The Energy Efficient Mortgage

Posted on June 18, 2013 | 1 comment

mortgage

Energy mortgages are essentially mortgages that credit a home’s energy efficiency in the home loan.

  • For an already energy efficient home, this could allow the borrower a greater debt-to-income ratio, thereby giving the homebuyer the ability to buy a higher quality home due to lower monthly heating and cooling costs.
  • For homes where energy efficiency can be improved, an energy mortgage allows money saved in monthly utility bills to finance energy improvements.

Need an appraiser with energy efficient mortgage experience?  Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com; our appraisers are BPI Certified Building Analysts and Certified Green Real Estate Professionals.

A variety of energy mortgages have appeared in recent years and more are anticipated as RESNET and the Environmental Protection Agency increase education and information outreach.

Energy mortgages come in two basic categories:

  1. Energy efficient mortgages, which are used to finance homes that are already energy efficient.
  2. Energy improvement mortgages, which are used to improve the efficiency of existing homes.

Energy mortgages are sponsored by both federally insured mortgage programs (i.e., Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Administration), as well as the conventional secondary mortgage market (i.e., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).

Read more at: http://www.resnet.us/energy-mortgage

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only.

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Solar-Powered Showdown

Posted on June 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

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The European Union announced Tuesday that it is imposing anti-dumping levies on imports of Chinese solar panels, in a move that could trigger a trade war between two of the world’s largest economies.

 

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the 27-nation bloc will impose a tariff of about 12 percent on the import of solar panels, cells and wafers from this week, increasing it to an average of 47 percent in August unless a settlement is reached with China in the next 60 days.

Does the manufacture of your solar panels effect the value of your system?Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

 

China, the world’s largest producer of solar panels, is accused by the EU of selling them below-cost — a tactic known as dumping — to corner the market. Its exports of solar panels to Europe totaled 21 billion euros ($27.5 billion) in 2011.

 

The cheap Chinese products are flooding the market and threaten to bring down EU manufacturers, De Gucht said in Brussels, Belgium.

 

According to EU calculations, a fair sale price for Chinese solar panels should be 88 percent higher than what they are being sold for.

 

“It has the potential to destroy an important industry in Europe if we don’t act today,” he added, noting that more than 20,000 jobs in Europe are at stake.

 

China rejects the EU’s price-dumping allegations. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned last month imposing punitive tariffs would hurt European consumers and might encourage trade protectionism — although he stopped short of threatening retaliation.

 

The EU is China’s second-biggest business partner after the U.S. Solar panel exports in 2011 stood for about 7 percent of China’s total exports to the EU.

Read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jun/05/tp-solar-powered-showdown/

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Big Environmental Costs Equal Big Money for Some

Posted on June 16, 2013 | 1 comment

stormNo more washing your car in the driveway. A leaky or poorly aimed sprinkler will become a city code violation. Roof gutters and rain barrels or cisterns probably will become mandatory on all buildings. Failing to pick up after Fido — in public or your own yard — will occupy the same place in no-no land as smoking inside a restaurant or letting your toddler stand on the back seat and watch you drive.

The new regulations specifically direct cities to create enforcement systems, so fines and even jail terms are coming for those who chronically allow tainted water to escape their properties.

Will rising water rates effect the value of your property?  Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

Whether cleaning San Diego County’s runoff will help or hurt the overall economy is a question that nobody can answer today.

The state agency that crafted the new regulations exempted itself from the cost/benefit analysis ordinarily required under California’s ban on unfunded mandates targeted at local government, because federal law requires runoff rules.

For most of the past 40 years, regulators targeted wastewater. The results have been dramatic; California no longer dumps chemicals and raw sewage directly into creeks — and the ocean is vastly cleaner.

Experts say cleaning runoff will yield far smaller gains. What’s clear is that scrubbing or preventing runoff will raise costs, thus adding another burden for California companies.

Innovation will surely cut those costs. We’re about to find out if the gains from this new industry will make up the difference.

Read more at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/Jun/07/tp-big-environmental-costs-equal-big-money-for/?#article-copy

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