David is blessed to have more epiphanies between 8 and 9am than most people have in a lifetime. While we struggled with our home loan and the appraisal process - David came up with the concept that our home is analogous to a "Tesla" - the super sexy yet green electric car that does 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds yet averages 256 miles per gallon.
Drive quickly. Tread lightly.
We were thinking about this as we checked out, smelled and licked Elon Musk's Tesla last Tuesday at a friend's house.
Here's Elon. He's only 37 yet is the Chairman of Tesla and financially backed the company to the tune of $55 million.
We used New Resource Bank for our construction loan, and we were so sad to witness the disconnect that still remains between a BANK that understands the value of green but is coupled to and hand-cuffed with an APPRAISAL industry that gives you a higher appraisal for more square feet, bedrooms and bathrooms. We feel many of the "green" McMansions popping up everywhere are greenwash - is it really green to have a 5000 square foot home? Seems to miss the point and spirit of green.
David wrote a thoughtful letter to our appraisers who initially valued our soon-to-be LEED Platinum at no higher than market rate for a fossil-fuel guzzling regular Craftsman. He made the case of our home being a "Tesla" prototype - small yet so deep green, and worth the rather high price tag. When you take our Prius on the road, and accelerate to 60mph, it says "yes." But a Tesla is a sports car, an electric sports car, and it is speedy.
David succeeded: we got a better appraisal for our loan, although still significantly lower than our cost.
We need to overhaul our appraisal system so that it values green homes higher and with different standards than traditional homes.
4 comments:
We, too, had the issues with an appraiser who gave -0- value to the fact that we were building a home of the future (and attempting LEED Platinum status). Like you guys, the appraiser was totally fixated on the square footage and the number of bedrooms...and neighborhood comps. I know that the whole appraisal industry is reeling from the subprime scandals, but they need to catch up and understand the value of environmentally friendly, sustainable construction and remodeling!
An appraisal is base upon the value of the home, basically what it is worth on the open market, not how much money/improvements you put into it. Not an exact science but a valuable tool used to ascertain the value of a home. When folks are willing to pay for some of the more expensive green features that never have a complete payback then green houses will appraise at a higher value.
Greg said it well. We are in the process of building a new home targeted at LEED Platinum, too. We are nervous about the appraisal process and how it may rely on comps, sq ft and such, when we're pulling out all the stops on sustainability. We'll see...
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