Even when the real estate market drops and it gets increasingly harder to sell a house, smart home owners are able to get premium valuations through a simple yet effective style of green home remodeling. When you’re forced to sell your home in a hurry because you’re relocating for a new job, or your family grows bigger, or you found your dream home elsewhere, the forethought you put into green home remodeling will pay off by bringing you a higher price than you may otherwise command.
Green friendly eco-renovations are neither complex nor costly. They will quickly pay for themselves through lesser energy bills, lowered water consumption and better air quality indoors. And if that matters to you, you’ll bask in the warm glow of leaving the planet cleaner and safer for future generations. But no matter why you do it, the very fact you institute green home remodeling ideas will set your building apart from others, and make it attractive to a buyer.
Why Green Home Remodeling Is a Good Idea
Home owners seek value from every purchase. You can attract them through either a great price or extra value. A low price leaves you with less profit. Value addition, when done through economic home remodeling, can leave you both feeling like winners. After all, who doesn’t want to live in an energy efficient house?
Energy efficient homes are 30% easier to sell than others. With growing interest globally in environment friendly construction practices and renewable energy, this trend will only accelerate in the years to come. If you can showcase the different ways in which your home is energy efficient, you can turn a buyers market into one where you get to call the shots.
So what steps can you take with green home remodeling?
1. Make Your Home Energy Efficient
While installing solar panels might seem like a quick and easy idea, you’d do well to consult with an expert on other approaches. With utility bills growing by double-digits, oil and gas prices at record highs, and water shortages adding to our woes, you’ll peak interest in a home buyer by pointing to ways your green home remodeling slashes utility bills.
Document your bills over time. Mention this feature to brokers and real estate agents as selling points. Compare your energy costs with typical ones of similar sized buildings. You can get this data from the Department of Energy website.
2. Change Lightbulbs
You may be surprised at how effective this simple step is in cutting power expenses. Replacing all lightbulbs with compact fluorescents that use 25% of the electricity as regular bulbs, can cut your bills by a fifth, if not higher.
3. Replace Old Appliances
Energy hogs are around every home. Any old or doubtful appliances can be replaced by Energy Star certified models. EPA labels indicate a 10% to 50% greater efficiency than standard products and models. If you like, you can go high-end and install motion sensors, remotely controlled thermostats and intelligent appliances that turn on and off as desired by your usage.
4. Insulate Your Home
Small leaks can lead to heavy overages in power and utility bills. Seal all cracks tightly and effectively. This alone can save around $100 a month on your home heating costs. Residential insulation using spray foam, urethane foam or radiant barrier can all help enhance energy efficiency, and should be integral parts of your green home remodeling plans.
5. Focus on Health
Asthma, allergies and sensitivity to various chemicals are all fears home buyers have when it comes to moving into an old house. Air quality in the home is important to these discerning home owners, and they are looking for freedom from volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Applying a coat of low VOC paint can be a simple home green remodeling tactic. So is replacing an old and worn carpet, or even removing it to let your wooden floor breathe and shine through. Replacing PVC flooring, curtains and boards will also lower toxin release into the room and enhance air quality in the home.
6. Get Professional Help
If a lot of this seems above your head, don’t panic. There are green home remodeling consultants ready and eager to give you a hand. Ask them to make an energy audit of your building and come up with suggestions to make it more green and energy efficient.
Doing this right away is a good investment decision. With the growing excitement about home green remodeling and energy efficient constructions, the time will soon be upon us when you cannot sell a non-green home – even at throwaway prices. Property owners must adapt quickly to this changing reality – or be prepared to take a serious hit on their real estate assets.
