The real estate market is slightly cold these days across much of the country. If you hope to sell your home for a decent price, you need some factor that makes it stand out from similar homes around you.
While the real estate market is down, energy prices are up, up, up! The real estate market is going to turn around at some point, but energy prices are probably not going to come down an appreciable amount. This is not good news, but represents a potential marketing tool for you.
Getting your utility bills at the end of the month is enough to make a person faint. More importantly, the growing size of the bills is enough to make us all start really thinking about how to save money at home on energy. This is where you create leverage with your home listing.
A relatively inexpensive advantage you can create is to change out your appliances. Homebuyers love new appliances. If you purchase and install "Energy Star" appliances, they'll really love seeing new appliances that use less money. As an added bonus, you can claim tax credits for installing the appliances in many instances.
If you really want to sell the "efficient energy" aspects of your home, focus on your water usage. Specifically, how are you heating it up? Traditional systems use a water heating tank. They are inefficient because the heater has to turn on every so often to keep the tank hot. Switch out your old heater for a new tankless water heater. They are much more efficient and you can also claim a tax credit for installing one.
If you really want to stand out, there is only one solution - go solar. Solar energy is a god send in many states because of something called net metering. This is a legal regulation that allows people with solar panels to sell energy back to utilities at the same price utilities sell it to us. Now, think that through.
During the day, how much energy do you use at home? Very little because most of us are at work. The sun, however, is out and your solar panels will be producing energy. Under net metering laws, this means the energy being produced is sold back to the utility. Your meter literally spins backwards. This balances out the energy you use at night and the end result is a monthly utility bill that is near zero. How's that for a selling point?
Energy savings are just one area you can use to make your home standout in the current sellers market. If energy isn't of interest to you, try to think of something else unique about your home.
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