Our "Green" Team Specializes in Sustainable Homes
If you are considering selling a home with sustainable home features (owned solar PV, low HERS rating, great home energy scores, etc), your home may be worth more than an identical sale without such features.
If you have a home with sustainable features (which most homes do), it's important to work with a real estate agent who understands how energy efficiency affects appraised value, and what steps can be taken to ensure that the appraiser and mortgage company factor that efficiency into the value.
Will buyers PAY more for a house with sustainable features?
A new study conducted by national appraisal experts says the answer most probably is yes — often tens of thousands of dollars more.
Funded by the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment and assisted by the nonprofit Institute for Market Transformation, the study employed a sophisticated “paired sale” analysis of homes sold in the District between February 2013 and June 2015.
Appraisers matched individual “high-performance” energy and resource-conserving houses against multiple homes similar in type and location but without green improvements. They then calculated the extra dollar increments buyers were willing to pay for the green features and found they ranged from $10,343 to $53,000, or an average premium of 3.46 percent. Some premiums on individual houses ranged as high as 6 percent to 7.7 percent and were enhanced when properties had photovoltaic solar arrays to slash electricity costs.
This is GREAT NEWS if you are a SELLER because if you work with a real estate agent who understands how sustainability affects value, you can sell your home for 3.3% to 7.4% MORE than similar homes that are not marketed for their sustainability.
This is ALSO GREAT NEWS if you are a BUYER because there are literally thousands of homes on the market right now that HAVE sustainable features that ARE NOT being marketed properly. That means that if you work with an agent who understands how sustainability affects value, you can find real estate BARGAINS where you pay the price of a regular home, but GET all the features and benefits of a sustainable home.
Download our 2021 LAER Sustainability Report.