Green Your Home With an Energy Efficient Mortgage

(By Johnny P Kevan)

Are you ready to improve the energy efficiency of your home? There are several ways you can get the money you need to upgrade your home's energy systems. Making such property improvements offers many environmental benefits, and can also help you save a significant amount of money in the long run.

About Energy Efficient Mortgages

Homeowners can add an energy efficient mortgage on to their current home loans. Under the terms of these federally recognized home loans, borrowers are able to utilize mortgage funding for the purpose of launching an energy efficient remodeling project. Consumers can also get these types of loans to fund the purchase of homes that are already energy efficient. These types of mortgage loans are available in both conventional and government loan programs.

Benefits of Efficient Mortgages

There are many benefits to seeking an energy efficient mortgage. When you use proceeds from an energy efficient home loan to upgrade the appliances and energy systems in your home, you are able to make changes that will reduce your monthly utility expenses while providing you with tax deductible interest payments, in most cases.

Getting Ready for an Energy Efficient Home Makeover

Before you apply for an energy efficient home loan, it's a good idea to get a certified home energy rater to perform an energy audit on your house. This will generally cost between $100 and $400, depending on the size of your home. In some cases, the energy audit cost can be financed into the mortgage, just like any other closing costs. In other instances, homeowners must pay for the audit out of pocket, or sometimes the lender will foot the bill.

The information you obtain from the audit will provide you with sound data to use to demonstrate to your lender why and how your property will benefit from improved energy efficiency. When you're able to show that your power bills will go down as a result of improvements funded via the energy efficient loan, lenders can clearly see where you'll get the money to fund the additional mortgage loan expense.

Who is Eligible for an Energy Efficient Mortgage?

The criteria for qualifying for energy efficient mortgages are no different than for any other type of home loan. If you are able to qualify for a mortgage loan, you won't have any trouble qualifying for an energy efficient loan. These types of loans are open to all qualified home owners, regardless of where the house is, how much it is worth, or how the utilities are currently configured.

Benefits may vary based on the energy rating assigned to your home during the energy audit process. The lender utilizes the audit to determine the specific benefits for which each borrower is qualified to receive. New homes, older homes, and even new construction properties are able to qualify for energy efficient mortgages. Reducing environmental impact and conserving energy is important no matter what the age or condition of the home. Homeowners can utilize energy efficient mortgages to help make sure that they are as environmentally sound as possible.

Get more information regarding mortgages.

Schedule an energy audit with a certified home energy auditor.

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My energy audit was very helpful. Joe Dempsey, your auditor, identified some structural problems that I was not aware of and explained to me why I need more insulation.