Services Provided by Healthier Dwelling for Realtors and Lenders

Get into the growing market in sustainable buildings

Healthier Dwelling will help you understand the sustainability principles that allow you to take advantage of the emerging critieria for appraising green buildings. Learn the basics of GreenPoint Rating and HERS (Home Energy Rating System), so that you can recognize the sustainable features and potential of the residential and commercial buildings you help buy and sell. See our article on "Third Party Certified Green Homes Results in Faster Sales and Higher Home Values."

Make use of Energy Efficient Mortgages to help your Buyers add value to their Homes

A program you may want to explore is an Energy Efficient Mortgage which can include an additional $8 thousand for energy efficiency upgrades, such as  insulation, HVAC duct sealing & equipment efficiency change outs, solar water heating, building envelope sealing and double pane low-E windows.  These loans are backed by the FHA and offer attractive terms, including as little as 3.5% down payment. Extra money is approved for energy upgrades at the same low rate of interest without having to show any additional income, since the decrease in utility bills more than pays for the small additional mortgage interest. Healthier Dwellling is certifed to help your clients quality for EEM's and follow through helping them select qualified contractors, schedule work, and make sure it done right and on time (within 90 days of closing).

Offer other FHA-backed programs to your Buyers

The FHA also backs programs for extensive Rehabilitation (203K), less extensive repairs (Streamline 203k), Weatherization, and Veterans. Healthier Dwelling will help you provide all these programs to your clients. With housing prices down, now is the time to buy and add value to newly acquired properties. With unemployment up, now is the time to put contractors to work at a good price, building the economy and your real estate portfolio.

Maximize your Appraisal

Lenders are re-assessing the value of homes based on “desk top valuation” of depressed sales in your area which are not really “comparable” to the house you are trying to sell. Get the appraisal of your home raised by documenting and upgrading its green and sustainable features. The GreenPoint and HERS ratings done by Healthier Dwelling are registered and become part of the public record on your home. They also serve as a recognized green "brand" which makes your home stand out from others which lack such documented value. See our article on "Third Party Certified Green Homes Results in Faster Sales and Higher Home Values."

Make sure your clients receive all available savings, incentives, rebates and tax credits for going Green.

Healthier Dwelling tracks programs which reward Green Building and Green Retrofits. We can help you serve your clients plugging them into relevant programs and plan for new programs that are coming down the pike.

Evaluate the health as well as energy consumption of your residential and commercial properties.

Home buyers and Employers are becoming increasingly concerned about the "health" of the buildings where they live and work. For example, Indoor Air Quality is two to four times less healthy than outdoor air quality on the average.  Almost everyone has a family member or friend afflicted with asthma or allergies, and these respiratory ailments are on the rise among children. Make your home safer, healthier, and more comfortable by identifying and eliminating toxic building & cleaning materials. Some of these culprits are the paints and adhesives emitting volatile organic compounds, cabinets containing formaldehyde, excessive moisture inside, inadequate ventilation, as well as leaking HVAC systems and the building envelope. Healthier Dwelling can help identify health risks in a building and prescribe remedies.

Compare the desireability and cost effectiveness of  various improvements!

Healthier Dwelling will show you and your clients ways to save energy and lower utllity bills. By doing a computer model of a building as an energy system and by trying out various possible improvements, Healthier Dwelling can suggest the most cost effective upgrades and which fit in best with whatever remodeling or construction plans are already in motion. Whenever work is done on one part of a building, there are almost always things that can be done to improve the health and energy efficiency of the whole building.