Craig O?Hare
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Santa Fe County established the Office of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in the spring of 2011. The Office promotes deployment of energy efficiency measures and renewable energy technologies in county facilities and operations and in the residential and commercial sectors to promote ?green economy? job creation and economic development. Our public outreach, education and technical assistance services are available to all county residents and businesses, including those located within the city limits of Santa Fe, Edgewood and Espa?ola. Encouraging the adoption of cost-effective energy-efficiency measures by businesses and homeowners will decrease energy utility expenditures, while creating locally sourced clean energy jobs. Money saved through energy efficiency stays in the local economy and contributes to overall (not just clean-energy-related) job creation.
Many citizens and business owners are unaware that solar photovoltaic systems cost about half of what they did just a few years ago. A 3-kilowatt (kW) system, a fairly robust size for a medium-sized home, might have cost $30,000 or more five years ago. Today, that system will cost between $15,000 and20,000, depending on your roof conditions and the type of system you choose. And that?s before receiving a 30% federal and 10% state income tax credit! Your net cost for a 3 kW system may end up being between $9,000 and $12,000. In addition, PNM still has incentives (though they are decreasing rapidly) to pay you for the power produced from your system.
HUD?s 203K Home Improvement Loans for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Buying a home or refinancing your existing home? Use a low-interest HUD 203K loan to fund energy efficiency and solar power improvements! Most energy improvements can pay for themselves immediately.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development?s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) provides loan guarantees to mortgage lenders for home purchases and refinancing. An exciting FHA loan offering is the ?203K? loan that allows substantive upgrades to be made to the home, the cost of which can be included in the usual 30-year mortgage. This program is not limited to just low- or even moderate-income citizens. There are no income limits on obtaining a 203K loan. The only limit is on the amount of the loan, which is determined by region by FHA. In Santa Fe County, the current loan limit (to fund either the purchase or refinancing of the home and the cost of the improvements) is approximately $425,000.
All sorts of improvements to the home can be funded with a 203K loan: a new roof, painting, kitchen and bath remodels, energy efficiency renovations (e.g. new windows, blowing insulation in the walls, attic sealing and insulation, a new efficient furnace, etc.) and solar power systems (roof-top solar electric systems, solar thermal water heating or space heating systems, etc.). Even improvements to a groundwater well can be accomplished. 203K loans cannot be used for new homes (homes must be at least one year old) or to increase the ?footprint? of the home (i.e., room additions).
Because energy efficiency improvements and/or solar systems reduce your monthly electricity, natural gas and/or propane expenditures, it?s possible that the small increase they add to your mortgage payment will be more than offset by the reduction to your energy expenditures. That means you?re immediately better off financially. This is possible because the 203K loan allows you to both: 1) take advantage of mortgage interest rates (e.g., 4.5%) that are a lot lower than the interest rate associated with taking out a personal loan (possibly 7-8%), and 2) spread the costs of the improvements over the 30-year term of the mortgage, rather than just the 8-15 years of other loans. Both of these loan benefits, combined, result in a much lower monthly loan payment than would be possible with more traditional loans available. So, it?s possible that while a combination of appropriately selected energy efficiency and solar power upgrades may increase your monthly mortgage payments by $30-40 per month, your monthly energy utility bills may decrease by $50-80 per month! Furthermore, as with kitchen and bathroom remodels, market experience confirms that clean energy improvements are later reflected in a higher sales price for your home?creating a secondary investment benefit.
If this opportunity is of interest to you and you?re buying an existing home, be sure to let your realtor know that you?re interested in doing upgrades to the home you?re going to purchase using the FHA 203K loan option. If you?re refinancing your existing home and are interested in doing improvements to your home, be sure the mortgage lender you use does HUD/FHA 203K loans. Only certain lenders do FHA lending and, of those, only some of them do 203K loans. Hopefully, more HUD 203K loan lenders will enter the market as consumer demand increases for this great opportunity.
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Homewise Energy Improvements Loans
Homewise, a private non-profit organization, is a full-service agency promoting affordable homeownership through financing home purchases and home improvements and providing financial counseling and classes. Unlike the FHA 203K loan, Homewise focuses its offerings on low and moderate-income families. For home improvements, interest rates are low (approximately 4-6%) and can be financed over as long as a 30 year period?keeping the monthly loan payments as low as possible.
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If your annual household income is under $103,050, Homewise may be able to help you finance energy-efficiency and water conservation improvements, routine maintenance and emergency repairs. Be sure to check directly with Homewise regarding their current program offerings, interest rates, and income limits! www.homewise.org, 505.983.WISE (9473). Repairs that qualify for Homewise financing include: roof repair or replacement, stucco, Energy Star? windows and doors, high efficiency furnaces and A/C, solar hot water, solar PV, insulation, water catchment and drip irrigation systems and disability modifications.
Speakers Bureau: The county?s Energy Specialists are available to your neighborhood or homeowner?s association, business or industry group and to other events and forums to present helpful information about cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy opportunities. Feel free to call or e-mail us if you?re interested. Also, see our website for helpful links.
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Craig O?Hare is the Energy Programs Specialist with Santa Fe County
505.992.3044, cohare@santafecounty.org, www.santafecounty.org/public_works/energy
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