Green Building’s Time Has Come
Saving the Planet One Foreclosed Home at a time…
They say there’s opportunity even in crises. This is certainly true for the Green Building market, particularly when it comes residential energy wise remodeling and renovations. Never before has there been such a perfect storm of need and commitment to turn run down energy wasting houses into beautifully economic homes. Green Building stimulates the economy and housing market while turning distressed areas into the kinds of neighborhoods we can be proud of. Reducing energy consumption put money into the pockets of families to provide for their families while raising home values and the tax base for social services.
All these benefits begin with energy conscious renovators with green hearts. Whether you’re a seasoned Green Builder or just getting started, GreenEarthEquities is here to help. Together, we’ll be Saving the Planet One Foreclosed Home at a time….
5 Olympic Rings of Energy Wise Residential Renovation
GreenEarthEquities has a proven track record of going against conventional wisdom and doing Energy-Wise house flipping in today’s market. At a profit. And selling quickly. Don’t get me wrong, It’s not always easy. To win the Gold in this contest, we must do a lot of things right. I liken it to the 5 Rings of Olympic competition. Here are 5 areas that an Energy-Wise House Flipper must master. Failure at any one of them can take you out of the gold category.
1. Buy It Right. This may be where more money is won or lost than any other. It is an uphill fight doing the whole rest of the project perfectly if we’ve paid too much, or bought in the wrong area. In other economies we had to have many strategies to find enough good deals. Today there are plenty of good deals listed in the MLS. Of course we dont pay the asking price. And rarely do we pay the accepted offer price. That’s what the due diligence period is for. I’ll elaborate in a future post.
2. Design It Right. Here is where we choose the things we are going to do and not do in the project. At GreenEarthEquities, we do almost everything there is to do Energy Wise. We call that the “Energy Package” and it costs about $20,000. Then we add the “Wow Package” which allows us to grab the buyers attention because they aren’t seeing these things in the competitor’s offerings. Like Granite, Hardwood, Crown Molding, Chair Rail, etc. We finish with what we call the “Done Package.” Once again it is to stand above the competition with things like front and back landscape with automatic irrigation, new garage door with openers, new faux wood blinds. The weekend after they move in, our buyers can go to the lake, not start in on their project list.
3. Build It Right. Here we assemble our team of contractors and suppliers. They must understand that we need two things, Wholesale Pricing and Velocity. In return they know that we will be providing a lot of jobs this year. For the gold level in this ring, we need to beat Home Depot pricing. Significantly. More on how we do this in a future post.
4. Market It Right. Our marketing is multifaceted with a goal of selling a large percentage of the projects before they even hit the MLS. We work in conjunction with our realtor, doing some of the things she cant. Like planting a construction sign on the property during renovation. Canvassing the neighborhood introducing ourselves and our project. And advertising on Craig’s List and other venues. When we are about two weeks from done, we open it up to our “Preferred” group of realtors. Although not officially listed, they know they will get full commission if they bring the buyer. At this early point, only one home of the first five has gone all the way to full listing. The others have sold before that. The realtors who have seen the three packages mentioned above, want to be alerted of the next foreclosures we buy so they can get their offers in immediately.
5. Sell It Right. This means that we have our exit strategy(s) planned before we even start but have a good level of flexibility to dance with the circumstances that life brings. We have 8 exit strategies in descending order of preference. Of course selling at full price FHA is our first choice. We’ve been blessed and the first three sold that way and the next two are under contract with loan approvals to sell that way also. We are ready to do Rent to Own, Lease Option and Owner Carry financing if necessary. We dont want houses around more than 30 days after they are done. And we prefer not to rent. Part of who we are is “neighborhood builders” and we believe that putting an owner into a home does more to build the neighborhood than putting a renter in that home.
So if we pass successfully thru all 5 Olympic Rings we reach the Gold! Not only do we make some money, we really are doing our part to “Save the planet, one house at a time!”
Additional Information for Renovators
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ACI Denver Post Conference Review
ACI 2013 Denver Post Conference Review Greetings PlanetSavers, Back from the Affordable Comfort Institute's 2013 Denver Conference I wanted to apologize for the live broadcast technical problems two weeks ago. In the past we've had success with similar on the spot interviews but the logistics this last time proved difficult. Even so, the conference was worth discussing so I hope any fellow attendees or those interested in the latest developments or future attendance will join me tonight at 6PM PDT. Click here to watch a streaming version of this webinar. (Recommended because of large file size) To download this Webex presentation click here. To watch this...Continue Reading!
Tightening or Slashing Remodel Budgets
1060 C St. Orange Cove Tightening or Slashing Remodel Budgets A constantly reoccurring question in Green Renovation is how to get the most out of a remodel budget. Some considerations include: What can I afford to cut? What can't I afford to cut? What flipping costs are recoverable? What buy and hold costs are recoverable? How much of an Energy Package can I afford to include? What's the best loading order for a Phase 1 and Phase 2 energy wise retrofit? We'll be addressing these and other questions as we take another look at the budget for 1060 C. Street Orange Cove CA recently purchased by Larry Weingarten via...Continue Reading!
Energy Decisions and Contractor Conversations
Pacific Palisades CA Energy Decisions and Contractor Conversations This Tuesday we'll be checking in on a property in Valencia CA featured in past webinars. Working on a 1,000 sqft energy efficient addition, the owner's working with a tight budget and an experienced General Contractor without special training in green building. After shopping some options HVAC, insulation and plumbing decisions must be made that won't brake the budget while providing maximum comfort, health and energy savings. With tens of thousands of homeowners facing similar situations we'll be addressing the following questions in particular: What's the biggest bang for the buck in energy efficiency? How best to communicate...Continue Reading!
Remodel Budget Loading Order
Budget Loading Order DOE Test House Rent Remodel As many of you know in 2011 we partnered with the Department of Energy through IBACOS on a dry and hot climate test house located at 440 N. Homsy Fresno, CA. Click here for project overview After 18 months of testing IBACOS recently did a results webinar and having removed their equipment they've turned the keys back to us to finish the remodel and get the property ready for rent or sale. The owner-investor has obtained and placed multiple homes with us to manage all aspects of each project. He's in the process of refinancing a...Continue Reading!
BPI Trainer Remodels Home – EnergyPro Modeling
EnergyPro Modeling BPI Trainer Remodels Home This week I'll be interviewing Aaron Husak, our resident Certified HERS Rater and BPI Trainer regarding his plans for an energy wise remodel of his newly purchased home in the Fig Garden area of Fresno CA. Built in 1951, his 2 Bedroom 1 Bath 900 sqft home recently closed escrow. Aaron's already started his before and after calculations using EnergyPro modeling but is anxious to hear what we think about the project. Join us Tuesday 6PM PT as Aaron walks us through his green remodeling strategy and EnergyPro reports. As always your questions and comments are appreciated. FYI: Just...Continue Reading!
What Buyers Want & 90% Energy Savings
Open Forum What Buyers Want & 90% Energy Savings We hope you had a chance to benefit from some or all of our recent great guest interviews. If you missed any click here to view archived webinars. This week we thought we'd offer another Open Forum were you can bring your questions or comments, thoughts or projects for group discussion. Discussion on CNBC National Home Buyers article in response to National Association of Home Builder's Study on "What Home Buyers Really Want." Wants: #1 Energy Star Appliance #2 Ceiling fans #3 Garage storage systems #4 Willing to trade space for upgraded amenities (granite Ceasar,vs Formica) #5 Green home features but...Continue Reading!
Interview with Devon Hartman: CHERP
Devon Hartman Interview Claremont Home Energy Retrofit Project Tonight we have a special guest interview with Devon Hartman co-founder of CHERP: Claremont Home Energy Retrofit Project. CHERP Claremont is a fantastic prototype organization bringing volunteers and professionals together who believe that "Energy is at the Heart of the Matter." Having reached their initial goal to complete energy retrofits on 1% of the single-family homes in the city of Claremont, CHERP's raised it's target to 10% while looking to duplicating itself in other cities throughout California! With many case studies to showcase, Devon's looking forward to discussing his low cost - high impact method of...Continue Reading!
Home Performance Investment Plan
Investment Plan Home Performance Phase 1, 2 and 3 Tonight we will work on an important tool that we all can use in communicating our message to our investor partners. Since we have moved from a flipping market to a buy and hold market, and have developed a preference (at GEE at least) for working with private investors rather than conventional lenders... we haven't communicated clearly enough how we expect to forward our mission of energy efficiency and at the same time maintain a profitable investment structure. We have spoken of "phasing the three packages," Energy, Wow! & Done. And we have been...Continue Reading!
2013 Dry Climate Home Performance Forum
2013 Dry Climate Forum Home Performance: Lake Comanche, CA Dave's attending the Annual Forum on Dry Climate Home Performance in Lake Comanche Sunday February 3rd to Wednesday February 6th. An invitation only event, tonight's Webinar will be a remote broadcast interview with attendees. The forum's focus is on three goals: Continuing Education: Discussion of implementation of the building science recognizing the house as as system model. Technical Solutions: Sorting out the marketing from true measured performance. Teamwork: Representatives from CPUC, CEC, PG&E, SCE, SMUD, LBNL, NREL and EPA in addition to Home Performance contractors and trainers. Join us tonight 6PM Pacific Time to hear Dave's thoughts and...Continue Reading!
Passive House: Shaver Lake CA Design Plans
Passive House Shaver Lake CA Design Plans Tonight we'll be taking a look at a Passive House Project scheduled to break ground in Shaver Lake, CA in the Spring of 2013. Pete Moe, an airline pilot just in Asia, has had his build/design team looking over the plans for a year and is interested in our ideas on energy efficiency, as well as referrals for local builders. Pete has his blue prints and engineering plans ready so there should be lots to learn and discuss. Join us Tonight, Tuesday 6PM Pacific Time by following the instructions below. As always I'm interested in hearing your ideas...Continue Reading!
By Dave Robinson
By Jack Frost
By Andrew Martinez