Got Green?

Most folks don't consider the increased cost of utilities when renting a home or condo. To factor in a possible monthly cost, visit your local utility provider so you'll have an idea of what the monthly cost might be by entering in the address of the home. Of course it seems logical that older buildings might have higher utility bills. So, remember to check the age of a home when comparing rental rates. You might come out ahead by paying a little more in rent for a newer property!

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Mayor Phil Gordon opening the event at the LEED Certified Phoenix Convention Center! The building has a huge solar panel installation and our light Rail system is "as far as he knows' the only solar rail stop in the country. Mayor Gordon is one of 15 of the country's green mayors. Pretty cool!

Greenhouse gases has been reduced already and by 2025 over 25% of the city will have shade structures to reduce heat island effect. Mayor Gordon cultivated great talent that will remain now that his 2nd term is almost finished. Congrats to Mayor gordon for all his accomplishments and welcome Greg Stanton!

Maria Baier, Land Commissioner for the State Land Department, which manages 13% of the land in Arizona. She wants to keep "our product" our land viable. She encourages all od us to keep requesting funding for universities to continue research.

Andrew Soulier, Ernst & Young, spoke of the company seeing opportunity in Phoenix for sustainability. He then introduced Ed Fox, Chief Sustainability Officer, APS. Ed went on to say that APS employees volunteer over 165,000 hours doing community service. There are plaques in every conference room at APS regarding sustainability. They expect a 50% growth in population by 2030. APS and other utilities talk about decoupling their service as their existing model for earnings is outdated. As APS continues to reduce their profits to investors, new business models will be implimented.

Al Halvorsen, senior Director of Environmental Sustainability, Frito-Lay North America, and drives Pepsico Performance with Purpose program. Frito-Lay has 13 LEED Certified Buildings! They are a HUGE corporation with loads of Brands under their umbrella. They have green teams back in the 90's for each company brand. Their Casa Grande plant was built in 1984. That plant is now almost off the grid! They recycle 75% of their water daily. And they send nothing to the landfills from that plant. This is their showcase plant and it's in AZ! They are using this plant as a benchmark for their other plants. Their business model is now to be authentic & transparent.

This is just the start of an all day event with many more speakers to come.

Interesting information from Chase re REO listings, aka foreclosed homes in Arizona. The rep speaking just now is a former NFL player, Kevin Watters, who is now the Vice President National Retail Lending Manager for JP Morgan Chase. Chase is expecting 93% of list price for their REO's. They also want to turn 35% of their portfolio each month. Why am I reporting on this topic? Because foreclosures make great green properties!

REO's have been stripped of entire kitchens, appliances are missing, and they need flooring, Given those missing details, they can easily be remodeled and upgraded using am Energy Efficient Mortgage or 203K loan. Features can be added to foreclosures and the buyer who qualifies for an FHA mortgage can use this program.
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Today's class is the second in a series of classes by USGBC, Residential Green Building Committee, designed to educate consumers and professionals. This FHA product is available for purchase or refinance and there's an additional $10,000 available for green upgrades! The contract must include at least 45 days to process. The lender holds back the funds are held back by the lender for the improvements. A General Contractor must be used and if the home is older than 1978 then lead and asbestos testing must occur through the contractor but provided by a third party. Starboard Financial (Lisa Jordan) Ship Shape Program (Energy Efficient Mortgage) can be used for investors whereas the 203k is for primary homeowners only. Starboard has a limit of $25,000. And a HERS audit is required.

These are great products for improvements and adding green features, thus reducing energy bills!
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Making Green by Going Green is Score's event was held 9/16 at ASU's SkySong. Michael Grossman, (Fifty+1) Chair of The Green Chamber moderated. Speakers were Derrick Mains, (3BL Advisors) Charlie Popek (Green Ideas), Christian Lorentzen (Growth Nation), Kenny Edwards (SRP), Doug Bruhnke(Growth Nation), Nancy Mancilla (Global Reporting Initiative) calling in from KC, Missouri, Michael Gilbrund (valuCorp), Dimitrios Laloudakis (Energy Manager for City of Phoenix.). All spoke of green initiatives, sustainable business practices, and green ideas for our own lives. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

What a nice event! Last night I attended the anniversary party held at Bliss/ReBar, which is also celebrating one year in business operation. Bliss/ReBar has an urban retro feel with exposed brick walls, custom iron works and more. You can find them at www.blissonfourth.com. Back to Green Living AZ magazine. John and Dorie have done a great job of creating themes for each issue; the artwork and articles are amazing; and they have a digital version to remain paperless for those subscribers interested, www.greenlivingaz.com. Kudos to John and Stacy for a great magazine and Happy Anniversary!
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Today's 203K, EEM, class at Old Republic Title included Kathy Seaton, HUD Inspector, Brian CEO Starboard Financial, and Lisanne Jordan, Senior Mortgage Banker, Starboard Financial. The focus today was educateing other lenders, realtors, inspectors, and others about the benefits of purchasing homes - adding improvements and wrapping the entire balance in one note. What a great program that also can include green features and upgrades. Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) is specifically geared to adding green features to homes. This program can also be used for remodels but has a cap of $10,005. A HERS audit is required in order to proceed, but there is no extra qualifying required. And there is a VA green mortgage, but the limit is only $6,000 so not enough to add very many green upgrades. Thanks to all who attended as the room was filled to capacity. Watch for our next presentation to include how to value green features and upgrades in late September!
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Just finished a class with Kurtis Bieber re how to create QR codes for my business. In an effort to remain paperless, I'll use QR Codes vs flyers for listings, create You Tube videos of listings, and work to sell my clients homes by broadening my marketing! Cool stuff. For more information and classes, contact Kurtis, info@newtechnologysources.com.
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Today's presentation included new commercial lighting concepts. New digital programmed remotes eliminate ladders and shadowing, and of course saving energy thereby producing effective ROI. Amazing technology with walk thru mode which eliminates the need to have lighting on continuously. And there are rebates available for these systems. Pretty neat inventions for commercial buildings to cut energy usage!
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