Posts tagged earthcraft

How Much Does this House Cost? (To Run)

in Albemarle Charlottesville General Real Estate on

How much does this home cost to run? It’s become one of the most important question my buyer clients ask – and an answer that Sellers need to be prepared to answer.

In today’s market, much more so than the previous one(s), buyers are much more cognizant of the costs to operate a home.

Everyone can calculate the PITI payment – Principal + Interest + Taxes + Insurance

What’s not easily calculable by buyers is –

– How drafty is the house?

– What’s the natural gas bill?

– What’s the electric bill?

– What’s the water bill?

– Trash/recycling is a fairly fixed cost.

– Do the parents scrap over the thermostat?

– How much is my commute going to cost? (this is huge; many of my buyer clients are looking forward to the time when gas goes to $6/gallon )

If the mortgage is going to be $2500 per month, but the utilities are $900/month, I’m thinking that my clients may be disinclined to move forward with an offer – or they might knock $30k (or some other number) off the offer price.

I said late last year that I suspect 2012 will be the year when buyers start doing energy audits as part of the home inspection process – sellers need to be prepared for this component to the home selling process.

2015 update – I’ve not had more than a handful of people do energy audits, in large part because of the cost as well as due to the competitiveness of our market. Maybe 2016 …

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Belvedere neighborhood in January 2008

Belevedere Neighborhood Maturing

in Albemarle on

I’ve always liked the Belvedere neighborhood; I think it’s a great place – great neighborhood, great location and well-designed energy efficient houses.

Charlottesville Tomorrow reports on how Belvedere is growing up and taking shape.

“The homes are built right by the sidewalk and you can talk to the neighbors when they walk by,” said Perpetua, who is retired and moved here from Pittsburgh. “It’s just a different kind of community.”
…
Another part of this urban vision is a “civic core,” modeled as a public square, which will include a community meeting space, a Montessori school and facilities for the Soccer Organization of Charlottesville-Albemarle.

SOCA plans to locate its new headquarters in Belvedere and also has three separate parcels in the works for the neighborhood — a covered indoor field and training facility, a lit all-weather artificial turf field and four natural grass fields.

Bill Mueller, executive director of SOCA, said that final approval for the offices and indoor field in the first parcel was “imminent” and that SOCA would soon start a $4 million fundraising campaign for the facility.

Last night I had an extended conversation via the handy-dandy “Live Support” widget you see to the right with someone about the Belvedere neighborhood. We talked about a lot and I referenced a lot of stories. I thought recapturing those links would be helpful, both for me as a resource, and you as a reader (and prospective buyers)

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Are Green Homes the new “Trophy” Homes?

in Albemarle Charlottesville Green Regional Transportation on

The market is moving beyond individual green products and into the realm of green developments – because the market is demanding LEED-certified Neighborhood Developments (although I’d argue that LEED-ND has not yet reached mainstream vernacular) Courtesy of the National Association of Realtors’ On Common Ground magazine * – Experts interviewed for this article were unanimous on one point: collecting green-certified houses into a conventional subdivision on a former farm fi eld at the edge of the metro area would not a green neighborhood make. … For proof that “Smart” Growth is mainstream, check out this partnership that defies presumptions about Realtors always wanting to build, build, build at all costs – Those are some of the results of the 2007 Growth and Transportation survey sponsored by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and Smart Growth America.

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Earth Day links

in Albemarle Charlottesville Green on

How to go Green in the kitchen Beat the credit squeeze by going green Get a home energy audit This is my carbon footprint: JIm-Duncan's-Carbon-Footprint What’s yours? … To avoid misconceptions that I advocate going green in an attempt to abolish capitalism , know this – going green can save you money in the long term (short term thinking generally causes problems) – If you don’t want to ride your bike to save energy, do it because gas is so flipping expensive!

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Charlottesville Earthcraft Homes tour – and a brief riff on “is blogging advertising?”

in Albemarle Charlottesville Green on

EarthCraft standards and options are factored into every aspect of home building – site planning, building orientation, low-impact construction techniques and materials, energy efficiency – for a constant effort to lower the environmental impact of building an EarthCraft home and lower the energy costs and water usage for its future occupants. … … After a long conversation yesterday with an attorney, about real estate blogs and the perception by the Vir ginia Real Estate Board that any writing that could “induce business” is considered “advertising” … here is my disclosure .

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