If you’re an Upper Valley home-seeker who is lucky enough to have found a home to purchase in this tight and overpriced housing market, chances are the house is costing you more or requires more renovation than you originally hoped – or both.
In such a crunch situation, people often put energy-efficiency improvement low on the priority list – and they shouldn’t, says Bobbi Dagger, a Woodstock-based real estate agent who is among the graduates of Vital Communities’ Green Real Estate program.
“Getting people interested in spending more money on their homes [to get greater energy efficiency], especially these days when they are overpaying for houses, is tough,” says Bobbi. “First-time homebuyers are having sticker shock, and if they manage to buy the house, they tend to do what they perceive as the most immediate renovations, and the energy-efficient renovations are put on the back burner.”
However, energy efficiency renovations can start saving people money right away – and there are programs to help with the upfront costs.
Bobbi is a big believer in the benefit of the training she received. “I’m a scientist at heart and the whole energy efficiency realm really interests me because it has something to do with how real estate can collaborate with science for the betterment of mankind.”
Are you house-hunting? Check out our free “Green Homebuyer Guide” and learn straightforward ways to factor in energy when looking at houses.
Published 5/6/22.