ENCORE

Many consumers think that going green in a home remodel or buying an eco-friendly house will add significantly to the cost.  Think again, homebuyers - buying a green home, even a LEED-certified home, does not have to put you in the poorhouse.   John Hueber, of John Hueber Homes - the builder of Ohio’s first four LEED-certified single family homes - has estimated the cost of going LEED to be extremely manageable.  On a $300,000 new construction home, John estimates the cost of bringing it up to LEED certification is only an additional $8,500.  Think beyond the initial purchase price or cost of a remodeling project; consider your return on investment.   Put that $308,500 home in Hamilton County, and you will have a 15-year tax abatement as well; 10 years on a remodel.  As long as the green upgrades are kept within reason, the tax abatement alone will pay back the extra cost over the course of the 15-year period.  Not only that, but with 40%-60% savings on utilities, the yearly savings will pay for those ecologically minded upgrades in short order.  

I know, I know… paying over $300,000 is not an option for most Cincinnatians.  Consider this:  Back on the market with a $15,000 price reduction are the two eco-friendly homes built by the Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Coorporation (CNCURC) at the corner of Chase Ave. and Fergus St.  in Northside.  Jami and I have listed these fantastic homes that boast between 40-60% energy savings and, once certified, will be the area’s first LEED Gold single family homes.  These twin “urban lofts” are listed at $174,000 - for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath newly constructed home with state-of-the-art materials and design in one of Cincinnati’s most exciting urban neighborhoods, that’s an attractive deal. 

These homes are amazing, featuring optimal value engineering, passive solar design, modern aesthetics, environmentally sensitive elements through out such as bamboo flooring, recycled content solid-surface countertops, high-efficiency hybrid HVAC system, metal roof, composite cement siding both with 50-year warranties.  Tours are always welcome - call Jami (513) 515-0689 or Libby, (513) 260-9632. 

Green lending practices have been slow to make their appearance locally.  If you are considering building an eco-friendly home or doing a green remodel, you will very likely have your work cut out for you in order to find assistance in the mortgage market.  Jami and I have been working with several local lenders who are interested in becoming resources for environmentally conscious homeowners - we’ll keep you posted as this work progresses.  As with other green resources, we are constantly expanding our network and have new information and updates weekly - call anytime to find out the latest.

For now, consider the following in your search for green lending:

Energy Efficient Mortgages

Homes account for nearly 20% the world’s energy comsumption.   We can be proud that Cincinnati was the first city to vote in an aggressive 15-year, 100% tax abatement for LEED-certified homes, but lending institutions are lagging far behind our local government’s enthusiasm for the green revolution.  If you are buying, selling, refinancing, or remodeling a home, you can increase your comfort and save money by using an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) – one can be applied to most home mortgages. This gives the borrower special benefits when purchasing an energy-efficient home or a home that can be made efficient through the installation of energy-saving ugrades.

Funding home energy improvements through an EEM provides the following benefits:

Home Energy Rating and Energy-Efficient Mortgages

One of the keys to getting an energy-efficient mortgage is having a certified home energy rater conduct an energy audit of your home before your financing is approved. HERS (Home Energy Rating System) -certified homes assure the lender that the home is efficient, as well as noting areas that need improvement to save money on monthly energy bills. The cost of these improvements then can be added to the mortgage. Visit the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficient Mortgage Home Owner’s Guide for additional information.  If you would like to know more about local HERS and LEED rating and certification, call us at (513) 260-9632.

Refinancing

If you’re planning to refinance your mortgage with the intention of making enery-saving improvements, consider borrowing more than the amount needed to pay off your existing mortgage, useing the extra money to make energy-efficient upgrades.  There are two obvious benefits to this, interest paid on your home mortgage or equity loan is usually tax deductible and energy-efficient home improvements will immediately lower your monthly energy bills.  Be certain you talk over the new monthly payments with your loan officer so that you are sure it falls well within your budget until the cost-benefit can be realized.

Financing - Goverment Insured

Currently the Department of Housing and Urban Development does not offer EEM’s.   If you qualify for VA, though, read on:

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guarantees mortgage loans for veterans with active duty service and qualified reservists. Its EEM can be used to purchase or refinance a home along with the cost of making energy-efficient improvements. To cover the cost of the improvements, the loan amount can be increased:

• Up to $3,000 based solely on documented costs;
• Up to $6,000 if the increase in the mortgage payment is offset by the expected reduction in utility costs;
• More than $6,000 based on a value determination by VA.

A VA refinancing loan may not exceed 90 percent of the home’s appraised value plus the costs of the improvements.

Interested customers should go through the normal home loan application procedure, inquiring the lender about an EEM at the beginning of the process.

Additional information available from
U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20420
1-800-827-1000
http://www.homeloans.va.gov/rlcweb.htm - This webpage lists the regional offices for the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, ideal for applying for a home loan.

Conventional Lending

At the current time Fannie Mae’s Energy Efficient Mortgage program is under review and not accepting applicants. Interested customers are advised to contact Fannie Mae periodically for updates.

• Additional Information Available from:
  Fannie Mae Resource Center
  Telephone 1-800-7FANNIE (1-800-732-6643)
  www.fanniemae.com

Freddie Mac

• Freddie Mac is a stockholder-owned, congressionally chartered corporation that works to create a continuous flow of funds to mortgage lenders in support of homeownership and rental housing. It purchases mortgages from lenders and packages them into securities that are sold to investors, providing homeowners and renters with lower housing costs and better access to home financing.
• Freddie Mac provides incentives and criteria, as well as flexible guidelines, for EEMs that it’s willing to buy, which encourage lenders to offer them. However, the EEMs are limited to purchasing existing energy-efficient homes or those to be retrofitted or renovated for energy efficiency.
  • Several home energy rating methods and/or documentation, not just a HERS report, are acceptable.
  • Lenders can exceed the standard 2 percent debt-to-income stretch at their own discretion.
  • It allows a broader range of energy-efficient improvements than most EEM programs.
• Additional Information Available from
  Freddie Mac Investor Inquiry
  1551 Park Run Drive, MS D5O
  McLean, VA 22102
  800-373-3343
  Email: investor_inquiry@freddiemac.com

US Energy Efficient Improvements

• Many utilities in the United States offer a range of energy-efficient services to their customers. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), an Alliance Associate, offers a list of member company programs that offer efficiency services to homeowners, companies, and industrial plants.
• Homeowners will find more energy-efficiency services from utilities on the National Energy Affordability and Accessibility Project (NEAAP) website.

Check back soon for more to come on energy tax credits and rebates available at the local and state level, or call Jami or myself for more information.

In this tight real estate market, many homeowners are fearing that their dreams of moving up, transferring out of state or downsizing will not be as easy to realize as they had hoped.  As realtors, we talk to individuals every day who are facing the tough reality that it will take a very competetive edge to get your home sold for the best price in the shortest amount of time.

“What does this have to do with going green”, you might ask?  Eco-friendly features can play a large role in the way you update and market your home.  Looking at the top reasons that homes don’t sell, we can find an environmentally conscious benefit in each category:

1.  Price

Over-priced homes take much longer to sell, if they sell at all.  Let’s face it, the economy is slow and homebuyers are more nervous.  The days of 100% financing are over; first-time homebuyers are not spoon-fed easy, no-money-down loans and sales volume across the nation is down.  So why is this good?  The euphemism “market correction” comes to mind - and it’s true.  Historically speaking, housing prices have kept pace with income rates on a national level.  Tracking the median for each on a grid, the lines slowly march upward with inflation in nearly parallel paths.  For over 7 years, however, housing prices have steadily risen above the median income - home buyers have been paying a higher perentage of their salaries for property, using increasingly risky loans while eating up more readily available credit.  This lethal combination has pushed many consumers over the brink of financial collapse and foreclosure, as the media tells us on a daily basis.  As tough as it sounds, the market needed to stabilize, even here in Cincinnati where we are relatively insulated from the bubbles seen in Florida and California.

In short, real estate prices are naturally slowing to realign with average income levels.  This is a fundamental part of the stability of our economy; it’s part of the natural balancing act.  No need to panic, homesellers - what is necessary to sell your home effectively these days is a bit of savvy and a great marketing plan.  You don’t need to drop the price of your home exceedingly low to get it sold, but you do need to be realistic.  We’ll discuss the other strategies below, but regarding price it is in your best interest to understand all you can on comparable sales and active listings in your area, pricing your home just below the closest competitor.  Don’t play games with the price - testing the market at a high price with the intention of later reducing it if an offer doesn’t materialize is a waste of your time.  The higher the price, the fewer buyers will see it on the internet - it becomes invisible to many house hunters.   Most sellers have an idea of the price they will accept for their home so do your research, determine your lowest reasonable price and then choose a list price that is just slightly higher.  Buyers typically want to negotiate the price down, so a small amount of wiggle room gives them the satisfaction of getting a better deal.  Take heart, the buyers are still out there, but they are better educated and more discriminating  than ever before and home sellers need to be just as informed if not more so.  Rising energy costs, shrinking consumer confidence and economic fears affect real estate just as much as any other market but you can stay competetive with your listing by following the few simple ideas outlined here.   As buyers become more and more aware of enery saving features, carbon footprints and wasteful spending they are going to be less apt to impulse buying and overpaying just because they love certain features of the home.  There’s a lot of competition out there, and setting a reasonable price for your home (with the guidance of a qualifed realtor, ideally!) is the first major step in getting it sold.  Read on to see how you can save green by going green:

2. Condition

Ugly, smelly, oudated houses don’t sell unless they’re dirt cheap; nobody else wants smell your cat, let alone pay top dollar for it.  This brings us back to that competetive edge… When you sell a home, you are selling a product.  We find homes in all types of conditions for sale, so what makes a home the most attractive and results in a quick sale?  Price and condition.  No two ways around it, make your home the best product on the market or lower the price to increase its appeal.  We are force-fed the line about location, location, location and yes, of course the location matters.  But we can’t change the location, so it is reflected in the price… or should be.  So let’s move on to the home’s physical condition.  Why sell an inferior product?  Or better yet, ask yourself the question:  Why would a buyer buy an inferior product?  They’ll buy if it’s a steal, but most of you aren’t ready to give your house away.  As a seller, you need to find the objectivity to give your home the critical once-over and ditch the rose-colored glasses this time.  Buyers aren’t sentimental about your home; they don’t love the wear and tear the kids put on the walls over the years or enjoy your first trials - and errors - with faux finishes.  Visit other homes for sale in your neighborhood that are similar to yours.  Pay attention to the ones that appeal most to you and those that sell quickly.  Now go home and copy what the successful ones are doing - neutral paint, new carpet, new countertops, new hardware, staging, fresh landscaping and clean, clean, clean.  But why not go a few steps further than this, give the environment a much-needed break and add a few eco-friendly touches to the mix?  You can enjoy the benefits of increased energy savings (try lowering blinds every day to keep the sun out this summer and getting a programmable thermostat), lower the toxicity in your home (part with the moldy, allergenic carpet and bring the wood floors back to life), and environmental sensitivity (add a rain garden with native plants to help that excess run-off that ends up in your basement after heavy rains).  Equally as important, market those green upgrades to make your house stand out as unique, desirable AND eco-friendly.  Jami and I have an information available to homeowners on green improvements ranging from nearly free to large updates such as HVAC or quality replacement windows - email us with your specific needs and we’ll be happy to help.  If you do any major renovations and need to get rid of large items that are still intact and can be useful, consider recycling them - contact Building Value for more information, they even do deomolition work and will haul away the usable leftovers:  http://www.buildingvalue-cincy.org/index.html.

3. Marketing

Cast the widest net possible to catch potential buyers.  If your home has been on the market and isn’t selling, and you can honestly tell me you’ve passed the price and condition tests, take a good, hard look at the marketing used to sell your home.  Is there a realtor involved?  Did they put a sign in the yard and jump ship, never to be heard from again, or are they putting forward a consistent marketing plan to get your property noticed?  In this market, you need a lot more than an MLS listing to grab buyer’s attention.  Just as you scrutinize the condition of your house as a buyer would , try to find your house in the various ways that buyers do - the MLS is the obvious first choice, but how does your home look on the internet?  Were the photos done by a professional?  Is each room in the home well represented?  What about the sign out front - is there literature readily available for drivers-by to grab, or a 24-hour information line that buyers can call anonymously to get more information?  Print advertising is out - research shows that less than 2% of buyers look for homes in the newspapers.  Brokerages spend their advertising dollars in print media to direct buyers to their websites - visit your realtor’s site, see how easy it is to navigate and judge how much you would use it if you were a buyer.   In particular, if you do have green features to your home - even the more common items like a newer furnace (high efficiency?), enery-star appliances or good replacement windows, be certain your realtor is drawing attention to these bonuses, both in the online marketing and when showing the home.   If you are selling on your own, contact us for free information that can help you market and sell your home (no, there’s no sneaky sales pitch involved, just call for some good free advice - and who knows, maybe we have buyers looking in your area…).

According to the latest American Lung Association “State of the Air” report. One in 10 people still live in areas with unhealthy air, according to the report.  How did our fair city do?  In Hamilton County we got a big fat F.  Check us out on the full report

Top Ten U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution

1. Los Angeles/Long Beach/Riverside, Calif.
2. Pittsburgh, Pa.
3. Bakersfield, Calif.
4. Birmingham, Ala.
5. Visalia/Porterville, Calif.
6. Atlanta, Ga.
7. Cincinnati, Ohio
8. Fresno/Madera, Calif.
9. Hanford/Corcoran, Calif.
10. Detroit, Mich.

This is a list we should not be proud of being on.  What can we do to clean up our air?

Top 5 things to do to help control Air Pollution

1. Drive Less, Drive Smart - Consider alternate means of transportation - walking, biking.  Or carpool with someone at work!

2. Fill up your gas tank after dark - Gasoline emissions evaporate as you fill up your gas tank and contribute to the formation of ozone, a component of smog. Fill up after dark to keep the sun from turning those gases into air pollution.

3. Avoid Aerosol -try solid, gel and liquid forms instead.

4. Avoid Gas Powered Lawn Tools - Use hand-powered or electric lawn care equipment rather than gasoline-powered. Two-stroke engines like lawnmowers and blowers often have no pollution control devices and can pollute the air even more than cars.

5. Help out at Home - Don’t burn wood or trash. Burning firewood and trash are among the major sources of particle pollution in many parts of the country. If you must use a fireplace or stove for heat, convert your woodstoves to natural gas, which produces far fewer emissions.

YEAH! I received my home energy via email (Energy Que tries to be a bit more green by not printing materials).  I’ve resisted to print the file myself (all 66 pages) as well.  Here is the low down on my house:

The first section provides me information on my baseline data.  It utilizes the NOAA heating
degree days for the Cincinnati area and my energy usage from the power company to determine my homes efficiency rate.  I’ve only been in my house 2.5 years, so I didn’t have a lot of data stored up, but its really neat to see that the years we had really cold winter, my energy usage went up as well.   One interesting note is that it wasn’t until last year that I really started using my programmable thermostat religiously.  I was bound and determined to only have my house heat up when I was there.  (If you saw the size of my furnace you would understand why).  So, on my graph I can actually see that the energy usage went down and my efficiency went up!

The next section of my report is all of the thermal images that they took and where the biggest heat losses are occurring.   Below is a picture of my heat ducts in my basement.  As you can see at the  joists  I’m loosing a significant amount of heat from my already inefficient furnace.

Here is another photo of heat coming from one of the only original windows left on my house.   Imagine if I didn’t have new window s or good storm windows on?   There would be a ton of heat loss!

On the 3rd section of my report it gave me a TON of clever ideas on how to help make my house more efficient!  It looks like I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me…  Now that its spring and the weather is nice, I’m not as motivated to fix my leaky problems…  But summer is on the horizon and the AC will eventually be turned on.  I must get ready!

The Mayor’s new climate plan came out today and its a step in the right direction for our city.  According to the proposed action plan, we are looking to cut our green house gas emissions 2% each year, using 2006 as a baseline.  Here is an excerpt from the plan:

Cincinnati adopts the following GHG reduction goals:

 

Long Term – Reduce GHG emissions 84% below 2006 levels by 2050.

          Short Term – Reduce GHG emissions 8% below 2006 levels by 2012.

         Medium Term – Reduce GHG emissions 40% below 2006 levels by 2028.

There are other great proposals in it such as:

• The City should participate in the EPA’s National Idle Reduction Campaign and educate the public about the importance of engine idle-reduction practices. - Did you know that idling your car produces more emissions than turning it off and then back on?? Something as simple as turning your car off and not idling could help dramatically!

• The City should collaborate with regional bicycling advocates in order to increase bicycle use as a mode of transportation.

• Reduction of Electric Use in the Residential Sector - In Cincinnati a significant amount of the electricity used by residents is coal generated. A significant amount of GHG can be reduced by no and low cost measures with simple reduction of electric usage.

•  

  Offer “Green Loan” financing for home energy improvements paid for by utility savings, through creation of community-owned Utility Lending Institution (ULI).

• Recommendation: Renewable Energy using Solar Photovoltaic Electric for Use in the Residential, Commercial and Institutional Sectors

   

• Renewable Energy using Solar Thermal Hot Water Collectors for use in the Residential Sector.

   

The list goes on and on.  This proposed plan is very progressive.  Hats off to our city!  Now the big question is are the other cities neighboring Cincinnati going to follow suit with some of this?  I think tax abatements are a good start!  If you don’t live in the city of Cincinnati, but would like your area to start implementing green initiatives, give your council person a call, call city hall, let your voice be heard!

Earth Day in Cincinnati provided a fitting date for Jami and Libby’s inaugural “Green Bags” Eco Lunch Series.  The idea grew out of numerous lunch meetings with a wide range of Cincinnati’s top professionals in green and sustainable building and development.  Learning of the growing ranks of environmentally progressive design and building initiatives going on in southwest Ohio, we saw a tremendous opportunity to bring together these leaders in the environmental movement from such interrelated fields as architecture, development, remodeling, urban planning, interior design, energy auditing, engineering, marketing and landscaping.  Throw in representatives from the non-profit sector, community activism and academia and you have “Green Bags” - a cohesive network of dedicated professionals coming together over a bi-monthly brown bag lunch to educate and report to each other on the latest in green projects around the city. 

Marc, Andy and John Hueber of John Hueber Homes very graciously offered to host the first meeting at their LEED Silver Certified home on Observatory in Hyde Park.  Andy spoke of the LEED for Homes certification process and explained the many eco-friendly features the home has to offer that allowed for an impressive Silver certification.  Members will take turns hosting future meetings at sites throughout the city, presenting on their latest work.  Attendees were unanimously enthusiastic about the effort to pull this diverse and talented group together.  Based on the stellar response of those present as well as the interest of many who could not be in attendance, the group’s momentum is palpable.  Green Bags’ membership continues to grow significantly and new inquiries roll in daily.   We’ll keep our readership apprised of the latest news generated by this dynamic network! 

Many hearfelt thanks to all who attended, and here’s to your continued success in making environmental responsibility a standard of your business practices. 

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”  - Gandhi

Happy Earth Day to all of you!  We hope that each and everyone of you did a little something to help out our environment!  Even if its as simple as taking a shorter shower, planting a tree, unplugging your power-zapping cell phone charger after your cell phone is ready to go, etc…  Every little action is compounded into one large effort.  We challenge you to do a little something everyday.

We want to say a special thanks to those of you who attended our very first “Green Bags Eco Lunch Series.”  Because of you it was a smashing success!  Didn’t know about it?  Want to come to the next one?  Email us and we will put you on our list.  We are searching for service providers, planners, environmentalists, chamber or council members, etc, all who have a strong believe in moving Cincinnati to a “greener” place.   We want to be one strong united front and build a strong community.  While still in its infancy stages, we are happy to have anyone who wants to be involved!

Change starts with you and me.  Now, go roll around in the grass

I recently had Brent Quebman from Energy Que out to preform an energy evaluation on my little house in Norwood.  I was both excited and nervous about the process.  Being energy & price conscious, I was sure that he would find a million ways I could save money and the environment at the same time.

First a little background history on my humble abode.  I live in a typical Norwood/Oakley/Hyde Park bungalow; 3 bed 1 bath and REALLY OLD (approx 100).  Throughout the years there have been some upgrades made.  I have newer vinyl replacement windows, I insulated both the attic and the space between the basement and the first floor and I have a programmable thermostat.  The biggest thing I have against me is the age of my furnace and AC unit.  Both of these are pretty expensive to replace and although I will probably do it, I can’t do it right now.  So, my thoughts were in the mean time, get an energy audit done and be creative on other ways to save.

So, Brent came over with his sweet looking thermal imaging camera and gave me a lesson on my home’s energy envelope.  We put the heat on high and went to work.  He mainly checked out common problem areas of my house.  We looked around the windows and doors, my furnace vents in my basement, my attic space, etc.  As we walked through the house he pointed out simple energy saving solutions for me.  My biggest problem area seems to lie in my basement.  I can’t wait to see how the images turn out.  The biggest surprise to me of the day was something that I should have caught myself, but didn’t.  As we are taking pictures of my furnace (which is a HUGE old green Williamson) we go to the back side of it and low-and-behold, I’m missing a tube connecting my non-working humidifier to the intake and hot air is just gushing out into my basement!  AHHHH, all winter long, I’ve been paying to heat my cold damp basement.  YIKES!  Silly me, I just don’t go to the backside of my furnace.  Let that be a lesson to all of you out there.  Do a thorough check of you home.  I don’t even want to think of all the money I spent heating my basement this winter.

All in all, my energy evaluation was a success.  Brent was in and out in about an hour and it was all for a reasonable price!  He charges you based on your homes square footage, but a typical home is going to run you about $150.00.  When all is said and done, you’ll get the thermal imaging report and a baseline data review (compares your energy usage to the past 5 years of weather in Cincinnati).  You’ll also get a section of reporting that will help outline where your biggest problem areas are and how to best maximize your efforts.  I’m anxiously awaiting my report!  In the mean time, I’m going to run around my house and “green” what I can.

Going Green seems like the latest trend for just about everything. Heck, even Wal-Mart has jumped on the band wagon. So you may ask, how can being greener help YOU sell your home?  Well, think about it.  How often during the day do you think about rising oil prices (gas prices), energy costs (Duke Bills), even the cost of milk and eggs are going up!  It seems like we can’t catch a break these days.  Everyone is out there looking to save a little green, so it only makes sense that the housing market is following the same trend. 

For example, lets put on our buyer hats for a moment….If you were out shopping for a home today, and you found two identical homes (size, location, amenities, etc..) but only one had “green upgrades.”  (Lower utilities, more insulation, energy star appliances, better air quality, etc…).  Which one would you choose? No brainer right??  The greener one.  Having a home that had lower energy costs and better health benefits would be the one just about everyone would choose.

Well, what if the greener one was a tad bit more expensive… say 3000-5000 more?  Would you still consider it?  Most everyone would.  You’d make that back in no time compared to a home with out green features.

So, how do you start?  The key is to start making improvements to your home’s energy efficiency and document how the monthly bills change over time.  Highlight the savings to your real estate agent and if you’re agent is smart (and green) they’ll also provide comparisons to typical bills for similar-sized houses in your area.

What if you need to sell now and haven’t done any of this stuff and still want to get a leg up on the competition?  We as agents recommend that you have an energy audit preformed on your home.  I actually just had Energy Que come out and audit my house.  They’ll take thermal pictures of your home and show you where your loosing energy, make recommendations as to how to fix the problems and also take your energy usage history and track your efficiency.  How COOL??

Once the energy audit is complete, you can make some of the major to minor repairs and document these for possible buyers.  Giving you a definite advantage over your competition.  But make sure you have an agent who is knowledgeable and understands how to sell this superior advantage.  Choose a GREEN REALTOR.

As for me, I’ll be documenting my progress on my house for all of you fine folks out there.  Stay tuned!