Author Archives: Laura

NAR Appraisal Insights Blog – Three for One Bonus!

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Laura

Thanks to NAR’s Appraisal Insight blog for inviting me to be a guest-author on green valuation topics. My first blog, Three-for-One Bonus:  V2.0 of Appraisal Institute’s Green & Energy Efficiency Addendum Hits the Street was posted last week.  Read more … Continue reading →

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NAHB Finds Top 5 Buyer Wants are Green

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Laura

NAHB’s study,  What Home Buyers Really Want, captures what buyers of new homes must have, and what they are willing to give up. For the first time, High Performance factors into four of the Top 5 “must haves”: ENERGY STAR appliances (94%) … Continue reading →

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More Green Sprouts from Gen Y

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Laura

It’s the Millennials - Gen Y (born 1982-2002)- that are going to be key to turning the real estate market around. And there’s more and more data coming out about their home buying preferences.  They may not say it directly – but all … Continue reading →

Posted in Gen Y Green, Total Cost of Ownership/Affordability | Leave a comment

The New Granite is…Siding! Really?

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Laura

My friends in energy efficiency have been patiently waiting for granite to fall out of favor as the sexiest way to improve your home, and add value when you sell. So the good news is that the 2013 Realtor & Remodeling … Continue reading →

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Oh No! Americans Go All “SnackWells” with Housing!

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Laura

Remember SnackWells?  Americans went crazy when these tasty low-fat products first came out.  But along came the SnackWell effect, which Wikipedia defines as: A phenomenon that states that dieters will eat more low-calorie cookies, such as SnackWells, than they otherwise would for normal cookies. And … Continue reading →

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Gen Y Buyers Coming – But Are We Ready?

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Laura

This week RISMedia reported that this house-buying will be the first one where most buyers are from Gen Y. Good news as this niche represents a very interesting pool of buyers for High Performance Homes (HPH) – either new or … Continue reading →

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Commit to advance the “State of the Union for Green Value”!

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Laura

It’s State of the Union time, and another union worth looking at is the state of value for high performance homes (HPH).  The image below shows how value comes only through a union of some unlikely stakeholders! So how is … Continue reading →

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MPG No Silver Bullet for Cars

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Laura

How often do I hear folks envision a “MPG sticker for homes” to drive demand in energy efficiency?  But my friend and colleague Mike Rogers points out what’s been plaguing me – that Americans just love their pickup trucks, despite the very … Continue reading →

Posted in Market Transformation, Total Cost of Ownership/Affordability | Leave a comment

Mapping the Market Triggers for an Efficiency Tipping Point

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Laura

We’ve been talking about Market Transformation of energy efficiency for a long time.  And the home sale transaction has been long viewed as a lever that can create a tipping point.  Last week I attended a meeting focused solely on … Continue reading →

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High Performance Home Simple to Buy – Like a Latte???!

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Laura

A group of industry visionaries has set out to make the home-buying process as simple as buying a latte! It’s an inspired vision of simplicity and data-sharing all built around the consumer. Latte Vision Video According to their website, Inman News is … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Real Estate Trends, GreenMLS 2.0, RETS Green | Leave a comment