Eco-Friendly Home

Amidst energy costs increasing and intense environmental degradation, looking into the green real estate perhaps deserves your consideration in buying your new home. And in most markets, the prices of eco-friendly homes are so affordable. A few years ago, these were not the scenarios. Building a green home five years ago requires a premium of 11 percent to 25 percent. But these days, home owners could only expect paying 3 percent to 5 percent.

In addition, this type of residential property successfully endured depreciating values in the market. During the 2007 real estate market crisis here in the U.S. where most homes lost 5.7 percent of their values, the eco homes sustained appreciating in price. As for selling this property, a green estate is generally appraised for 10 percent to 15 percent more than other traditional buildings. And such numbers are dependent on the location and upgrade the previous home owner or builder set the property in. The more enhancements the home had, say wholly eco-friendly in all its features, the higher is the property’s value.

There is more for the prospective buyer’s benefit. The extra costs required in building and installing eco-friendly materials in the home would be offset by the savings on bills for utilities. The Department of Energy stated that homes with energy efficient appliances or facilities like furnace or boiler could save the home owner 0 on bills for the whole year. The savings would be definitely for a long period of time.

As these advantages are seemingly becoming more popular among builders, green homes are expected to be credited for 10 percent of new homes to be constructed in 2010. This is 5 percent higher than in 2005. With this said, buying an eco home would be a breeze in terms of searching for the property with high quality and energy efficiency performance.

These economic and environmental consciousness factors are the main attractive traits most prospective buyers could look forward to having a green home. Then again, you should still be careful in picking out the right home. Do not be overwhelmed with just any home feature that promises energy efficiency. You have to evaluate whether the upgrade is worth the additional costs.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification could also make your selection easier. LEED encourages sustainable building practices and this outfit certifies homes that are built with the least environmental impact. On the other hand, there are only 400 certified LEED home in the whole country so it may be really difficult to score this property. The main idea here is that such homes could be your guide to putting up a comparison between the LEED home and your chosen property. Once there are many alike characteristics, you would be secured that the home you are venturing into upheld eco-friendly practices.

Your green home hunting would be a lot less stressful if you seek references from the buildings department of the area where the home is located. There are specific local codes like drought-resistant landscaping, insulated heating pipes and particular solar lighting that are incorporated in the newly built or renovated homes. If you have been familiarized with the features commonly found in the eco homes in that area, you would be more learned in choosing.