Tucson Home Seller Guide

Overview

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Receiving the correct selling price is the most important factor in selling your home. Unfortunately, including the value of energy efficient home features hasn't caught on with the lender appraisal process in all real estate markets. Without proper documentation, this value can be overlooked in the appraisal. So, what's a home seller to do?

Real Estate Agents certified as EcoBrokers® have the training to bring this hidden value to light. The Home Energy Rating System (HERS) is the instrument used by home sellers to place value on the "Energy Saving" features and design layout of their home. For assistance in understanding how to have your energy saving features included in the appraised value of your home, contact for a free consultation.

Home Selling Price

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Selling your home is a very important financial transaction. The most important factor in this transaction is receiving your home's full potential selling price. Owners of homes with energy saving features should seek out a real estate agent with an understanding of how these features add value to your home and how they will save future owners energy dollars. The fact is, in today's world, every home buyer wants to spend as few dollars as possible on utility costs.

When asked to list their top 12 influences in buying a home, consumers responding to a National Association of Home Builders survey last year put energy efficiency at No. 2, behind quality of living space. Five years ago, energy didn't even make the same survey. (The Huntington Post, February 2009)

As a Tucson Certified EcoBroker®, I assist home sellers with my expertise in understanding the environmental, energy efficient and design features that bring added value to your home and contribute to its selling price. Sometimes home owners are not aware that these design features exist. Some features could be present even in a 50 year old home.

Appraisals Slow To Catch-Up

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Many energy efficient green features are still new to the residential appraisal profession and they’re not always included in a home valuation for a lender. I'm confident a full inclusion of green features will come as the market understanding and acceptance of their value is brought to light. Until then, how should a seller with these features move forward with selling their home and recovering the full market value?

EcoBrokers® Understand

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As an EcoBroker, I have special training in understanding and promoting the environmental and energy efficient features of contemporary homes. Often, sellers preparing to market their property don’t include, in their ads, some of the most desirable features sought after by today’s home buyer. There seems to be a disconnect among sellers and many real estate agents as to which home features actually bring added value.

Energy Efficient Features Have "Contributing Value"

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Home selling ads routinely mention features such as a three car garage, outdoor BBQ area, swimming pool, and neighborhood amenities, all of which add a “Contributing Value” to the property; but they fail to mention the features that save energy and provide a healthy indoor living environment.

Since the latest fuel crisis and the rising cost of energy to maintain a comfortable indoor living space; many environmental and energy saving features have been added to existing and new built homes. The Tucson MLS has caught up with the buyer demand and many of these features can now be added to a listing. Yet, when I search the Tucson MLS, for my buyer clients, many listings with these features don’t even mention their presence in the home. It takes a call to the listing agent to discover these features exist.

What's a Home Seller To Do?

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It's very hard for an appraiser to estimate the value and cost savings of an individual design or energy saving feature. When a house receives a certification from the "LEED", "Energy Star®" or other Green Building certification program it allows the appraiser to consolidate the individual features of the property into a single value. The most popular program is Energy Star®, which uses the (HERS) or Home Energy Rating System to find the value. The number this system produces is the number the appraiser uses in their calculations to place a dollar value on the energy saving features for your home.

It's not neccessary for a property to receive a certification for the testing to have value to the home owner. The HERS system not only gives a rating of how energy efficient your home is today, but explains what actions can be taken to improve the energy saving performance in the future. By providing this information to your home buyer you give them the data they can use to request an "Energy Effieient Mortgage" from their lender.

The EEM allows the home buyer to obtain a higher value mortgage so they can then perform the upgrades to increase the energy efficiency of the property. Frankly, the way energy costs are rising, every home seller should obtain a HERS rating on their property so their buyer can apply for an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) on the house they like and upgrade it into a home they love. Contact us today for your "Free" personal consultation with your

Home Preparation

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Once the home seller decides to have their home analized for its energy saving performance the next step is to prepare the home. The effort a home seller puts into preparing their home will pay big dividends in terms of shortening market time and the eventual price received for their home.

Good Preparation = Shorter Selling time + Fair Market Value

Once a homeowner makes the decision to sell, it's time to start viewing their home from the perspective of a buyer. The first thing a buyer see's when they approach your home for a viewing is the front yard and exterior of the house. So, fresh paint, pristine exterior and a neatly landscaped uncluttered yard can justify top market value for your home. The # 1 priority is to maximize your home's exterior curb appeal. First impressions are everything for a property on the market.

The next priority is to enhance the interior charm of the house. A home owner should make sure the interior is clean and fresh paint is applied where needed. Staging the furniture, wall hangings and accessories, for an open space feeling, allows the buyer to use the imagination for placement of their furnishngs. A buyer should to able to see future potential in the house as well as how it looks today.

Obtain a home warranty and inspection up front. When your home sells, it's likely that the sale will be subject to an inspection. By providing an initial inspection and warranty, the buyer can feel confident and stress free about buying your home and you can feel confident about selling it.

   To have Tucson Energy Efficient Homes market your home and list it immediately in the Tucson MLS and Realtor.com please get in touch with your today. Thanks, Brian.

 

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