Yes, with all the stimulus happening from the bill that came through congress people didn’t notice this one as much. The Cash for Clunkers program goes after appliances this time, but will be done on the state level with money from the federal government. That’s right, each state has been allocated a portion of the $300 million dollars for this program and you can see how much each state got from the this list. Looks like Illinois is going to get $12.3 million dollars and people will get credits any where from $50 to $200 by trading in older appliances for more energy efficient appliances.
Speaking of energy efficient items, have you hear about GREEN MORTGAGES? Check out that previous blog post to hear all about them.
Well, hope this helps and have a glorious day! :)
We have “Green Mortgages” or what we call Energy Efficient Mortgages. This loan allows the customer to finance improvements that result in making the home energy efficient. Now what makes this so appealing is we are starting to see a lot of people making these improvements to houses and/or looking for financing to do these improvements. Several things though would be needed to qualify a person for a Green Mortgage. The Energy efficient improvements must be “cost effective, so this means that the total cost of the improvements (including maintenance costs) must be less than the total present value of the energy saved over the useful life of the improvements. The full costs of the eligible improvements are added to the base loan amount and the customer does not need to qualify for the additional financing or provide an additional downpayment. In addition, a second appraisal is not required to reflect the expense of the eligible improvements. In place of not needing a second appraisal, you will need a written determination base upon a physical inspection of the property by an energy consultant using a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) must be provided by the borrower. The HERS energy consultant and contractor selected to install the improvements must be an independent entity, not related directly or indirectly, to the seller or the customer. For a list of certified energy specialists please visit: www.natresnet.org
This can be done on purchases and refinances and you can go all the way up to only 3.5% downpayment on these mortgages or 96.5% for refinances. Feel free to contact me with more questions about this since there is some more items that go into this type of loan.
