- thanks -- JE

Hi Brad, LOL. Thanks! I hope you have a wonderful Holidays also and an amazing 2009! Great job going green, I bet Santa got your Tweet. I hear that his elves are on twitter. ;0)

Hi Jason, Exactly! That is another reason why I did this. The building science behind a lot of the 'green' homes being built as inventory IMO the systems are going to fail and do not promote healthy indoor air quality. Kinda sad that consumers don't have a better way to know what will and won't work.

Wow..what a great idea. I never knew the cost difference was that big,and your comments make a lot of sense. I look forward to more in 2009!

Hi Steph,

I'm not too sure we have any areas that have homes that have been built solely on Green construction but they should have thought about it before our area became too built out. I'm sure in our ranch areas there are a few custom homes being built that way but I'm not sure unless I went out to investigate it....we do have many homes such as mine that added solar heating to pools and HW heaters but that's probably the extent of it. There should be more options available to people tailored to that type of construction. Happy Holidays to you!

Hi Kristin, Thanks. That is the cost difference in Houston, it may be more or less in other areas.

Hi Neal! Long time no see. :) That is kind of what I am seeing here.

We are seeing a lot of the historical areas of Downtown being revitalized but the new construction is Multi Family. For people that want single family it is either McMansions or buy the lot, demo and rebuild....or move to the Burbs. This is why I think we are going to see a wave of older homes being Renovated.

Solar is still catching on here. We are not seeing a lot of it, but after Hurricane Ike, the interest has really spiked. I expect to see a trend for solar backups here over the next 5 or so years. Will be interesting.

Happy Holidays to you too!!

Green is in! I agree that green is the way to go and I have been working with a General Contractor to offer all the great green features at a great value. Many contractor are old school. I think that is changing...

Even in SC (an area slower to change), we're seeing an increase in demand for green homes. So, it's good to learn more!

Some excellent tips on a great topic, Stephanie! My only concern is the confusion over whether some of these items are really "green". I know they are now finding that these "green" lightbulbs have high levels of mercury, not very green...

Stephanie - lots of great suttf here. You are clearly the local expert on Green building and renovating in the Houston real estate market. The webinars are a terrific idea. Glad to see this very worthwhile article get featured.

Jeff

great article and featured post, remember you can do a lot to make your house more eco-friendly without being LEED certified to still help the cause

Hi Mark, I agree with that, I just don't know about the old school part of it. I think more than that it goes back to being consumer driven. The way we do things changes when there is a reason to do it...the contractors ahead of the game are offering more, but the others will catch up. :) Like I said last week somewhere, when the good get better- so will the worst. We are getting there. :0)

Hi Lee and Katherine, That is great to hear! I think we will soon be able to take the term 'green' out of 'green' building for the most part though. It will be normal. :)

Hi Kris, Exactly! There is a lot of confusion out there right now. As builders and other companies not even related to real estate hop in and say they are green, consumers need to understand why...why it's green.

Thanks Jeff, Nice to see you stopping by. :) Like I mentioned above, it's just a way to filter through the green clutter that is out there right now.

Hi James, That is totally true! But I do believe that more than ever right now there is a need for Certifications on homes and buildings...until Consumers and Home Buyers really understand what 'green' is. Certifications and programs like LEED are the best way to ensure they are getting what they think they are.

I just came across the Fannie Mae Energy Efficient Mortgage:

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/eem/energy-r.cfm

Not sure if this is the loan program you mentioned in your post.

I also just read this article in Green Builder mag:

http://www.greenbuildermag.com/files/current_issue/gbm_102008.pdf

We build energy efficient, affordable homes in North Carolina, and I'm really intrigued by the idea that green building components should have a measurable effect in dollars on both the appraised value of a home and a buyers buying power.

I'm looking forward to the webinars!

I have investor clients interested in this - thanks for the post - I'll be reading up.

When you think about "New Construction" and "Green" you have to wonder about how many years would it take for that new house to recover the footprint of an existing home? Even more so, if someone were inclined to retrofit the existing home with "Green" features, wouldn't the earth be the winner? I see the same logic in automobiles. Celebraties buying new hybrids every other year, when the carbon savings couldn't off-set in the life of the vehicle what it took to produce that car.

Makes you wonder.

Hi Tamara, Thanks for the links- it is a completely different mortgage product that I refer to in the post though. It can be combined with an EEM, however.

Hi Steve, Awesome! Hope it helps you out!

Hi Mike, Absolutely. Totally agree with that. Not to mention in places like Houston...Multi Family can be very green by putting so many people in one area, but all of the concrete it takes to do that and have parking...can really mess up water/flood drainage.

Unintended Consequences everywhere. :)

Stephanie - thank you for a thought-provoking post & the link to your e-book. I've got some reading to do!

Stephanie congratulations on the feature and this is such a good post. I applaud your continued effortd to educate and promote green living and building! Have a great holiday!

Stephanie,

Glad to see you're putting your vast experience as an Eco-broker to use! I've been working on networking in my area with green builders, most are on the other side of the State, but the e-book takes it to a new level.

Thanks so much for the e-book, Stephanie. Believe it or not, but here in Ohio there is not much "green" talk. I keep up because I want to be ready when it does happen!

Bravo! You had done so much work and this is truly a great resouce. Thank you for shring this with the AR family.

Great resources and also a great post on what the realities of finding "green" are today. I've been promoting a local designer who does "green" projects for interiors that include low or no VOC paints, true organic textiles and more. Her name is Frith Barbat. She and I are part of a business networking group here in Seattle that is made up of business owners who either are green focused or who are moving their businesses to greener practices. So far it's been a great resource.

For people looking to green up their existing homes, I also just put a post on my own blog site today with a guest columnist, Jesse Herman, from www.Asbestos.com talking about removing unhealthy materials and replacing them with healthier alternatives.

Keep on "keepin' it green!"

Hi Kent, Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!

Hi Russell, Thanks! Happy Holidays to you also...and have an Awesome '09!

Hi Gary, keep it up! It will pay off and all of those relationships are good to have!

Hi David, It's awesome that you are ahead of the game. It can be pretty frustrating, but being ahead of the game will prove you to be an incredible asset to your clients! Have an awesome 2009!

Hi Joan, Thank You! Hope it helps out some people.

Hi Reba, you just touched on a possibly even more important topic than the home itself...the stuff we put inside. The home can be the most healthy, pristine home ever built...but then we clutter them with unhealthy items.

Thanks for sharing such great information!

DEC

You're so right about how fast the tides turned, regarding the knowledge vs lack of knowledge, regarding green homes. I think you were the first person I met, who really knew the ins and outs of going green. And now it's all we hear about. It's great that people are finally gaining the knowledge, and hopefully making the necessary changes.

Thank you for sharing this information.

In April 2007 I decided to take a leap of faith and test the Phoenix real estatemarket by creating the second LEED certified remodel in the United States.

The interest in a LEED certified remodel has been beyond my expectations. But, due to market challenges the demand and the potential to market and sell a LEED home, has made for disappointment.

In order for green to succeed, the real estate market needs to be better, there needs to be incentives, and the general public still lacks knowledge of what green really means.

We need more professionals like you Stephanie!

www.greenstreetdev.com

Hi Lisa, Wow, Thanks! I think what it is more than anything, people are learning the benefits of a Greener home. Green Building is designed for the Homeowner, it happens to help the environment at the same time in a way...If you want to look at it that way anyhow.

Hi Philip, Thanks for such an amazing compliment!

2nd LEED Certified Remodel is quite an accomplishment! Wow!

It's interesting how the true green market is right now. There are a lot of people in the middle wanting to buy it, but what I am seeing more than anything is that they want it to be their own. Meaning, Their choice of what goes in to it, floorplan, etc.

So then when it gets down to it, they buy an existing home not green. This is exactly why we put this series together. It's nice to move in to something pristine green right away, but not always possible. But that in no way means that people can't buy a home and green it up right away...

Hang in there! Green is a little diluted right now, but it won't be long until people get it figured out. :)