What does a Green House mean to you?

Have you ever sat in a home where it was 100 degrees outside and it was 105 degrees inside… yea, it’s horrible.  You know the A/C is working because you can hear the loud screeching howl it makes as it’s trying to keep up with the Houston Summer.  Sweet dripping down your brow, your underwear sticking to places you didn’t want them sticking.  You don’t want to move because it’s just exhausting.

We’re going to talk about one of the most impactful savings you can do for yourself that very little people know about.  When you purchase a Green home you’re really purchasing an efficient home that cools and heats without you breaking a sweet.  I know all about this…  I had a home that was always hot in the summer and cool in the winter.  My electric bill was over $500 a month in the summers and my home was only 2600 sq feet.  The gas bill was just as bad.

It’s proven that if you buy a home that is “Green” you will save LOTS of money.  I know, that’s so obvious why am I even writing this.  Well, let’s talk about the not so obvious.  Did you know that if you’re getting a Houston TX Mortgage you can get a Green Mortgage?  Woohoo, I thought all Houston Mortgages were GREEN (that’s the color of money)…  what does that really mean?  There are several versions of a Green Loan so it will depend if you’re getting an FHA, VA or Fannie/Freddie Houston Mortgage.  Let’s break it down for you:

FHA Energy Efficient Mortgage allows you to add 100 percent of the additional cost of cost-effective energy efficiency improvements to an already approved mortgage loan (as long as the additional costs do not exceed $4000 or 5 percent of the value of the home, up to a maximum of $8000, whichever is greater). Your down payment will not increase and the additional cost will not interfere with the FHA loan limits.  So if the home isn’t green when you find it, you can make it green after you buy it.

VA Energy Efficient Mortgages is available to qualified military personnel, reservists and veterans for energy improvements when purchasing an existing home.  The VA EEM caps energy improvements at $3,000–$6,000.  Let your Lender know you’re interested in doing a VA EEM early on in the process so they can assist you correctly.

Conventional Energy Efficient Mortgages (Fannie/Freddie) can increase the purchasing power of buying an energy efficient home by allowing the lender to increase your (the borrower) income by a dollar amount equal to the estimated energy savings. The Fannie Mae loan also adjusts the value of the home to reflect the value of the energy efficiency measures.

ENERGY STAR Mortgages are a bit different from the other three programs.  It’s a pilot program where participating lenders offer borrowers additional financial benefit, such as discounted mortgage rates, reduced fees or helping with the closing costs.  The cost of the qualified improvements will be absorbed into the loan.

It’s not that you want to sit in a HOT home sweating the long Houston summer, it’s that you weren’t aware that you had GREEN financing option at your finger tips.  When you’re talking with a seasoned Loan Officer you can ask about these options and get started on your GREEN Houston TX Mortgage.