This is, indeed, the best time in history to buy a home and make it green.

There has never been a confluence of events and circumstances that has made it this appealing (and affordable) to save money and the planet by going green with your home.

Let’s look at the factors:

1.  Thanks to the fall of the credit derivative mortgage market, the (hopefully temporary) slowdown of the national economy, overproduction from builders, a war that, if not ended soon, could bankrupt the country, and a domestic regime change, there has not been a buyer’s market this strong in over a decade.  Like investment mogul Warren Buffet says, “You should be fearful when others are greedy and you should be greedy when others are fearful.”  I don’t know about you, but I’ve been smelling a lot of fear recently.

2.  With recent quantum leaps in CleanTech, GreenTech, and general Green Building products and practices, creating an energy efficient, healthy home with low Earth-impact is not only feasible, but easy to do.  Contractor competition and supply chain competition (just look at The Home Depot’s Eco Options Site) has made these next-generation home-building technologies available at more-than-competitive rates.

3.  Speaking of rates, I’d like to personally thank the pork-producers of DC for this next one: $150B (that’s right, Billion) in funding tacked onto the “Rescue Bill” to extend and increase tax incentives for solar installations.  Now the $2000 credit cap has doubled or tripled (or more), depending on the size of the installation.  If you live in Colorado and purchase your power, like millions of us, from Xcel Energy, you get this increased tax credit on top of a $4.50 Xcel rebate.  When you’re only paying $7.00 per Watt, this makes PV more affordable than that new hardwood floor you’ve been eyeing.

4.  The slow-down in the building industry has lead to some hungry contractors that would rather work on your home for a more competitive rate than sell their tools to buy groceries.  Seriously, check out all of the tools for sale on ebay right now.  When contractors are not booked out for more than a week or so, they will start cutting rates to fill the schedule back up.  That being said, this is no time to be greedy with your contractors, as you almost always get what you pay for when it comes to skilled labor.

Now, let’s put it all together:

Action Step: Buy a home! 

With money-loss in financial markets, some sellers are looking for ways to become more liquid again.  Some sellers have lost jobs and need to relocate or sell income properties.  Some sellers built on spec, and they just need to get their money out of the investment.  In some areas, the inventory is relatively high, and with the slim-down of available lending dollars, there are more motivated sellers, fewer qualified buyers, more housing inventory, and more average days on the market for these homes.  This leads to an easy purchase scenario for qualified buyers (yes, there are still lots of good loan programs out there for you) - more house for the same money, or less money for the same house.

Action Step: Green the Home!

Technological advancements have lead to better green building products that are more reliable, more functional, have a much quicker payback period and higher lifetime value. More governmental financial incentives help to offset the now-relatively-small up-front cost differential.  Less contractor competition leads to lower install rates.

Solution: A more well-built, durable, comfortable, quieter, cleaner, healthier, safer home that saves you money on a monthly basis and reduces your impact on the planet… And for the lowest relative cost on the best products to date.  

There honestly might not be a better time to buy green for another decade!

Remember, green builders are experiencing the same downturn as are the rest of us, so buying a home that has already been built green is still a good option.  It just won’t give as high a return as will buying and retrofitting yourself.  Green builders are still able to charge a bit of a premium due to market demand.

Go to www.BoulderGreen.com for more information about buying homes, green builders, green technologies, green retrofitting, negotiation with contractors, existing lending options, the financial bailout, and much more.  Or email Stu at StuGalvis@kw.com.

Here’s to your new, affordable green home.