Kria Lacher

NPR story on the green MLS’s and green real estate

lacherkr — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:39:32 +0000

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121069093&sc=emaf

New Tax incentive for those of you that have not purchased in the past 5 years

lacherkr — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:08:25 +0000

There is now a tax credit of $6500 for anyone that has not purchased real estate in the past 5 years. Does your child have an investment structure for their college tuition? Now might be the right time to act!

Extended tax credit for first time home buyers

lacherkr — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:04:30 +0000

Yes they extended the first time home buyer tax credit. It is available through the end of April 2010. It however must close by the end of June 2010.

RMLS to be greened again

lacherkr — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:24:26 +0000

There is a new proposal that I am bringing to the listing forms committee for their approval. It will assist in the valuation of existing homes. Wish me luck

Energy Efficient Mortgages~ not pie in the sky

lacherkr — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:21:32 +0000

For years I have been asking my lenders to make available to me the energy efficient mortgage. Yesterday I meet someone who not only has done the homework, she also understands what it takes to get them closed. She has thought through the whole process. I am excited about this. I will be inviting her to speak at the next ecobuild meeting.

The temperature difference trees make!

lacherkr — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:49:53 +0000

friends of trees measuring the difference

Watch this video! I knew intuitivley that trees make a difference but I have never seen it measured.

Well designed green town house in Mississippi area

lacherkr — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:44:51 +0000

I toured this green townhouse in the Mississippi area on tuesday. This was a very well desined townhouse. I loved the finishes in the bathrooms in the upper levels. The kitchen had a modern feel to it, with off white tile counters and glass tile splashes. This is built by a long term green builder, that I respect. They are asking $489,000 for 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

This is blogged about with permission from the listing agent. thanks Mark

attached green rowhouses Mississippi area

Energy Efficient Mortgages available in theory

lacherkr — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:30:14 +0000

I just got back from a meeting with Dave Porter, who is working on getting energy efficient mortgages in place. The EEM has been around for decades, but hardly anyone has been able to use them in part because of FannieMae. There is work being done to get another loan type that will allow people to get a loan that recognises the fact that the home that they are buying is more energy efficient… It is about time! It is going to be more conservative than the theoretical EEM, but if it is available to use in actuality that is better than having a loan type that exists in theory only.

The cogs in the real estate business are starting to come together. Now we just need all the MLS’s to be greened and to educate Realtors, lenders and appraisers. Then we are good to go!

www.porterworks.com

green versus code homes on the market. Who wins?

lacherkr — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:07:17 +0000

I was asked by a real estate instructor to look at the green market in portland for a class he was going to teach. So I thought I would share some of what I found. First the market under $400 seems to be very healthy for green homes of all types. It’s when you get into the upper ends of thing that the market looks a bit inconsistant…. for lack of a better expression.

Condos above the 400K mark get a whooping 85 dollars more per square foot. That is a Wow.

There are no green builds that sold for over 680… Those homes by the way, get on average $256 a sq. ft. and take any where from 60-774 days to sell. OUCH! Not my cup of tea! Maybe some builders will stop building Mcmansions and build to the demand! That incidentially is any housing type green and under 400K.

This information here is very general and intended to look at trends not specifics. So If you want specifics, I can get that for you.

This listing was the greenest home on tour in north Portland

lacherkr — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:49:36 +0000

Greener condo in north portland