Through my weekly readings, I came across some overwhelming information from no other then our President Obama and his new Home Star program incentives that are offered to homeowners to make their homes more energy-efficient, saving families several of hundred of dollars on their utility bills.
In reading these articles, which I have linked here in order to educate the consumer and more so people in the real estate industry that are still in denial about the energy-efficient qualified new home construction that many cities, counties and states are on a fast track in building and selling. I was just tickled to death, when I read all this information about energy efficiency and how it is affecting major industries especially the real estate industry. This is something I have been preaching for about the past three years and many in the real estate community just saw it as a marketing gimmick or just did not get it or for some odd reason, from lack of knowledge, assumed that these high performance homes just needed to be comparable to minimum code built homes. Although, more of them are using illusory words to attract the environmentally concious consumer to their products practicing GREENWASHING. These swindlers will soon be slammed with reprimands not only from authorities from their own organizations but from the government. Consumers need to be protected in many ways then one because buying real estate is a big investment that buyers can't just turn around and get rid of so quickly.
Cracking Down on GREENWASHING (Government driven)
The Green MLS Tool Kit ( Guidelines from NAR)
Who are "Green" Buyers and Sellers?
How about Some "GREEN" on the MLS?
Why Green Building
Cost of an Energy Efficient home versus standard spec home
In today's real estate market, energy-efficiency is seen everywhere you turn. This is an issue that can be avoided but soon will be hard to ignore. For those who think it is just merely a trend of today will soon see it as the norm of tomorrow. We even see it with auto makers putting out energy-efficient cars because it is mandated by our government. Consumers can now have the option to buy a car which due come at a premium with higher fuel standards saving consumers at the pump and receive government tax credit for their purchases offsetting consumers investment and saving them for years to come.
Homes are no different. Homes are a major contributors of greenhouse gas emission and through programs like ENERGY STAR, LEED, HOMESTAR, and many others out there qualifying new and retrofit home construction adhering to higher standards,being sustainable, kind to the environment as well as providing a healthier more comfortable home and saving homeowners money on their utilities bills. Yes, I do understand that some people do not care for this and the larger the home and cheaper they pay for them is their thing and that is great different homes for different folks,right.
Now, I ask you, who in the world doesn't want to save money? Being in the real estate industry, I hear people say how much money they are spending on their utility bills and I ask myself "am I the only one listening to these people?" On the other side, I constantly hear these energy efficient homes being called "homes that don't fit in", "homes that are overpriced" or "homes that are bullies" bluh, bluh, bluh and all these comments coming from no other than professionals in the industry that sadly refuse to either educate themselves on what the overall benefits of these homes are or just do not want to admit that "they" themselves do not "fit in" to the real estate market of "Today" and understanding the aspects of the new era of building and retrofiting to energy-efficiency. Professionals that refuse to admit to the changing market will soon stay behind in the real estate of yesterday and as consumers become more savvy buyers will steer to professionals that are better educated in the modern real estate industry.
I will say this to consumers and to my peers soon we will see steps taken mandating improvements in building efficiency by 50% through our building codes. There has been improvements in the residential sector with the IECC 2009 but sadly to report that this 30% improvement by the Energy Efficient Code Coalition is ONLY voluntary to be used by cities, counties and state authorities. These authorities more often than not will give their dumbs down due to their local politics and deep concerns in adding new building codes because it will be harder to get builders to get the proper training.
So, many elect to ignore it, turn a blind eye and believe they can live in a shell and avoid change or fear of the unknown and the effect it may have in their lives, and the way they do business and I completely understand but, whether you want to admit it or not this trend will become the norm forcing all of us to make a change.
What's your take? I would love to hear your views from your neck of the woods and your experiences in your market.
In reading these articles, which I have linked here in order to educate the consumer and more so people in the real estate industry that are still in denial about the energy-efficient qualified new home construction that many cities, counties and states are on a fast track in building and selling. I was just tickled to death, when I read all this information about energy efficiency and how it is affecting major industries especially the real estate industry. This is something I have been preaching for about the past three years and many in the real estate community just saw it as a marketing gimmick or just did not get it or for some odd reason, from lack of knowledge, assumed that these high performance homes just needed to be comparable to minimum code built homes. Although, more of them are using illusory words to attract the environmentally concious consumer to their products practicing GREENWASHING. These swindlers will soon be slammed with reprimands not only from authorities from their own organizations but from the government. Consumers need to be protected in many ways then one because buying real estate is a big investment that buyers can't just turn around and get rid of so quickly.
Cracking Down on GREENWASHING (Government driven)
The Green MLS Tool Kit ( Guidelines from NAR)
Who are "Green" Buyers and Sellers?
How about Some "GREEN" on the MLS?
Why Green Building
Cost of an Energy Efficient home versus standard spec home
In today's real estate market, energy-efficiency is seen everywhere you turn. This is an issue that can be avoided but soon will be hard to ignore. For those who think it is just merely a trend of today will soon see it as the norm of tomorrow. We even see it with auto makers putting out energy-efficient cars because it is mandated by our government. Consumers can now have the option to buy a car which due come at a premium with higher fuel standards saving consumers at the pump and receive government tax credit for their purchases offsetting consumers investment and saving them for years to come.
Homes are no different. Homes are a major contributors of greenhouse gas emission and through programs like ENERGY STAR, LEED, HOMESTAR, and many others out there qualifying new and retrofit home construction adhering to higher standards,being sustainable, kind to the environment as well as providing a healthier more comfortable home and saving homeowners money on their utilities bills. Yes, I do understand that some people do not care for this and the larger the home and cheaper they pay for them is their thing and that is great different homes for different folks,right.
Now, I ask you, who in the world doesn't want to save money? Being in the real estate industry, I hear people say how much money they are spending on their utility bills and I ask myself "am I the only one listening to these people?" On the other side, I constantly hear these energy efficient homes being called "homes that don't fit in", "homes that are overpriced" or "homes that are bullies" bluh, bluh, bluh and all these comments coming from no other than professionals in the industry that sadly refuse to either educate themselves on what the overall benefits of these homes are or just do not want to admit that "they" themselves do not "fit in" to the real estate market of "Today" and understanding the aspects of the new era of building and retrofiting to energy-efficiency. Professionals that refuse to admit to the changing market will soon stay behind in the real estate of yesterday and as consumers become more savvy buyers will steer to professionals that are better educated in the modern real estate industry.
I will say this to consumers and to my peers soon we will see steps taken mandating improvements in building efficiency by 50% through our building codes. There has been improvements in the residential sector with the IECC 2009 but sadly to report that this 30% improvement by the Energy Efficient Code Coalition is ONLY voluntary to be used by cities, counties and state authorities. These authorities more often than not will give their dumbs down due to their local politics and deep concerns in adding new building codes because it will be harder to get builders to get the proper training.
So, many elect to ignore it, turn a blind eye and believe they can live in a shell and avoid change or fear of the unknown and the effect it may have in their lives, and the way they do business and I completely understand but, whether you want to admit it or not this trend will become the norm forcing all of us to make a change.
What's your take? I would love to hear your views from your neck of the woods and your experiences in your market.
