Marketing Homes to Energy-Conscious Buyers

For homeowners looking to sell their properties (as well as the real estate professionals who assist them), they may want to take into account the fact that current home buyers are placing greater significance on homes’ heating and cooling costs as well as energy efficient appliances and lighting in their home-buying decisions. According to NAR’s 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 88 percent of recent home purchasers indicated a home’s heating and cooling costs were at least somewhat important in their home–buying decision. In addition, roughly 70 percent said that energy–efficient appliances and efficient use of lighting was important. In fact, reducing energy costs through energy efficiency appears to take priority over other energy or environmentally friendly home features such as “Landscaping for energy conservation” and “Environmentally friendly community features” which about half of home buyers said were important to their buying decisions.

Homeowners may need to consider improving their homes or retrofitting in order for their current properties to be more energy efficient. A few things need to be considered such as the length of time home owners plans to own their homes (the median, according to NAR’s 2009 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, is about 7 years) and the cost of the upgrades. There are a few ways that homeowners can benefit from upgrades. First, homeowners will save on energy costs. Some projects have longer payback periods (i.e., the amount of time that it takes to recoup the cost of the energy efficient upgrade through reduced energy usage), while others have a universally low payback period like programmable thermostats which are relatively cheap and easy to install. The energy savings from a programmable thermostat can be recouped in as little as a year. However, some projects may be more expensive to undertake and the payback period can vary greatly depending on the region where the home is located. For example, sealing air ducts or replacing windows may be much more cost effective with a shorter payback in regions where heating costs are greater. Second, since home buyers are increasingly aware of energy efficiency, certain upgrades may increase a home’s resale value. Finally, there is the “peace–of–mind” benefit that homeowners may feel by being friendlier to the environment.

Potential Impact

Federal policy options should take into consideration a variety of factors like the variations in region, age of homes, and mix of homeowners when creating new laws. Likewise home buyers and sellers making updates to homes should be aware of such factors when making upgrades to their existing home or when purchasing a home.

Reprinted from REALTOR® Magazine January 2010 with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright 2010. All rights reserved per my February Newsletter.

Tags: American Fork, buyers, cooling, Energy, energy conservation, heating, HomeOwners, Homes, sellers, utah, Utah County

Posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.