This article originally posted on the CRS website - www.crs.com

Ben Olsen is a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) as well as an EcoBroker.  If you are considering making green updates to your home, please don't hesitate to ask Ben for advice.

Homeowners Getting Greener 

As homeowners become more knowledgeable about environmentally friendly practices, they are more willing to invest in their homes to make them more energy efficient. According to Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate “Living Green” Consumer Survey, nearly half (48 percent) of homeowners said they would be willing to spend $2,500 or more to make green improvements to appeal to potential buyers, and one in three homeowners said they’d be willing to spend $5,000 or more on improvements.

Most important for agents, more than half of those surveyed (51 percent) believe it’s important to work with a green certified real estate agent — someone who can help them identify and market eco-friendly properties. This would include knowledge of housing materials and construction, energy-efficient appliances and HVAC systems and the impact of landscaping on a home’s environmental footprint.

The survey also finds that cost is the greatest deterrent to going green, cited by 36 percent of respondents. Other factors that prevented homeowners from being greener included:

-- Convenience – 22 percent
-- Lack of knowledge about implementation – 18 percent
-- Lack of time – 17 percent

However, many homeowners reported that they engaged in some eco-friendly activities in the past six months, including:

-- Recycling – 73 percent
-- Replacing incandescent lights with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) – 69 percent
-- Conserving water – 57 percent
-- Adjusting the thermostat – 51 percent
-- Purchasing energy-efficient appliances – 30 percent
Tue, Nov 11, 2008

Some of our clients aredoing this, and we thought it was worth passing on

Lease Photovoltaic Solar Panels and reduce your energy bill. There is no upfront cost. This deal expires in July, so if you are interested in getting on board, now is the time. There are additional savings if 20 households go in together, so if you are interested, email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it to get hooked up with the other families that are working on it.

http://dev.solarcity.com/tabid/137/Default.aspx

It is worth noting that you have to have good enough credit (700 or above) and have a large enough electricity component of your PG&E Bill for this to make sense (about $200/month or more). Larger homes, or homes with a hot tub or pool should easily qualify. Customers can expect to save $50 to more than $100/month.

Below are the thoughts of a client/friend that is planning to sign up.

'Essentially, SolarCity allows you to lease, rather than buy, the solar panels for your house. You can benefit from the solar energy savings, benefit the environment, but not be out-of-pocket the thousands of dollars required to purchase solar panels. SolarCity is offering a special deal right now (which I understand expires in July) where you can lease the panels for a term of 7 or 15 years, with zero money down. If you have a house that works (i.e., with respect to roof and sun exposure), you have a large enough PG&E bill, and your credit score is above 700, then you can qualify. A friend of mine is an attorney at the firm (Thelan) that put together the financing for this deal between SolarCity and Morgan Stanley and he confirmed that the July deadline is not a "gimmick" it is a condition of financing related to the tax benefits they are able to receive from the government this year.

Personally, my reluctance in buying solar panels was the high cost to purchase (which means a long time to recoup savings) and the fact that I have heard about nano technology that will make for more efficient solar panels in the future. The people I have heard talk about this have estimated that this technology for residential solar panel application might be 5 or so years out. So I am interested in the 7 year lease. As I understand it, at the end of the lease term, SolarCity allows you to purchase the panels, extend the lease, have them removed, or have them upgrade the panels with the new technology. Until then and during the lease, SolarCity provides free repair and monitoring service and guarantees their performance.'

Sue has just installed additional roof ventilation and an attic fan to reduce summer heat build-up in her own home. This should help to reduce the temperature in the attic, thereby reducing the cooling cost of the house, and extending the life of the roof by many years. The work was performed by Mark Mallicoat at Lafayette Roofing. They can be reached at 925-283-3070 or by email at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it They have offered to do a free roof inspection ($125 value) if they install the attic fan.

Please be sure to mention that you found out about this through The Olsen Team.