Rising energy costs, concerns over global warming and a desire for more healthful surrounding are impelling homeowners and builders across the nation to incorporate green features into their homes.

As a result, the real estate industry is recognizing the importance of being up to speed on the green-built movement.

At least seven real estate brokers in the Rogue Valley and 34 in Oregon are now registered EcoBrokers, and at least two local lenders are actively marketing green or “energy-efficient mortgages.”

“An EcoBroker is an agent who has been certified through education to address the green-built features of homes for buyers, builders and sellers,” says Don McCoy of Exit Realty Group in Medford, the first area broker in the region to gain EcoBroker status.

A green-built home—with energy-saving appliances, non-toxic building materials, proper insulation, sealed ductwork and other features—is a better-built home that saves money and is worth more, says McCoy, who gained his eco-certification last December.

To market such houses effectively a realtor needs to be aware of new technologies, the science behind them, and the financial incentives available for green homes, such as low-cost loans, tax credits and rebates.

“I’m not from the spotted-owl, close-down-the-forests mentality,” McCoy says. “To me it’s about having more value and a healthier, more self-sufficient home.”

Don Charter, an Ashland realtor at Real Estate Depot, says he took the EcoBroker training as a way to integrate his personal values with his business interests.

“The idea is to walk the talk,” Charter says. “An EcoBroker is someone with special education who can inform buyers and sellers about environmental information. It’s an important area. The building industry uses 68 percent of our energy. If we want to make a dent in global warming, that’s a place to start.”

Carrie Smith, a Medford broker with Western Properties, decided to pursue EcoBroker status after receiving a listing from Vision Homes, which builds EnergyStar and Earth Advantage homes. Smith said she quickly realized she would need to be more knowledgeable about energy-efficiency and green features in order to market a green home effectively.

“It’s new, it’s exciting, and it’s helping the environment,” Smith says.
Lenders are also realizing the increased value of energy-efficient homes. The Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, is trying to spur the construction and sale of energy-efficient homes with a program that adds an additional 15-percent of a home’s appraised value to the principal of a new loan or refinance. The program also allows potential buyers of energy efficient homes to compute the energy savings of a green home and apply those savings to their income.

If, for instance, a green home costs $100 per month less to operate than a comparable, conventionally built home, Fannie Mae allows loan applicants to add $100 per month to their income when qualifying for a loan.

Simon Blair, a loan officer at Mortgage Marketplace in Medford, says his company has gone a step further, and is cutting appraisal and origination fees on loans for energy-efficient homes.

The green mortgage concept has been in place in other areas of the country for several years, but is still new to the Rogue Valley, partly because so few green homes have been built in the Valley to date. The number is increasing however, because more local builders are becoming savvy about green construction techniques and the financial incentives they offer.

Jim Frings, owner of Approved Home Lenders in Medford, says he has noted increased interest in energy-efficient mortgages and green-built homes by both buyers and builders. His company is marketing energy-efficient mortgages.

An energy-efficient home is a more valuable home, he says, because it incorporates better materials and sound construction techniques, costs less to operate, is more comfortable and is healthier to live in.

The lower energy costs alone can mean huge mortgage savings for an owner, Frings says.

If an energy-efficient home appraised at $200,000 costs $77 less per month to operate than a comparable home (a very conservative figure), and the owner applies that $77 to his 30-year mortgage every month, the owner would knock 53 months off their mortgage for a savings of $64,000.