Energy Efficient Mortgages

Going Green Saves you Green
Because of the high cost of dirty fuels, going Green actually SAVES a homeowner money. Saving money by saving the environment is the key message I’m helping to deliver to Americans.

Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM)
An Energy Efficient Mortgage is a loan to purchase a home and the energy saving systems needed to reduce the homeowners utility bills by more than than the cost of financing the energy saving systems. A homeowner can also refinance their home to finance the addition of these energy saving systems to their current home.

Conventional Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEM)
The conventional (or Fannie Mae) Energy Efficient Mortgage is the most powerful of the three EEM programs specifically designed to make existing homes more comfortable and affordable. This mortgage is perfect if you are buying or refinancing a home and you are thinking about renovating or updating it as you do so. It also enables you to do ANY energy efficient upgrades without touching the equity or the down-payment on your home.

What should I know about the Conventional EEM?
ANYTHING that contributes to the energy efficiency of your home is covered by the Energy Efficient Mortgage. If you have something specific you’d like to do to your home, call us and we’ll let you know if you can do it.

You can borrow up to 15% of the home’s appraised value for energy efficient improvements. For a home that appraises for $150,000, you could finance up to $22,500 in energy efficient upgrades.
The cost of the improvements are added onto the appraised value of the home. If you did $10,000 in improvements on a home that appraises for $150,000, your new appraised value is immediately $160,000.

You do not need to have as much income for a conventional Energy Efficient Mortgage as you would for a conventional mortgage. The Energy Efficient Mortgage takes into consideration the fact that your home is more affordable and rewards you accordingly.

One positive side effect of an energy efficient home (other than lower utility bills) is that it has a good impact on the environment. The average home that goes through an Energy Efficient Mortgage will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2-4 TONS per year.

The conventional Energy Efficient Mortgage can be combined with both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages.

The Conventional Energy Efficient Mortgage at work

	Non-Energy Efficient Home	Energy Efficient Home
Purchase Price	$130,000	$130,000
Down Payment	$15,000	$15,000
Loan Amount	$115,000	$125,000
Interest Rate*	6%	6%
Monthly PITI**	$957	$1,017
Average Utility Bill	$224	$112
Total Expenses	$1,181	$1,129
Monthly Savings	$0	$52
Annual Savings	$0	$624

(Source)

GreenMaker merges with Green Depot

Green Depot ( www.greendepot.com) — the Brooklyn-based supplier of environmentally friendly and sustainable building products, services and solutions — today announced that it has merged with Chicago-based Greenmaker ( www.greenmakersupply.com) to create the nation’s largest and most sophisticated supplier of green building materials.

Green Depot serves residential and commercial builders and everyday homeowners nationwide through its Web site and throughout the Northeast with five outlets in Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia, Long Island, N.Y. and Newark, N.J. It also has 10 additional distribution centers in the mid-Atlantic region. In 2009, it plans to open three new retail outlets in Albany, N.Y., Newark, D.E., and a flagship store in the Bowery neighborhood of Manhattan.

Since 2005, Greenmaker has served similar customers in the Chicago area through its retail store, e-commerce site and direct delivery. Greenmaker’s achievements have been recognized by numerous agencies and media outlets. Its strong position in Chicago coupled with its extensive proprietary product lines made Greenmaker an attractive partner for New York based Green Depot.

“Green Depot’s mission is to make high quality, sustainable materials and product solutions accessible to builders and consumers. We strive to demystify what ‘green’ means so that customers are empowered to make the best decisions and drive the marketplace,” said Sarah Beatty, president and founder of Green Depot. “While our Web site allows us national reach, we are eager to serve the Chicagoland community better than ever. Read the full story on Market Watch.

Congrats to Ori and Joe at GreenMaker with this merger with a larger well established east coast supplier. We are looking forward to new offerings and news from this merger.