If you are looking to purchase a new home, you should be able to take advantage of the "Green Mortgage" we've been able to work with many financial institutions in Wisconsin to offer. To do so, and if you haven't already had an offer accepted on a home, you can contact us and do the following: 

Program steps (for those looking to purchase a home):

Step 1 

Click here to schedule a time to talk to us. We will go over the program details, learn more about what you'd be interested in having on your home (such as solar panels) and determine if your next home can benefit from this program. Our rule: this program must save you more than it costs in our economic modeling or we will not move forward. Our goal is to help those who otherwise are unlikely to be able to access green upgrades.

Step 2

We connect you to area financial institutions that can preapprove you for a green mortgage, or you can ask your current financial institution if they will preapprove you for either a "Fannie Mae Homestyle Energy mortgage" or a "Freddie Mac GREENChoice mortgage" (FHA & VA mortgages can also be made green mortgages). If your financial institution agrees, great! (And please let us know!) If they are not sure but are willing to learn, connect us with them and we will work with the financial institution to start offering green mortgages. 

Step 3

Once you are preapproved, and you have found the house you want that has accepted your initial offer, we work with you (and your real estate agent if you have one) to identify energy saving opportunities on the property, such as solar panels, high-efficiency plumbing, insulation and more. Generally, the financial institution will finance energy improvements up to 15% of the value of the home (ex: $30,000 for a home worth $200,000). It is important to note that this is NOT like a home inspection, where issues and code violations discovered may be expected to be fixed by the home seller, but instead to identify all the ways the bank/credit union can fund energy upgrades through the buyer's mortgage that reduces the buyer's future utility bills. You may look to still work with a Home Inspector for other home quality questions and concerns. 

Working with relevant contractors such as solar panel installers we will finalize the scope of work and provide a full overview of what the cost and savings of the program will mean for you on your mortgage payments, water bill (if applicable), electric and gas bills, again ensuring our main rule of positive savings is achieved. The financial institution will have a real estate appraiser visit to determine what the value of the home will be after the improvements. We make every effort to speedily provide all this information so as to not add any more time than need be to the home buying process. 

Step 4

After closing, projects can begin immediately, and will have up to 6 months to do so. The bank will reimburse all contractors directly after the work is finalized, and can assist with down payments some contractors might require. We will assist the new Green Homeowner in understanding and accessing any and all relevant tax credits and rebates that can further increase the savings. We will also help the homeowner understand how they can go further in fighting climate change at home!

We'll work with you to identify all relevant weather conditions, building factors, utility rates, bank fees, financing terms and more to show you at every step of the way where you stand on whether this program is expected to save more than it costs.